3 Things A Consistent Yin Yoga Practice Will Teach You

Bitter Practice, Sweet Result

Your first Yin Yoga class is going to be challenging. Possibly very challenging.

After a lifetime of distraction, the simple act of slowing down is bound to be a struggle.

This is compounded by the challenge of the physical sensations that you will feel in the poses.

It’s our instinct to want to move or fidget at the first sign of discomfort.

Over the years, in the face of this struggle, I've seen a small handful of students walk right out in the middle of class. In one of the most extreme examples, I even had a student get up and start doing Vinyasa flows by herself in the middle of class!

To each their own.

And yet, despite the challenges, by the end of class, most students will start to get it.

Maybe it’s the calm they feel in a resonance pose. Or maybe how they feel later in the day after class.

When they see the results of simply slowing down and taking their time, it can feel as if an immense weight has been lifted off their shoulders.

As my teacher Josh Summers says of Yin Yoga: "Bitter practice, sweet result."

But even better is what you will see and learn after 10 classes - or 100 classes or more. Like so many things, the fruits of the practice will only blossom with more time and consistency.

Here are just three of the many things that a consistent Yin Yoga practice will teach you:

You'll Learn How To Truly Play Your Edge

The average person is almost entirely unaware of what their body is capable of. They don't know when to stop or when they can push.

The essence of Yin Yoga is learning to become comfortable with discomfort and knowing the difference between discomfort and actual pain.

While many new students tend to overdo it, experienced practitioners know right where their line is. They know just when to back away and just when they can push a little deeper.

This has tremendous crossover benefits. It will help you in other styles of practice, but also in any other activity that you use your body for.

You'll Be Practicing Covert Meditation

Yin Yoga IS a form of meditation. It's just one where we work with our body along the way.

Instead of just sitting, we pay deep attention to what we feel in our bodies in each pose.

So, just as with more traditional meditation, if you practice Yin Yoga regularly, your senses will sharpen. You'll learn to notice the finest details in each pose you practice.

And you'll also learn how to cultivate profound equanimity.

Poses like Dragon or Swan are bound to stir up resistance in the mind. At first, you may try to fight it or distract yourself, but this is a losing battle.

Instead, you will learn the power of letting go. You will learn to rest with challenges instead of pushing back against them.

This will give you a massive edge when facing the ordinary struggles of your daily life.

You'll Learn The Real Meaning of Balance

Most people are stressed, overworked, and unable to relax their bodies and minds.

Yin Yoga provides a powerful antidote for both.

By allowing yourself time to truly slow down and tune in, you'll be better prepared to face the challenges of your daily life.

Your Yin Yoga practice will become an invaluable oasis in the desert of your busy life.

The most exciting thing is that the busier you are, the more you'll benefit from the practice.

You'll start to learn just how important it is to slow down.

Start Now, Repeat Infinitely

I've taught thousands of Yin Yoga classes and done thousands of Yin Yoga practices.

However, after over 15 years, I am still learning from the practice.

It is an irreplaceable skill that you will carry with you for your whole life. The practice becomes even MORE intriguing with more time invested.

So, if you already have a regular Yin Yoga practice, awesome! Keep up the excellent work, and notice how you relate to the main points of this article.

If you are new, start now! While it may be challenging initially, I promise that the rewards are absolutely worth it.

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Follow the links below for opportunities to practice with me:

If you'd like to practice with me right now, check out one of the dozens of free classes on my YouTube.

For live classes, either in-person or online - see my latest class schedule here.

To make the most optimal progress in your practice, contact me to schedule a one-on-one session.

And if you haven't yet, subscribe to my newsletter for regular insights about practice and life - 

You Are Not Your Thoughts

In 1637, Rene Descartes made a fundamental statement that shaped the course of Western Philosophy:

"Cogito Ergo Sum."

"I think therefore I am."

This idea was one of the sparks that ignited the Enlightenment in Europe and revolutionized the worldview of the Western World.

It was an important distinction at the time because it separated man from his soul and dependence on a divine creator.

It prioritized logic and rationality as the most fundamental human trait.

But what if Descartes got it completely wrong?

What if this view stopped many generations from seeing something much bigger and more meaningful?

What if it was the cause of undue suffering and frustration?

