Everything in life could be divided into yin and yang.
The yang quality is characterized by action and dynamics, extrovert, the everyday, the masculine, fire and the sun. Yin qualities are introspection, receptivity, acceptance, tranquility, the mystical side of life, the water element, etc. However, nothing is only yin or only yang in nature; they always carry an aspect of each other. There is (inner) harmony when both energies keep each other in balance. You could say that society today is predominantly “yang” in nature. For many people, they lead a busy life, the lifestyle is outwardly oriented and consumption and the importance of appearance are stimulated. Due to a shortage of yin energy, or the imbalance of yin and yang, stress, depression and physical ailments are becoming more common. In Yin yoga we get acquainted with the quality of silence, with ‘being’ instead of ‘doing’, acceptance and introspection. You may also experience that when a problem or challenge arises – e.g. a difficult pose or an unpleasant feeling or restless thought – that we normally respond with a reaction, solving the problem by ‘doing’ -moving something or to resist inwardly what is there at the moment. So Yang. However, sometimes we change something by not doing something, but by staying fully present with it, accepting it, seeing through it and feeling it. In Yin yoga we stay in one pose longer; about 3 to 5 minutes to observe ourselves and to penetrate deeper layers in our body. Our connective tissue, also called fascia, our joints, tendons and ligaments, but also to stimulate our meridians (energy channels). We invite the body, as it were, to release chronic stiffness, tension and blockages and we become more flexible, free and energetic. The Yin yoga class is not about form; the perfect posture or how we look, but rather about cultivating an accepting inner attitude while allowing our body to stretch and become freer and more open from within. We consciously and without forcing step out of our comfort zone by ‘staying’ in an attitude and then observing there, getting to know ourselves and our possible resistances, emotions and thoughts better in order to achieve an inner balance of yin and yang .