yin yoga a.k.a. insight yoga

[emm7]

Have been practising some yin yoga lately from the book "Insight Yoga" and am finding it very challenging but cathartic.
Also apparently yin yoga is a good style to practice in summer to counteract the hot weather.
It is a mixture of Taoist concepts, acupressure concepts and yoga concepts.
Wondered if anyone else had tried yin yoga and what you think of it.

[Clem Snide]

What are the Taoist concepts in it?

[Arbela]

I have Paul Grilley's Yin Yoga DVD and love it. It's both a wonderful physical release and meditative experience, not unlike Restorative Yoga. The music is beautiful too. I'm not sure how important that is to you, but the soundtrack will make or break a practice for me.

He also offers a "music only" mix with minimal instruction, which is great once you've gone through the practice a few times and understand the poses. Then you can just hang in the pose and quietly reflect without having to listen to the same explanations over and over.

I've eyed Sarah Powers with some interest, but since I have so many yoga DVDs already (that are badly neglected lately ~ Paul's included), I've consistently passed up her Insight Yoga DVD.

[emm7]

cheers Arbela these DVDs both sound good!
Clem if I get chance I will write up some of the Taoist stuff in the book for you.

[Clem Snide]

cheers Arbela these DVDs both sound good!
Clem if I get chance I will write up some of the Taoist stuff in the book for you.

Thanks, find it interesting. The martial art I practice is based on taoism yuhsee.

[Rochellita]

I have Paul Grilley's Yin Yoga DVD and love it. It's both a wonderful physical release and meditative experience, not unlike Restorative Yoga. The music is beautiful too. I'm not sure how important that is to you, but the soundtrack will make or break a practice for me.

It is a good DVD and he's an engaging teacher. Yin Yoga has been in vogue here in Manchester among yoga teachers since Paul Grilley and Sarah Powers visited, so I've been doing it on and off for a few years. Paul Grilley's Anatomy of Yoga DVD is also excellent.

I have Sarah Power's first Yin Yoga DVD and it's pleasant enough, there is a strong theravada buddhist element to everything she teaches though which doesn't interest me much, and although Paul Grilley is into taoism he's more neutral in his teaching style.

[KaliBaby]

Yin Yoga is when you hold a pose for a couple of minutes at a time, right? I think they are offering that as a class soon. Hmmmmm....

[Arbela]

Dopey me, I meant to reply to this and forgot.

Yes, Yin Yoga is where you get into a pose and hang there for 3 minutes or so (I can't remember the exact amount of time poses are held on my DVD). Because of the length of time the pose is held, you don't sink in as deep as possible. That would end up being pretty uncomfortable after the first minute.

You instead get into a comfy spot and hang out. It's very soothing.

[Rochellita]

Some poses are held longer than others.

This is an example, if you go to 2.06 minutes in this link you'll see the Sleeping Swanposture which is held for at least 4 minutes, I think in the DVD itself it's around 6 minutes.