Sorry my dude…

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2000 years earlier, and thousands of miles away, the Buddha and his disciples saw through this illusion. They realized that self and identity were something so much bigger than our mere, trivial thoughts.

As they saw it, thoughts were no different from any of our other senses.

We can experience our thoughts in much the same way as we experience sound, sight, or other senses.

They come and go, and we actually have much less agency over them than you might think.

Based on their direct observations of how the mind works, they came to a very different conclusion.

You are not your thoughts.

Your thoughts do not create your reality.

And so, they set out on a different path. One that I would like to discuss in today's blog.

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To see how this works in actual action, I invite you to try a straightforward practice:

• Right here where you are, relax and close your eyes.

• Tune into the sensations in the body, creating a connection with the physical sensations.

• Sit as long as you can with that connection without deliberately thinking.

• As soon as you notice that you are having a thought, you can end the practice.

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What happened to you just now?

Almost certainly, after some very short time, a thought appeared in your mind despite your intention for it not to.

You likely didn't even intend for the specific subject or content of that thought. It just appeared on its own, as if from nothing.

In this way, we can observe that thoughts come and go on their own, even when we intend for them not to.

If thoughts can occur just like any other sense, then we can see they are something entirely different from the self.

This is where Descartes got it completely wrong.

If we can't truly control our thoughts, and they appear without much direct control, then our thoughts cannot be our identity.

However, I am not saying that thoughts are not necessary, nor that they are meaningless.

Thoughts drive our ability to imagine and create. They are the source of all great art and philosophy. I am even using this ability at this very moment to write this newsletter!

Thoughts also allow us to analyze and make sense of the world. In this way, the ability to think and rationalize is a vital part of what makes us human.

This is the part that Descartes got right.

However, it is crucial to understand the limitations and potential pitfalls of the thinking mind.

When we fixate on our thoughts or give them too much weight, suffering is bound to follow.

By contrast, suffering will automatically lessen when we can let go of our thoughts and rest in the present moment.

You may have noticed this in the brief practice that we just did.

What happened in the moment between sitting down and the first thought arising?

Did you notice the pause?

What remained during that time?

The answer is awareness.

Independent of the thinking mind is our awareness and connection with this moment. It is always there if we make space for it.

Thoughts happen all the time for most people, but there are MANY pauses if we really pay attention.

The problem with excessive identification with our thoughts is that they cause us to miss the simplicity of reality. 

Awareness becomes more dominant as we practice letting go of this identification and simply resting in this moment.

As we learn to rest in this connection more and more, we can cultivate a sense of identity beyond mere thoughts and ideas.

This is the secret sauce of meditation.

The ability to decouple from the thinking mind is one of the most liberating aspects of deep meditation practice.

We can start to see that our thoughts do not need to control us.

We can live a life where we can use our thoughts without getting trapped by them. When we are not busy obsessing or daydreaming, we can connect more deeply with the reality of this moment.

It is then we can see that our thoughts are a key source of our suffering.

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Stepping back from the thinking mind can be one of the most liberating practices to undertake.

By learning to see awareness itself, we can separate ourselves from the anxiety and confusion that our thoughts often create.

You are not losing your identity. You are allowing it to blossom into something more profound and deep.

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I'd like to end this post by spinning the classic quote on its head:

"I realize that I am not only my thoughts; therefore, I am free."

If you'd like to join me in practice, follow the links below:

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If you'd like to practice with me right now, check out one of the dozens of free classes on my YouTube.

For live classes, either in-person or online - see my latest class schedule here.

To make the most optimal progress in your practice, contact me to schedule a one-on-one session.

And if you haven't yet, subscribe to my newsletter for regular insights about practice and life - 

The Great Unbalancing Machine: Navigating Yin and Yang in Modern Life

The Great Unbalancing Machine

Modern life is the ultimate machine for throwing oneself out of balance, and it seems to get worse with each passing year.

We stay up later. We work longer hours. We sleep less than ever before.

On top of that, we are forever stimulated by our devices, and we rarely give ourselves a chance to actually unplug.

It's enough to make you feel crazy. I know it has for me...

And that's why it's essential to get back to the fundamentals.

Taoism

The ancient Taoists studied and observed everything in nature to see how it behaved.

Their observations showed that our universe is a constant dance of different forces. These forces are constantly interacting and finding their way into a natural balance.

