Yin Yoga 101: Everything You Need to Know About This Deep, Meditative Practice

A lot of the yoga practiced in studios across the U.S. is what’s known as “yang” styles of yoga—vigorous, fast-paced classes like vinyasa, power, and Ashtanga. But there’s another equally important style that’s completely opposite: yin yoga. Below is our guide to everything yin, from its numerous health benefits to how you can practice it at home. Consider it your yin yoga crash course, if you will.

Yes, there are plenty of physical health benefits to practicing yin yoga, but there are plenty of mental health ones, too. Below are some of the most popular, from stretching your connective tissue to reducing stress and anxiety.

Think of your fascia like shrink wrap around your muscles and bones. When this connective tissue is underused, it becomes less elastic which can lead to aches and stiffness. “If you gently stretch connective tissue by holding a yin pose for a long time, the body will respond by making them a little longer and stronger—which is exactly what you want,” Paul Grilley a registered yoga teacher, explains.

Elastic fascia and mobile joints lead to better flexibility, which is one of the key benefits to a regular yin yoga practice. Because fascia needs at least 120 seconds of sustained stretching to actually affect its elasticity, yin is one of the most effective ways at improving your flexibility and releasing tension in tight spots thanks to its long holds.

By breathing into each pose and targeting your deeper tissues and ligaments, you bring more oxygen into your body and to your muscles. This helps increase your blood flow and circulation.

That calm you feel after a yin class is very real—studies have found yin yoga to have a significant impact on lowering stress and anxiety and reducing the risk of depression1. Plus, it activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which calms your body and slows your heart rate (rather than the autonomic nervous system, which triggers your fight-or-flight response).

Because yin yoga is practiced in a non-heated room, it’s easy to do anywhere, anytime. The key is holding each pose for an extended length of time, typically for two to five minutes (or even longer!). As for the poses themselves, many yin yoga postures are seated or reclined poses, since they require your muscles to be fully relaxed. Think: butterfly pose, seated forward fold, or frog pose.

While you’re in each pose, work to find stillness. Avoid fidgeting or moving around as best as you can in order to release fully into the posture. You want to push yourself to a point where you feel a deep sensation (known in yogi terms as “comfortable discomfort”) that helps stretch your fascia and ligaments. However, you should never stretch to the point of pain. 

Breath is an important component of yin yoga, too, because it gives you something to focus on in the more difficult and uncomfortable postures. In yin, you’ll breathe from your diaphragm—with every inhale, feel your belly and ribs expand and with every exhale, pull your navel into your spine. Another good rule of thumb for deep breathing in a restorative yoga flow is to make your exhales twice as long as your inhales.

Another tip: Yin yoga is also a great place to make use of props for added support or lengthening. (After all, the more your bones are supported, the more your muscles can release.) Blocks can be used under your knees in a forward fold, for instance, while a bolster or rolled-up blanket can be placed under your seat during butterfly to ease tight hips.

Many of us live fast-paced, active lives, whether we’re going for a run, powering through an Ashtanga yoga class, or sweating it out on a spin bike. Yin yoga is the perfect balance to those intense exercises, providing a slower, more meditative counterpart to help you round out your workouts.

Yin yoga is also for anyone who is dealing with injuries or a chronic condition like arthritis or osteoporosis as this style in particular is a more restorative practice than other forms of exercise. Yin can also be a great starting point for anyone interested in meditation as it has such an internal focus.

Yin yoga isn’t your typical sweaty, intense vinyasa flow. But that doesn’t make it any less of a workout—give it a try the next time you’re in an exercise rut to experience its many physical and mental health benefits for yourself.