Monday Night Yoga

Every Monday night I go to a yoga class called Yin Yoga Meditation. When I return from the class, I feel that I am changed: I have a special sense of peace, ease and balance in my body. There are a few reasons why I think this class is special.

First of all, Yin-style yoga is different than most other yoga classes. It’s not a movement, “flow” or “Hatha” style of class; it is very quiet, with long pose-holds of about five minutes. Typically, the poses that are done are on the floor such as child’s pose, pigeon pose, forward folds, etc. The Shanti Yoga studio in Vancouver, WA describes yin as: “Taught as an embodied meditation practice, this class offers students a different kind of practice from the more active style of Hatha classes. Here the challenge arises from exploring longer seated holds of up to 5 minutes in the Yin style/Taoist Yoga tradition, deeply stretching and nourishing all connective tissue while steadying the mind through a variety of pranayama practices. Patience is acquired as we practice stilling the restless mind through passive holding, concentration, and meditation in a very quiet but gently challenging and deeply nourishing setting” (www.shantiforeveryone.com).

Another reason my class is special is because of what I learn every evening. What I walk away with changes the way I move through the world, and on this particular tonight, I thought to myself, “wouldn’t it be nice to share this with our community here, so that you, too can have something to consider about how you might want to be in the world.” Read more