Yin Yoga

My fascination with Yin Yoga is a pretty recent thing. For many years, I was a staunch traditionalist, sticking religiously to traditional yoga methods and dismissing anything else as a mere trend that I had no interest in exploring.

As a practitioner of classical East Asian medicine and an enthusiast of Traditional Chinese Medicine, I was skeptical about blending these systems together. However, it wasn’t until I came across Forrest Yoga that my perspective began to shift. Ana Forrest herself encouraged me to bring all of myself to the party, not just the bits I thought were acceptable. This was a game-changer for me. It meant that the lenses of the human body were thrown wide open, and I began to perceive things far more holistically.

As a bodyworker, I revel in exploring where poses and hands-on assists can take both the psyche and the structure. I started integrating acupuncture points into my hands-on assists to help students experience unique sensations within the poses and to support them on their healing journeys. This eventually led me to delve deeper into the various energies of the 5 elements and the 8 extraordinary meridians, each speaking and resonating in its unique way.

This exploration has massively opened my eyes to the potential of Yin Yoga. But here's the kicker: as I delved into the educational side of things, I realised that Yin Yoga teachers are often given just a snapshot of the 5 element theory, with a lot lacking in the progression of understanding the 5 element theory in detail.

You know me; where there’s a gap, there’s a way! Despite being deeply inspired by the quality of Yin Yoga teachers out there; I can see there’s a significant gap that needs to be filled if Yin Yoga practitioners want to take the theories they're working with to another level.

Fuck it, I might just design a Yin Yoga teacher training programme and see where it takes me. Launching my own training could not only enhance my personal mastery but also provide valuable insights for others in the field looking to deepen their practice and understanding. What areas do you think are most crucial to develop in this proposed curriculum? Let's fucking do this and take Yin Yoga to the next level!