YIN YOGA CHANGED MY LIFE
It was early winter of 2018. Months before, I had returned home from an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica, and I found myself incredibly sensitive to societal stimuli. I was at a point in a long healing journey (after an intense spiritual awakening) where I could no longer tolerate what was once tolerable. I was burnt out on my business of nearly 10 years. I was crying myself to sleep in deep despair and waking up with severe panic attacks. I was also still deeply disturbed by a friend of mine whom I recognized myself in, taking her own life a few months before my trip. In a nutshell, I was a mess and my nerves were absolutely FRAYED.
While my ashtanga/power yoga practice and my dance classes acted as amazing reprieves from my distress, the relief was fleeting and the deep despair would return shortly afterwards.
I had received my yoga teacher certification in 2012, but, being a stanch introvert, I failed to find my voice all those years and resisted sharing my skill, knowledge and talent in that way. Then I was asked to take over this Yin yoga class at my gym where I practiced. I had never given Yin yoga much thought as I was always a big believer in building strength and power through challenging ashtanga poses and sequences. I reluctantly agreed and started studying the practice. Personally, I found it rather boring until I began actually practicing it and experiencing the magic myself.
Yin is all about surrender, letting go, releasing. Deep healing of the mind, body and sprit happens while holding poses for an extended period of time. Psychic trauma is stored in muscle tissues and the deep fascial connections. It is in the holding of Yin postures and the meditative aspect that accompanies, that trauma soon get released from the tissues and deep healing takes place. I began to notice my own anxiety diminishing, depression healing, my complex PTSD alleviating while teaching these classes! My students raving about their own journey in the classes, gave me the confidence to teach more classes, both Yin and power yoga. This brought me out of my shell of isolation. Yin created in my world a circle of loving interaction and healing. I am deeply gratuitous for the opportunity to help myself and others heal through this amazing practice, and the more I study, share, and create mindful classes, the more interesting it becomes.
