Yin & Restorative: What’s the difference?
Hello, I hope you're having a nice day. I wanted to quickly address something I recently heard someone talking about in the yoga studio: the difference between yin yoga and restorative yoga.
Sure, these two styles have many similarities and both can bring us into a meditative state but they have one key difference in my mind.
While in yin yoga we are looking to get that deep stretch, in restorative we are focused on fully resting and relaxing the body.
In both styles we hold the poses for quite a long time (a number of minutes per pose) and props like bolsters, blocks and blankets are often utilized. The reason we use so many props in restorative is to allow the body to be supported in relaxing into various shapes.
We use props in a similar way in yin (for support in longer holds) but again, in yin we hold a deep stretch for minutes and it can be quite intense physically. In restorative the intensity may come instead from sitting with one's own mind, while deeply relaxing the body.
I wanted to note this difference and also say that our culture in the West, specifically in America, is very fast paced and we have a great need for rest. Next time you find the time, lay down on your floor and put your legs up a wall for a few minutes. This is one of my favorite restorative postures and can help mellow you the F out when you need a moment.
