Yin Yoga is NOT Iyengar or Restorative Yoga

In the recent past, I’ve heard a few people who have not tried Yin Yoga saying – ‘Oh it sounds just like Iyengar’. I’ve heard others ask me,  ‘Is it the same as restorative yoga?’. Yin Yoga is relatively new compared to Iyengar and Restorative Yoga, and hence there are many assumptions and misconceptions about it. Martial Arts expert, Paulie Zink brought Yin Yoga to the western world in the early 1970’s. On the other hand, Iyengar Yoga was founded by BKS Iyengar, who started teaching the Iyengar method way back in the 1930s. Restorative Yoga is a derivative of Iyengar Yoga and Judith Lasater, a student of Iyengar, popularized restorative yoga in the US in the 1970’s.

All three Yoga practices focus on breath, still the mind, are meditative, and create balance in mind, body and soul. However, it is important to understand that each of them are unique and have a different primary purpose.

While a Yin practice might sound similar to an Iyengar or Restorative practice at first glance, the primary purpose of a Yin practice is to deeply stress and stretch the connective tissues in the body. While this ‘could’ happen in both Iyengar as well as Restorative Yoga, it is not the main purpose of these practices. Delving into this further, here are the significant differences between Yin, Iyengar and Restorative Yoga.

How are Yin and Iyengar Yoga similar, and yet very different from each other?
– The primary purpose of Yin is to stress the connective tissues (muscles, tendons and fascia) through long deep holds in specific yoga poses, by sending hyaluronic acid to the joints, lubricating them, making them more agile and flexible. It is a practice that is based only on functional alignment, i.e, alignment that feels right for your body in the given moment. It doesn’t matter what your body looks like in the pose. You will never hear a yoga teacher saying ‘Right knee tracks over the right ankle’ in Yin Yoga.

Iyengar yoga focuses on poses with attention to alignment (and while there is no one size fits all alignment, Iyengar yoga focuses on how the joints stack in a pose and so forth) and breath control.

– Props are used in both Yin as well as Iyengar Yoga. But the reason for the use of props is slightly different in both practices. Props are used in Iyengar to ensure optimal alignment in every pose. In Yin, props are mainly used to support the body, and allow it to ease into long deep stretches, that are held for 4-7 mins. While some Iyengar poses may be held for long periods, most postures are held for 5-6 full breaths.

– Yin Yoga mainly consists of approximately 25 floor based postures, while Iyengar Yoga contains over 200 yoga poses, including standing, seated and reclined postures.

– The muscles are engaged in an Iyengar Practice, while the muscles are disengaged (for the most part) in a Yin Practice. So while an Iyengar practice builds strength in the muscles, while also stretching the connective tissues in a certain postures,  Yin solely targets building strength in the connective tissues of the body by stressing and stretching them.

How are Yin and Restorative Yoga similar, and yet different from each other?
– While the postures in Yin and Restorative Yoga are very similar in nature and props such as blankets, bolsters and blocks are used in both practices, the goal of a restorative yoga practice is to restore, rejuvenate and relax the body. Restorative yoga is especially useful when the body is recovering from injury. Yin can help the body relax and restore, but the main focus in a Yin practice is to stress the connective tissues.

– The dialogue in a Yin Practice is slightly different from that in a Restorative practice. There is an invitation to find an edge, a point of discomfort in Yin poses, while there is typically never a call for ‘discomfort’ in a restorative practice.

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