Day 357 of 365 - Yin and Yang

You are probably familiar with the black and white circular symbol of yin and yang which has its roots in ancient Chinese philosophy.  Yin is the dark part, associated with femininity, receptivity, going inward and contracting.  Yang is the white part, associated with masculinity, going outward, being expansive and active.  They are complementary and interconnected aspects of life.  For example, from the perspective of Chinese medicine meridians, each meridian has a yin time of day, when its energy is at a low point and a yang time of day when the energy is highest.

The principle of yin and yang is found in many energy medicine practices, in martial arts and in yoga.  Last night I had a class in yin yoga.  We have had a substitute teacher at my yoga class recently and she has led us in some different kinds of classes.  Yin yoga is a more passive practice, whereby you assume a supported pose and remain in it for three to five minutes, in order to stretch the connective tissue around the joints.  The idea is to feel well supported so that you can relax into the pose, rather than working against it.  Each pose is also related to working with certain energy meridians.

I enjoyed the class very much and the time seemed to go by quickly.  My only other previous comparison to this type of class is from several years ago, when I used to attend classes with a different yoga teacher who sometimes led us in yin poses.  My memory from that time is that I found them usually quite uncomfortable and was glad when they ended.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised with the difference in my experience at my recent yin yoga class.  It felt like a big win for me, in terms of having perhaps more flexibility around major joints than I've had in the past.  The other factor was, that I felt more comfortable as well with the introspective nature of this type of class, being able to relax into the poses rather than having a mind racing about other things.  Afterwards, I could also feel the effect of the softening of connective tissues, so that movement was more free from tension.

Another bonus was that the effect seemed to carry over into the next day, along with an increase in energy.  This may be due to the stimulation of the energy meridians referred to previously, as well as release of energy blockages to restore balance in organs and systems.  Most of our days are spent in either active motion or contracted poses, like sitting here at the computer.  We seldom spend time in yin activity and may not realize the imbalance in our energy that occurs as a result.

Part of my delight with the effect of that yin yoga class is, that it makes me optimistic that I can continue to improving energy levels and flexibility even as I age.  Since I've been chasing various forms of inflammation which cause different forms of bodily discomforts for years, this is encouraging for me.  Mind you, I'm well aware that there are many contributing factors, but it's really lovely when everything seems to work together to create a day of feeling significantly better in my body.  May aim is to have more days like that.




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