You may be dabbing in a few yoga classes here and there, but is the style of yoga you’re choosing giving you the relief you need?
After putting your body through some serious workouts throughout the week what your body needs is some Yin!
I discovered the amazing benefits of Yin Yoga about a year ago, and quite frankly I’m a convert. I always thought Yin Yoga would be way too boring for me compared to the other more ‘yang’ styles of yoga, but after trying it for a few months, I realized that it gave me much more relief from tight, sore muscles than other styles. It also increased my overall flexibility, and really forced me to focus on my breath and quiet my ‘monkey brain’!
Here’s some of the reason why Yin Yoga rocks!
- Because it is based on holding poses for a longer duration of time (generally 3- 5 min each pose), it targets the deep connective tissues of the body and the fascia that covers the body. It is often hard to hold certain poses for that long, but the bliss that follows when you come out of the pose is well worth the temporary discomfort.
- It is a much more passive style of yoga, which really allows you to relax your body and mind. (and who among us doesn’t need that!)
- If your body feels tired and beat up from bootcamp, it doesn’t feel like another workout. As you allow your body to relax into the postures you begin to feel immediate relief, almost like a good sports massage!
- Most postures focus on areas (hips, spine) that most of us struggle to stay flexible in, whether it’s due to exercise or from sitting over a desk for too long.
- Since it targets the deep connective tissues, it increases overall flexibility, increasing agility, body awareness, and improved form.
As far as I’m concerned, all styles of Yoga are great, and beneficial in their own right, but my personal experience has taught me that Yin will do wonders for your sore and tight muscles!
If you’re not sure if you want to commit to an hour-long Yin class at a studio, check out Yogaonline.com, they have a great variety of Yin classes, ranging from 20min to 90 min.