A Journey Into Yin Yoga

297 Pages·2019·40.84 MB·English

by  Travis Eliot

A JOURNEY
INTO
YIN YOGA
Travis Eliot
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Eliot, Travis, 1977- author.
Title: A journey into yin yoga / Travis Eliot.
Description: Champaign, IL : Human Kinetics, [2019] | Includes
bibliographical references. | Description based on print version
record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017054032 (print) | LCCN 2017051928 (ebook) | ISBN
9781492557234 (ebook) | ISBN 9781492557227 (print)
Subjects: LCSH: Yin yoga.
Classification: LCC RA781.73 (print) | LCC RA781.73 .E45 2019 (ebook) | DDC
613.7/046--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017054032
ISBN: 978-1-4925-5722-7 (print)
Copyright © 2019 by Travis Eliot
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or
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The web addresses cited in this text were current as of March 2018, unless otherwise noted.
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E7122
For all my teachers, who have inspired me along the
path of yoga and for all students seeking a life of
wisdom, balance, and purpose.
CONTENTS
Pose Fnider vi Foreword ix Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii Introduction xv
CHAPTER 1
ORIGINS OF YOGA 1
CHAPTER 2
ESSENCE OF THE TAO 23
CHAPTER 3
SUBTLE ANATOMY OF YOGA 37
CHAPTER 4
SCIENCE OF YIN YOGA 51
CHAPTER 5
POSES OF YIN YOGA 89
iv
CHAPTER 6
PRANAYAMA AND MEDITATION 175
CHAPTER 7
DEVELOPING A PERSONAL
PRACTICE 213
CHAPTER 8
INSPIRATION AND
FINAL THOUGHTS 259
Glossary 271 Bibliography 275 About the Author 277
Earn Continuing Education Credits/Units 278
v
POSE FINDER
Ankle stretch page 114
Banana pose page 144
Butterfly pose page 93
Camel pose page 104
Cat and cow page 164
Caterpillar pose page 92
Cat pulling its tail pose page 150
Child’s pose page 102
Corpse pose page 152
Cow face arms pose page 156
Dangling standing forward bend page 108
Deer pose page 122
Downward dog page 162
Dragon pose page 128
Dragonfly pose page 96
Eagle arms pose page 160
Easy seated pose page 118
Easy seated twist page 120
Fire log pose page 126
Forward neck stretch page 153
Frog pose page 98
Half-frog pose page 100
Half-butterfly backbend page 166
Half-butterfly pose page 94
Half splits page 130
Half sun salutation (ardha surya namaskar) page 223
vi
Hero pose page 116
Hip circles page 168
Lateral neck stretch page 154
Legs up the wall page 151
Melting heart page 103
Mountain pose series (tadasana) page 224
Reclining butterfly page 136
Reclining pigeon page 140
Reclining teepee page 137
Reclining teepee (pranayama posture) page 188
Reclining tree page 138
Reclining twist page 148
Resting belly pose page 132
Reverse prayer pose page 157
Saddle pose page 115
Salamba virasana: supported hero page 184
Seal pose page 134
Seated diamond pose page 121
Seated on a chair page 186
Shoelace pose page 124
Siddhasasana page 185
Sleeping swan page 123
Snail pose page 146
Sphinx pose page 127
Squat page 110
Stirrup pose page 142
vii
Pose Finder (continued)
Sukhasana: easy cross-legged
seated position page 182
Sun salutations (surya namaskar) page 232
Sun salutation A page 232
Sun salutation B page 234
Supported bridge page 143
Supta baddha konasana:
reclining bound angle page 187
Thread-the-needle shoulder stretch page 106
Toe squat pose page 112
Upward table page 163
Virasana: hero page 183
Warrior dance flow page 237
Windshield wipers page 170
Wrist stretch sequence page 158
Yin sequence 1: short and sweet page 241
Yin sequence 2: ultimate page 242
Yin sequence 3: flexible spine page 244
Yin sequence 4: healthy hips page 245
Yin sequence 5: sleep well page 247
Yin sequence 6: splits page 249
Yin sequence 7: for athletes page 250
Yin sequence 8: yin and tonic page 252
Yin yoga sequence 9: upper body page 254
Yin sequence 10: prenatal page 256
viii
FOREWORD
Yin yoga has exploded in popularity—and for good reason. We would all
be well served by adding yin practice to our routines, and Travis’ book is an
excellent guide for doing just that. Grounded in his personal experience of
discovering the potential for yin yoga to heal and strengthen, Travis expertly
leads you on a path to this transformational practice.
I first met Travis at a teacher training on yoga medicine, myofascial release,
and Chinese medicine I led in Spain, where we were able to connect and
share a common interest in the powerful physical effects of these practices.
There are many elements that make yin practice so powerful, and the effects
on the fascia are one important part. Fascia is a type of connective tissue that
creates a three-dimensional scaffolding, interconnected from head to toe to
support and protect. Working with the fascia is an important facet of physical
healing, regardless of whether that is done by another person (as in massage
and other forms of bodywork) or by yourself (as with self-myofascial release
methods and yin yoga). Maintaining movement in the fascia is important so
that tissues can easily glide past each other and maintain proper hydration,
neurologic feedback, pliability, and elasticity.
Tight and restricted fascia can become a source of tension to the rest of the
body, producing pain or restricting movement—an all-too-common scenario
in our modern times. Although hatha yoga practices can slowly retrain the soft
tissue over time, working directly on the fascia with yin yoga can dramatically
speed up soft tissue changes and assist in maintaining pliability and strength
of the fascia and other connective tissues. Yin yoga is an excellent method
of stimulating self-healing, and I use it with a variety of patients, including
professional athletes, caregivers, doctors, mothers, and office workers. As a
yoga teacher and as a health care provider, I believe this type of yoga practice
is still an extremely overlooked aspect of tissue health and overall wellness.
Another aspect that is important to acknowledge is yin yoga’s effect on
the body’s vital energies. Subtle energy, or chi, is often referred to as our life
force or energy on the verge of materializing. A yin practice allows us to be
introspective as a way of better adjusting to the fluctuations of this energy in
the body. In Chinese medicine, health is depicted as the delicate balance of
yin and yang. In this book, Travis’ simple explanations of these concepts help
the reader understand the importance of balancing these opposing forces of
yin and yang in our lives, helping the reader to more easily identify how to
amplify health and wellness on a daily basis.
We spend so much of our day-to-day life motored by the adrenaline-fueled
sympathetic nervous system (SNS, the fight or flight system) that our parasym-
pathetic nervous system (PNS, the rest and digest system) can weaken and lose
ix