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Yin yoga can be an excellent addition to your yoga, fitness, or healthy lifestyle routine.
This slow, gentle style of yoga is a great way to relax after a busy day or a hard workout. Yin yoga uses gentle, relaxing poses to relieve tension, increase breath awareness, and help people become more aware of the present.
Yin yoga is a kind of meditation that's taught in a calm, gentle way. Unlike active and dynamic asana practices, yin is still, relaxing, and done closer to the ground. This form of yoga is the opposite of yang practices like Ashtanga or Vinyasa, which are powerful and energizing.
Yin Yoga Exercises For Stressful Day
Yin yoga is a slow, passive style that involves holding poses, or asanas, for longer periods and becoming more aware of yourself. That means being aware of your breath, thoughts, and how the body feels.
Check out the following six poses that can help you relax.
1) Wide-Legged Child's Pose (Balasana)
This forward bend lets you focus on yourself while letting go of tension. It helps stretch the spine, hips, and inner thighs. This yin yoga pose is recommended, as it can help you feel grounded and connected to the earth while giving you a boost of energy.
Here's how you do this pose:
- You can put a pillow or bolster under your head, chest, hips, or knees. Start on your hands and knees.
- Bring your knees out to the sides, and touch your big toes together.
- Lower your hips towards your feet, and stretch your torso along the floor.
- Stretch your arms forward.
- Deeply breathe in and out, letting yourself sink deeper into the pose each time you let go.
- Hold this position for up to five minutes.
2) Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)
This yin yoga pose makes the hips more flexible and mobile. It also eases tension in the low back, helps digestion, and makes you feel more relaxed.
Here's how you do this pose:
- Start on your hands and knees. Bring your left knee to your left wrist, and lower your left shin onto your mat.
- Keep your left hip lifted, and come up on the tips of your right foot. Inch forward or back ti;; your hips feel comfortable. Put your left hip down.
- Put your right foot flat on the floor, with the toes facing straight back.
- Put your hands under your shoulders and slightly bend your elbows.
- Stretch your back out, and take five deep breaths.
- Move your hands slowly forward as you lower your chest and head to the floor.
- Hold this position for up to five minutes. Do it again on the other side.
3) Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose (Supta Padangusthasana)
With this yin yoga pose, you can relax your hamstrings and support your spine at the same time. You will need a strap or towel for this pose.
Here's how you do this pose:
- Lie on your back, and spread your legs out. Bring your left knee into your chest by bending your left leg.
- Press out through the heel of your right foot, and pull your toes toward your shin.
- Wrap the strap around the ball of your left foot, and hold both ends.
- Stretch your left leg straight up, making sure the bottom of the foot is facing up.
- Keep your knees bent just a little bit. Hold this position for up to three minutes.
- On the other side, do it again.
4) Supported Fish Pose (Matsyasana)
This gentle backbend helps the back, core, and hip flexors become more flexible. It opens up the throat chakra, which is related to how we talk. It's also called a heart-opening asana, which has to do with love, feelings, and kindness.
This yin yoga pose helps get rid of feelings like grief, sadness, or depression that come with a broken heart.
Here's how you do this pose:
- Put your legs out in front of you as you sit.
- Start at the base of your spine, and use cushions and blocks to make an inclined support.
- Lean back slowly to rest your back on the support.
- You can tilt your head back, or use something to keep your neck in a neutral position.
- Hold this position for at least five minutes.
5) Supine Spinal Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)
This yin yoga pose makes the chest, spine, and glutes more flexible.
Here's how you can do this pose:
- You can put a cushion or block under your thighs or between your knees.
- Lay on your back, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor near your hips.
- Put your palms down, and straighten your arms out to the sides.
- As you let your breath out, bend your knees to the left. You can look in any direction by turning your head.
- Hold this position for up to three minutes. Do it again on the other side.
6) Legs-on-the-Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)
This pose gives you more energy, improves circulation, and helps you relax. Here's how you do this pose:
- You can put a pillow or blanket under your hips, if you want to.
- Place your right side near a wall and sit down.
- As you turn over to lie on your back, swing your legs up against the wall.
- Put your hips up against or close to the wall.
- Put your arms up or next to your body, or put your hands on your chest, stomach, or thighs.
- Hold this pose for as long as 15 minutes.
Takeaway
Yin yoga is great for people of all fitness levels who want to develop a calm, meditative practice, or balance out an intense workout routine.
This practice lets you slow down, relax, and focus on yourself, which helps you feel less stressed and gives you more energy. Yin yoga also makes you more flexible, improves blood circulation, and eases stress.
