The first edition of The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga was a follow-on from my first book, YinSights. As time goes on, we learn new things and develop new perspectives. Years after writing YinSights, I felt the need to expand upon what I had written, to include more about the practice of Yin Yoga and de-emphasize the general philosophy and history of yoga. In the second edition, this evolution continues apace. You will find much more about the practice of Yin Yoga, including new sections on: how and why to use props in your practice; a more functional approach, emphasizing the concept of targeted areas; why Hot Yin is not an oxymoron and may be very beneficial for many people; the importance of stress in reducing fragility; understanding the nature of creep and the importance of counterposes, with a revised list of effective counterposes, including a full description of the lovely Golden Seed Flow Paul and Suzee Grilley created; over 200 new photographs of the postures and their variations for different body types; a current overview of the physiology of tissues and the energy body, reflecting new understandings in the science of fascia and cellular signaling; and many other updates too numerous to catalogue here.
The Second Edition contains
- Over 35% more text and information
- Over 230 photos, twice as many as before, and over 40 illustrations
- New descriptions of the postures, including some new postures
- Photos showing different body types and the use of props
- Updated information on the science of Yin Yoga
- A wider variety of yang counterposes
Diminished in this edition are the stories of the developers and early teachers of Yin Yoga: Sarah Powers, Paul Grilley and his teacher Hiroshi Motoyama. Their stories are still available, but to make space for the new material, Paul Grilley suggested that I move these personal stories to the Web. So for interested readers wanting to learn more about Paul, Sarah and Dr. Motoyama, please visit www.YinYoga.com or their own websites. Also missing from this edition is one particular asana that never really resonated with me: the Camel. In my view, it is too yang to really be used as a yin posture, so I removed it (with Paul’s blessing—although it is still available on the website for those Camel fans who do love it). In its place, I added the Bridge, which I have come to love as a very yin-like backbend. Hopefully, you will love it too.
Another significant change is the de-emphasis of the traditional benefits listed for each posture. Benefits are still important, of course, but many yoga teachers over the centuries have made claims for the practice that are not borne out or are pure hyperbole. At best, the claims refer to anecdotes, which can be acceptable as evidence but are not considered strong science. In the second edition more emphasis is placed on describing the target areas for the postures: these are regions of the body where the poses are most likely to create the desired stress.
Bernie Clark
