The balance of Yin.
To be honest, Yin isn’t a practice I was initially drawn to. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I love to move, sweat, do. I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes from an intense yoga class or session at the gym. I love the feeling of accomplishment from being productive and ticking things off of a to-do list. I am a planner, an organizer, a goal-setting. Which is all quite literally the opposite of Yin.
And while I wasn’t at first drawn to this type of practice, it was one I deeply needed. Why? Because as the name suggests it offered the balance I needed without even realizing it. The Yin to my active Yang energy. The pause in my day full of constant movement.
I always say Yin is a simple class, but not an easy class. Simple in theory that we only do a handful of seated, reclined, or prone postures and hold them each for a few minutes. There are no creative transitions, no breaking a sweat.
But it is not an easy class, especially if you are so used to going, doing, achieving. Because slowing down and doing nothing might feel foreign or strange or downright uncomfortable. Here with no distractions no tasks to occupy our minds, we meet ourselves. Challenging thoughts or feelings might arise. And that is okay. Because Yin teaches us to sit with the uncomfortableness, to breathe through it.
And so while this was a practice I initially resisted, it has become so needed and welcome. Not only for the balance it provides. But for the permission. The reminder it is okay to slow down, to pause, to rest. That actually rest is needed. That my worth is not defined by my productivity. That there is more to life than doing all the time.
And that is what slowing down can give us. Space to just be. The chance to look around and notice what is around us more. The opportunity to be more fully present and connected to our lives.
