By Jessica Jordan

We live in a world which is busy obsessed. When you ask someone how they are, the standard response today is ‘yeah good, but busy’. Connected 24/7 through technology, the lines between home and work-life have now become completely blurred. People are trying to be super heroes, balancing family, relationships, study, work, hobby friends PLUS sleep, health and exercise. Phew, I feel tired just listing all of them. It’s no secret that in our busy lives, health and wellbeing can easily slide off the radar, and finding time just to ‘be and not do’ is rarely listed on our to-do list.

Yin yoga is a slow moving and restorative style of yoga which gives us time and space to just be. Each pose is taken on the floor and held for 3-5 minutes, gently allowing the person to sink deeper into the posture over time, targeting the passive, deeper parts of the body including the fascia, joints and tendons.

Yin is the practice of introversion, stillness and reflection, and in this time of stillness on the mat, the practice allows us to go past the physical aspects of yoga asana (postures) and start to become a witness to our thoughts, our body, and our breath. At the start of yin practice, I often invite my students to give themselves permission to focus only on their yin yoga practice for the 60 minutes of class, because with our new busy lifestyles always taking importance, giving ourselves that time to just be still has become a luxury. Yin allows yogis the time on the mat to reconnect with their inner self’s and re-establish a relationship with their own body, which can be neglected when the to-do list piles up.

When we are busy all the time, it becomes too easy to ignore the signs from our body which might be early indicators that something is off or out of balance. Your time on the mat in stillness for yin puts the body in different, yet safe shapes and gives you the time to really listen to how each position feels in your body at the present moment, without having to rush for the next posture. The practice at Vital Beat is taken by candle light, which encourages the students to turn their gaze inwards, close their eyes and scan any tight spots, bringing awareness to anything you might be holding onto in your body. Yin provides the opportunity for yogis to deep breathe into these areas and start to release this tightness or blocks – mental or physical they may find – and let go. Time spent in each posture is likened to a mini mediation, with the breath as an anchor for the practice.

Physically the practice is very different to other styles of yoga and is therefore suitable to any level, including beginners, pregnant women and those returning from injury or undergoing rehabilitation. Many props like bolsters, blankets and blocks are used and attention is given to simply relaxing and softening into the posture, instead of using effort or force. There should be no muscle activation or contraction.

Benefits of a Yin practice include;

• Lowering stress levels
• Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system for “rest & digest” mode
• Promoting the lubrication of joints
• Increasing mobility & flexibility
• Balancing energy, and
• Calming the mind

Listening to our inner self can be confronting place and often on the mat, emotions can be stirred up – something we may have been holding onto for a while may suddenly come to the surface. For me, learning to simply be in the posture and release the need for control has helped me to become more accepting of things off the mat, as well as realise where I may have been holding onto things that no longer provide a positive benefit to my life. Yin helps us to tap into the deeper parts of our being and ultimately offers us a way to find more balance, on AND off the mat.

Vital Beat offers Soul Train Yin twice a week with the moving sounds of soul, jazz, trip hop, and atmospheric beats, in a warm room by candlelight

• Sunday evenings at 4pm with Jimmy <3
• Tuesday evenings 6:45pm with Jess <3