They concluded that when things were in harmony, they function correctly and flow more smoothly.

When things become unbalanced, there is disharmony and dysfunction.

Yin and Yang

The most simple form they used to describe things is in the duality of Yin and Yang.

Yin and Yang are opposing energies or qualities that are present within all things and between all things.

Yin represents things that are more slow, grounded, cool, stable, etc.

Yang represents things that are more dynamic, fluid, warm, changing, etc.

All things can be described as some relationship of Yin and Yang.

Our Yang-Excessive Lives

As we take this back to reflect on our modern lifestyles, it becomes clear that we live with a nearly constant excess of Yang energy.

We are always on the go. Always doing things. Never stopping.

And when we don't allow our systems a counterbalance to this, the system breaks.

We develop digestion issues. Or headaches. Or insomnia. Stress.

From the Taoist perspective, much of the infinite list of modern ailments that plague us come from an excess of Yang.

When we don't allow enough balancing forces of Yin into our lives, we become unbalanced and suffer.

An Effective Dose of Yin

So what are we to make of this??

From the Taoist perspective, we can see the importance of making time in our lives for more Yin-dominant practices.

As a reader of my blog, you can imagine an obvious choice for this: Yin Yoga.

In fact, Yin Yoga gets its name from the Yin-dominant nature of the practice.

Yin Yoga is a perfect complement to balance our otherwise Yang-dominated lives.

But Yin Yoga is certainly not the only option here.

Anything that allows you a chance to unplug is a good candidate for these sorts of practices.

We could take up a meditation practice. 

Or allow ourselves time to sit in the park. 

We can go for a slow, quiet walk at the end of the day.

Reducing Yang Influences

In addition to making time for focused Yin practices, it can be equally valuable to remove Yang excess from your life intentionally.

Notice how much time you spend on screens.

Notice what time you go to bed.

See how you respond to these stimuli and how they affect your mood and energy level.

How many of these are necessary and could be easily eliminated?

Of course, getting rid of all of the Yang excesses in your schedule will never be possible. Still, every bit you can eliminate will make a difference.

With time and practice, you will tune into your natural balance of Yin and Yang and adapt accordingly around it.

Learning to Practice This For Yourself

The hardest part of these things is starting in the first place, so here's a list of ideas to help you find more Yin within your life.

If you follow these suggestions consistently for a week or more, I guarantee you will start to feel more balance in your life!

• ● Notice when you feel the pull to stimulate yourself with social media or mindless browsing. Can you put the breaks on that and take a few deep breaths instead?

• ● Schedule at least 1 longer Yin-dominant practice (Yin Yoga, A more extended Meditation, etc.) each week, and be sure not to miss it!

• ● Each week, take at least one long walk outside without your phone. Bringing a friend or partner is okay, but try to avoid unnatural stimulation.

• ● Take at least 5 minutes daily to just sit, ideally in some form of meditation. I have plenty of guided meditations on my YouTube that can help you get started... ;-)

• ● Set a lights-out time for your electronic devices (except perhaps a Kindle/reader) so your mind can unwind before bed.

Conclusion

While the concepts of Yin and Yang are relatively easy to understand, it can take a lifetime of practice to really hone in on balancing them for yourself.

For me, shifting out of balance is a regular challenge that I face.

However, when I take the time to implement the steps I listed above, I feel better in my daily life, and I'm refreshed and ready to take on new challenges!

Give it a shot, and let me know how it goes. I promise you will appreciate the results!

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If you'd like to practice with me right now, check out one of the dozens of free classes on my YouTube.

For live classes, either in-person or online - see my latest class schedule here.

To make the most optimal progress in your practice, contact me to schedule a one-on-one session.

And if you haven't yet, subscribe to my newsletter for regular insights about practice and life - 

From Frustration to Freedom: The Art of Equanimity

Hello, in this week's video, we delve into the art of equanimity, teaching you how to find balance and presence through yoga and meditation. Equanimity is about embracing the three feeling tones of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral without getting stuck in reactive patterns. It's not about dispassion; instead, it's about feeling more connected to every experience while letting go of unnecessary attachments and resistance. Join me on this transformative journey to apply equanimity in your yoga practice, allowing you to experience calm, clarity, and genuine presence in each moment. Subscribe for more insightful content and check out the links for guided meditation practices.