New to Yin Yoga

Check this forum for suggestions on Yin Yoga flows, sequences and postures, as well as HOW to practice Yin Yoga.
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Dorte Benecke
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 1:38 pm
Location: Vancouver

New to Yin Yoga

Post by Dorte Benecke »

This Sunday is our 200-hr Yoga Alliance Graduation Day. I have been contracted to teach Yin Yoga as of September. Drawing from your expertise how would you respond to the following?

1) What is a better class length for Yin Yoga: 60 min. or 90 min?

2) Is there such thing as a maximum# of students or does it simply depend on the studio size and how many you can fit in?

3) Are there certain times of the day better to teach Yin Yoga than others?

4) I need to do a short and to the point description of the class. What do you think about the following write-up? Could I even shorten it?

Suitable for all levels of students.
It generally targets the connective
tissues of the hips, pelvis, lower
spine, and joints overall in seated
and supine poses held for 2-3 min.
By strengthening and lengthening
connective tissue one prevents signs
of stiffness. Yin Yoga addresses the
deeper spiritual dimensions of yoga,
including chakras, breathing exer-
cises, and meditation.


Thank you so much for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Blessings,
Dorte
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

teaching Yin Yoga

Post by Bernie »

Hi Dorte

Some of your questions are addressed in the book YinSights, and some of the questions can only be answered with "it all depends!". For when to teach or do Yin Yoga, read this section of YinSights: http://www.yinyoga.com/ys2_1.1_when_to_practice.php

As to the best number of students and length of class, that really depends upon you as a teacher, your skill level (do you normally only teach small classes or larger ones?) and your desire. If you are used to only teaching small classes, don't start teaching large Yin classes right away. Smaller classes, of course, give you more time to check in with how your students are doing and give them personal attention. Personally, I teach classes of varying sizes, from 10 people to 70 people. Both types of classes have their unique advantages. Another consideration is the number of props you have available. Don't lead a large class if you only have props for 10 people. Everyone should have access to all the props they need. Space, of course, is another obvious consideration.

The length of class also depends: I teach 75 min and 90 min classes, limited only by the studio policies/schedule. There is no problem teaching a 30 min or 2 hour class. Just take care with the longer classes that you aren't over-stressing the same areas, and with the shorter classes, don't shrink the length of time in the poses in favour of doing more poses. Better to do 4 poses well than try to cram lots into a little time.

Finally, regarding your description: I wouldn't say that we prevent "signs" of stiffness, we prevent stiffness. More accurately you could say we "help students regain their natural ranges of motions." I am not sure what you mean by "joints overall" ... we don't address all joints (ie: we don't target the fingers or elbows in Yin Yoga.) And, lastly, you may choose to only use seated and supine poses, but Yin Yoga also has other poses such as lunges. See YinSights section on Asanas for a more complete list: http://www.yinyoga.com/ys2_2.1_asanas.php

Cheers
Bernie
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