One of my more recent wellbeing rituals is Yin Yoga.
I wrote a little about it in a blog earlier this year, on how I’m moving my body differently.
I first came across Yin Yoga two years ago when I moved to Winchester. New Energy Yoga is just a few minutes’ walk from where I live, and it’s become something of a haven for me – a place of rejuvenation and restoration (for my mind and my body).
I’ve practiced yoga on and off over the years, in various guises. There was a phase in Richmond when I was obsessed with Hot Yoga or Bikram Yoga as it was called then. Then there was the pandemic when I joined millions of others and welcomed Adriene and Benji into my home for daily at home yoga. I still have a bit of a girl crush on Adriene! For three years I practiced with her regularly.
Then I moved to Winchester and discovered Yin. Mostly because it was recommended to me by my Osteopath Andrew (shout out to you Andrew, an incredible healer!) as a way to help my body recover from the various sports injuries I pick up from the gym and running – both of which are very “Yang” practices – active, dynamic and outward. Yin, by contrast, is still, slow and inward. In Chinese philosophy, Yin and Yang represent two complementary qualities of energy – forces that need each other to create balance.
So, I gave it a go, and haven’t looked back. Yin Yoga offers the contrast to my other workouts. It is a slower, more meditative style of yoga where poses are held for longer periods – often three to five minutes or more – allowing you to work deeper into the connective tissues, fascia, and joints. It’s less about how it looks, and more about how it feels. Less doing, more being. Less striving, more softening – which thinking about it, is in line with my journey of leaning more into my feminine energy over than my masculine.
So, to complement my other exercise, I aim to practise Yin once a week. But if I’m honest, it’s also the part of my routine that gets dropped most easily when life gets busy or I’m away from home – which always feels a little ironic, given it’s probably the practice I need the most in those moments. Because Yin asks something different of you. It invites you to leave your ego at the door. To meet yourself with curiosity rather than judgement. To sit in the sensation, rather than immediately trying to move away from it.
Over the past few weeks, our classes have been themed around spring. In traditional Chinese medicine, Yin Yoga follows the flow of energy meridians in the body, and spring is associated with the wood element – a season of growth, expansion, and new beginnings. It’s also closely linked to the liver meridian. In this context, the liver isn’t just a physical organ – it’s thought to govern the smooth flow of energy – Qi (pronounced “chee”) throughout the body. When that energy flows freely, we tend to feel more balanced, calm, and emotionally regulated. But when it becomes stagnant – often through stress, frustration, or simply the pace of modern life – it can show up as irritability, tension, or a sense of feeling stuck.
Yin for spring, then, becomes an invitation to gently “unstick” that energy. Through long-held, often hip and inner thigh-focused poses (where the liver meridian runs), we create space in the body – not by forcing, but by softening, through the breath. My favourite is twisted root – a reclining twist where the legs are wrapped together to create a deeper, more anchored rotation through the spine.
And perhaps that’s where the real parallel lies – between Yin and Yang, and mind and body.
Because just as the body can hold tension and stagnation, so too can the mind. Jo, one of my teachers at New Energy talks about being more bamboo than oak – about learning to bend rather than remain rigid. This brings to mind the idea of a growth mindset versus a fixed one, something we talk about regularly in our workshops at POINT3 – the difference between believing we can adapt, learn and evolve, versus believing we are fixed or defined by how we are now.
But it’s one thing talking about it, it’s another walking the talk. With a little more awareness, I’m beginning to notice when I’m showing up in a fixed mindset rather than a growth mindset. The moments when I’m resisting, holding on, or forcing something – versus the moments when I soften, adapt, and allow things to flow through me. I suppose – that’s also one of the reasons I chose “Flow” as my word of the year this year… Because that feeling of being rigid, isn’t just physical. It shows up in our thinking. In our patterns. In the stories we tell ourselves. In the emotions we resist. As humans, we can naturally push back against the more difficult emotions and situations. The ones that feel uncomfortable, uncertain, even unsafe. And yet, paradoxically, it’s often in that very discomfort – in the moments where we feel the stretch – that growth actually happens.
Somehow, this is a concept we accept far more easily when it comes to exercise. No pain, no gain, after all. But in life? Emotional discomfort feels far harder to tolerate than physical strain. I spent most of my thirties consciously pushing myself from a physical perspective through all my endurance running… it makes me reflect and wonder now, what emotional pain was a running away from at that time?
And yet, if we come back to the body – to practices like Yin – we’re reminded that the way through isn’t force. It’s presence. Noticing. Breathing. Learning to find your edge. What might shift if we began to see emotional discomfort not as something to avoid, but as something to notice and breath into? Like a muscle – something we could gently strengthen over time, through daily reps and practice…
So, this spring, perhaps the invitation is simple – where might you soften, rather than force? Where might you bend, rather than break? Where might you allow things to flow, rather than stay rigid? Perhaps the first step is to try Yin Yoga… 🙂
I’d love to take a moment to acknowledge all the wonderful Yin Yoga teachers out there, holding up the mirror and helping me to not only stretch my body, but my mind too:
Jo – your Sunday morning class is a bit like church for me, you provide a place to meditate, learn and evolve. It’s often uncomfortable but I always feel lighter when I leave.
Maddy – your Friday Stretch and Restore is like a balm, it is a gift at the end of a long week.
Jamie – your Tuesday evening warm yin feels like a big hug, and I always sleep so well afterwards.
Susanna – who I practiced with for the first time on Monday having met at The Sauna Works last Saturday – your class felt very personal, warm and generous, thank you.
And let’s not forget my best friend Adriene and Benji too! What a beautiful human you are to provide all the free resources you do for your global community.
Happy (Good) Friday to you all! x
p.s. the photo was taken 10 years ago when Nicky, Becs, Karen and I went to Kerala, India – long before I discovered Yin Yoga, which is not about the pose nor the posing! 😉
Not The Mayo Clinic 