Hi Daniel
I too came to yin yoga after a long time doing Ashtanga. I loved the Ashtanga practice, but after several years, and hitting 50, I found myself unable to continue the pace. Yin yoga came along just in time, but ironically, yin yoga also helped my Ashtanga practice: it made me more flexible and able to do postures I wasn’t able to do before. But, the real value was bringing balance.
What should you do? It depends upon your intentions. For me, at 63 now, I no longer seek to do more asanas, or do them better: I am content to maintain health and regain it after a cold or sickness. My practice physically has 3 intentions: strength (or stability) via resistance training (swinging kettle bells and vinyasa yoga); endurance via running sprints; and mobility via my Yin Yoga practice, which I do right after my sprints. So, one day is strength/vinyasa practice, the next day is endurance and mobility. One day a week my only practice is meditation (which I do every day in the morning.) Will this work for you? I don’t know.
Again, it will depend upon your intentions, how much time you have to invest in asana, and what else is going on in your life at the moment. I would suggest you take some to really ask yourself “Why am I doing yoga?” Let your answer guide your plan.
Here are a few other threads on the Forum that may be interesting to you:
Ashtanga and yin yoga
Frequency of Practice and Recovery Time
Doing yin yoga in a heated room
Hot Yin?
Cheers
Bernie
