It’s Thursday and we all now what this means: yin yoga at Moksha Yoga Downtown!

If it’s not evident by now, I love yin yoga. A lot. And I have Moksha Yoga Downtown to thank for this obsession. I started trading two years ago on Thursday nights and I haven’t looked back. I remember my first night showing up at 7pm ready to clean up after very sweaty people. Ken, my Thursday night buddy (now the trade manager), and Lee Ann, the wonderful weekend manager, taught me everything I needed to know: times to switch the laundry, the proper water to Benefect ratio for cleaning and the technique of mat folding.

I loved every minute, but little did I know what was in store: yin yoga. To this day I’m still a regular of the 9:45pm class, even though I’ve been promoted to the 5:30pm trade time, I still stay late just for this class. I love yin yoga. And here is why.

 

1. The challenge:

Yin yoga is hard, at times even difficult. Although spending most of the class lying on the floor sounds pretty easy, you’re actually holding poses a lot longer. This is the tough part. Learning to sink into poses and letting your body give in is a bigger challenge than you think. I like forcing myself to give in and knowing it’s okay not to be moving around all the time.

2. The feeling afterwards:

There is honestly no better feeling then coming out of a yin class. Yes, there is a certain “yoga high” you get from doing yoga in general, but with yin it’s different. It’s more a sleepy, limber “I feel so great” kind of expression and at 10:45pm, all you should do is go to bed.

3. The stretch:

Yin is an amazing way to stretch your whole body out. The practice is designed to focus on your deep connective tissues, so basically it’s stretching beyond what you would in a regular yoga class. Opening up your hips, shoulders back and spine it’s great for flexibility. And for those, like me, who spend way too much time sitting at a desk, this yoga is for you.

4. The short-term effects:

Not only will you be more flexible within your regular practice, it’s the deeper opening you get in your shoulders and hips that gets me. I love lengthening out these parts of my body, knowing how much time I spend sitting at a desk staring at a computer. It’s great for your posture, your heart rate, breathing the list goes on. I’ve noticed changes in my regular practice which have come from practicing yin, but particularly my flexibility is the shocker.

5. The long-term benefits:

My teachers rave about the long term benefits of practicing yin, although I have yet to see any difference (and I doubt I’ll actually will) I feel good knowing I’m doing something great for my body. Everything from your insides out benefit from this yoga. I trust what they say, so I’ll keep doing it anyway.

 

So give yin a try at least once, your body will thank you even if it’s not right away. Yin takes time so keep that in mind.