July 2016

Recognizing old habits and creating new habits
One of the benefits of a yoga retreat is the space it provides to recognize old habits and create new habits. Our yoga retreats are complemented in the afternoons with Yin Yoga.

Yin yoga guides us along this path. Yin yoga works deeply with the fascia, ligaments and bones or the connective tissue of the body. Whereas more active yoga styles focus on muscle and bone coordination work, yin moves through the more subtle layers of the history of our body. We store emotions, experiences and trauma in the body on the fascia level. Fascia is one continuous web of connective tissue surrounding muscle from head to toe, literally connecting all parts of the body. If there is constraint in one part of the body, we will feel the effects through the fascia in another part of the body.

The practice of asanas is to address our knots or constraints as defined in the Yoga Sutras. Every mental knot has a corresponding physical knot and vice versa. The fascia stores our physical and emotional memories. Our body is the scene of our story. Our knots can be read as a map to our physical accidents and emotional traumas. We feel patterns; certain emotions are felt in certain areas. These memories are stored in the physical layer of the body until we can let them go.

This is where Yin Yoga can play a huge role in our yoga practice as a transformational experience. Yin yoga creates a space to allow us to let go. By entering into these authentic postures, generally held from 3-10 minutes, we give in to the stillness meeting our body where it is. Without pretense, without desire. With acceptance of where and who we are now, letting the mind relax.  Sometimes with a wave of  emotional energy. As the wave leaves the body, it leaves space for something new. Without the old thought patterns, we remember more vividly who we are and that we are enough. We are reminded of the beauty of everything. And that joy is our true nature.