Yin Yoga

Yin Yoga is slow-paced style of yoga (as exercise), incorporating principles of traditional Chinese medicine, with asanas (postures) that are held for longer periods of time than in other yoga styles. Advanced practitioners may stay in one asana for five minutes or more. As conceptualized in the Taoist and Dharmic traditions, the sequences of postures are meant to stimulate the channels of the subtle body, known as meridians in Chinese medicine and as nadis in Hatha yoga.

Yin Yoga poses apply moderate stress to the connective tissues of the body—the tendons, fasciae, and ligaments—with the aim of increasing circulation in the joints and improving flexibility. A more meditative approach to yoga, its goals are awareness of inner silence, and bringing to light a universal, interconnecting quality.

Yin Yoga was founded by martial arts expert and Taoist yoga teacher Paulie Zink in the late 1970s, and officially named as such by Sarah Powers. Yin Yoga is taught across the world, encouraged by its teachers Paul Grilley, Sarah Powers and Bernie Clark. As taught by Grilley, Powers and Clark, it is not intended as a complete practice in itself, but as a complement to more active forms of yoga and exercise. Zink's approach includes the full range of Taoist yoga, focusing on animalistic movements and the balancing of Yin and Yang energies.