Hello! I just finished my 50 hour yin training and I have let things sort of marinate for a bit but I still feel like I need more clarity on something. First of all, I love the yin practice and love the way it feels in my body. So much of what I have learned from The complete guide to Yin Yoga really resonates with me but I have some concern over the vulnerability of the joints after a yin practice.
Let's use the GH joint for an example, if you do heart melting pose to open up the capsule and cause a (positive) stress to the ligamentus structures, you might immediately gain let's say 5 degrees of flexion. That same student leaves class, sees a friend outside their yoga studio and gives them a high five. The amount of force places on that joint structure within this newly available range of motion can be harmful. That newly available 5 degrees hasn't been exposed to this resistance and if you counter your yin with a yang exercise (ie Crossfit, running, cycling) this leaves me feeling a bit worried. Of course “anything could happen, but after speaking with a colleague about this, I'm convinced that it's quite likely to be harmful, as the joint needs to be strengthened rather quickly for this to be helpful. Is the reward higher than the risk? Is it better to have a teeny bit more range if it only makes them more at risk for injury? Of course this isn't just about the shoulder joint, this principle can be applied for any joint we target in these postures. I know that Bernie said fibroblasts react to this stress to create more strength and stability but I spoke to my chiropractor and while he enjoys yin yoga and agrees with many principles, he said that's not totally accurate. He said that fibroblasts basically do whatever your body tells it to do so if you tell it to open in melting heart, it just opens. It doesn't counter balance that opening. Some may think that this is simply why a yin yang class is helpful, but my concern is that the strengthening needs to happen in that newly available/end range, in a very specific space, as opposed to very generalized conditioning movements. Maybe I need to dig deeper into studying the affects of fibroblasts on yin tissues, but I thought I would ask the question in case anyone has insights or were considering this as well. Thoughts?