Is Yin as a style of yoga safe?
This might be slightly controversial as I know there are a lot of yin lovers out there but are you clear on exactly what is happening in your body during a yin practice? Yin is a style of yoga where you spend extended periods of time in passive holds sometimes up to 5/10 minutes in a posture. I cant find any extensive research that demonstrates any anatomical benefits of such a passive practice, I would really welcome any articles you find to disprove me! Now I know that a lot of people have very profound and sometimes intense emotional experiences when practicing yin and ultimately if it’s a practice that you benefit from, I certainly don’t want to take that away from you! Just hear me out on how yin as a practice isn’t always what our bodies need, in fact a lot of the time its the opposite!
With any movement practice we are looking for mobility and stability to essentially support our functional movement. If we can lean into a passive stretch but cant hold it in the same range actively, then we aren’t strengthening the active structures (muscles) or the neurological connections in the target area - in other words its kind of pointless. The dangers in a practice like yin apply most to those that already have a large range of motion or hyper mobility, as the end range of motion is completely out of balance to the strength needed to support the joints. If you’re naturally more flexible than you are strong (most people that come to yoga including myself) you could be one of 25% of the population that’s hyper-mobile and a regular yin practice could result in you seriously damaging connective tissue and ligaments which can lead to injury.
We know that most of us are spending way to much time sitting down due to work which is resulting in us living a life that looks nothing like how we were designed to in nature, so when we come to movement practice we want it to bring back some balance. For example when we sit for extended periods of time our glutes (the muscles in our butt) become very long and weak and our hip flexors become very short and tight. When we take this posture to standing the load comes straight into the lower pack which causes pain and often has an effect on the rest of the posterior chain. So many people suffer from lower back issues, tight hamstrings, hips, shoulders, neck, I could go on. The sensation that is created is a sense that these parts of our body need to be stretched. The reality is that tight muscles = weak muscles and rather than passive stretching what is needed is active engagement and strength building to relieve the symptoms.
I know I probably sound like a right bore, but I just want longevity! I want us to be practicing yoga in super strong healthy bodies to a ripe old age! This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a restorative practice, this is just my opinion based on my knowledge and experience but ultimately it really depends on who is teaching you! If you’re teacher regularly encourages you to ‘surrender’ into passive holds for long periods of time, you have a right to question it, ask them why you’re doing it and how you’re going to benefit from it. Your body is your best teacher, listen to it and question anything that doesn’t feel right!