Yin Yoga = Awesome!

I took a Yin yoga class last night from a new teacher and had a wonderful experience.  Yin is a yoga practice that emphasizes slow and mindful movement, doing fewer postures and holding each posture for up to 5 minutes to really allow your muscles, joints and connective tissues to get the full advantage of the posture.  It is the intuitive to the intellectual.  It is the gentle to the forcefulness of pounding cardio.  It is the gentle movement to the frantic activity that fills so much of life.  It is taking the class breath by breath instead of worrying about what is to come next.

Although Yin has been around for a very long time, it has very recently experienced a huge burst of popularity.  The teacher last night said...of course it has, it has to, because Yin is a way of slowing down, and so many of us are seeking ways to slow down and manage the speed of life and input.  It was such a delicious class.  She said so many wonderful things, that early in the class, I actually crawled off my matt to get a paper and pencil out of my bag to write down a few things.  Here are 2 things I would like to share with you:

First, she said, in all the craziness of life, all of our seeking to get things, to accomplish things, to check things off of our "2 do" list...think about this - "With all thy getting, get thee understanding".  That pierced my brain and really sunk in for me.  To me it means that we should remember to seek underderstanding and include reflection in our llives so that all the effort has meaning and is grounded in purpose, not justy activity!

Second, she said - "Drink in the nectar of the now".  I love that thought!  If we can slow down and enjoy "the now" we can be more mindful of the choices we make to nurture ourselves with nutrition and exercise to ensure a more healthy life!  Framing "now" as something sweet and rich like "nectar" was a great image that really spoke to me!  I hope you like it too!

Desire to wallow in each moment.  Dedication to seeking all of the sweet nectar that life brings our way. Discipline to go forward with eyes wide open to drink in understanding.