Yin Yoga: Indian Yoga by way of China, America...and Japan!

If you do studio or even gym yoga, you may already realize, Yin is in.  Workshops, special candlelight practices–it’s officially a thing in the popular yoga culture. 

As with anything, the “popular” preceding “culture” can blur the origins–where did Yin Yoga come from? Instagram? The strip mall in your suburb? Swami Yin? 

Yoga’s popularity has soared thanks to a proliferation of small yoga studios aggressively marketing teacher trainings as well as an over-abundance of online teachers trying to strike it rich on Instagram and TikTok. Instead of making $15 per person per class, maybe they can make $1 from 100,000+ followers. 

LOSING A  RELIGION

Most people know that yoga stems from Hinduism and India at large, but most have no idea what kind of yoga they actually practice. The “pop” answer based on its prevalence seems to be Hatha. Most people inform me they do Hatha. However, the only thing Hatha tells me is that they do yoga with postures and movement, vs. seated meditation or prayer–hardly surprising! 

What’s missing from the answer is an understanding of what we in classical yoga call “lineage.” That lineage should go back to a swami of some description in India. A few of the common lineages are Iyengar, Kripalu, Krishnamacharya, and Kundalini. Bikram, originally from India, has the distinction of bringing hot yoga to America, but then also fleeing the country to avoid facing prosecution for sex crimes. Not all Indian yoga is good yoga. Furthermore, teachers credentialed in a certain tradition may not be purists, branching off in various directions.

For practicality, let’s call yoga that isn’t associated with the lineage of a particular swami “Flow/Fitness” Yoga. 

There’s nothing wrong with “Flow/Fitness” Yoga. it’s what most people do: they “stumble” into a class at the local gym and get hooked. They’re not too interested in the back story, they just know that the class works for them.  They don’t really stop to read the instructor bio; besides, the instructor is too busy shepherding a large group through a sequence of poses to go into philosophy much. 

ORIGINS OF YIN YOGA

So let’s take some time here to delve into the origins of Yin yoga. There’s a good chance you’ve already taken more than one Yin yoga class by now. You know that it's super chill, uses supports like blocks, chairs, maybe bolsters and blankets if in a yoga studio. Most gyms won’t spring for expensive props, so you may be limited to blocks–that’s OK. There’s a heckuva lot you can do with blocks. 

Maybe your teacher gives you a few minutes to set up the supported stretches with names like “dragonfly” or “sleeping swan.” You’ll then spend several minutes in these supported stretches experiencing something between being torn limb-from-limb and a good nap.  Sometimes the teacher uses a timer. Each pose/side can take 3-5 minutes. You may leave class feeling a little tired as you’ve down-regulated (relaxed) your nervous system to the point where you just want to go to sleep; or, you might feel invigorated, having finally wrung some pent-up stress out of your body. 

So who was the mastermind that came up with this technique which seems to counter to the “Yang” (active, heat) world of fitness/flow yoga?  Well, it’s a little complicated, which is why pop yoga rarely addresses it. 

TWO PAULS ARE BETTER THAN ONE?

A teacher by the name of Paul Zink takes credit for essentially “inventing” Yin yoga. He merged a Hatha yoga practice with Chinese Taoist teachings; in fact, for a long time, it was referred to as Taoist or Tao (pronounced “dao”) yoga. He takes some offense to it being called “gentle” or focused on  “connective tissue.”  Zink finds anatomy and analysis too Western and reductionist; he’s trying to capture the spirit of the animals for which the poses are named. In his view, animals are the best athletes–they move by sensing and feeling, not thinking and analyzing.  

The thing with Paul Zink, aka “Paulie” to his students, is he’s a natural-born contortionist.  To say he’s hyperflexible would be an understatement.  He’s Cirque du Soleil material for sure. For people with less pliable bodies (and minds), his approach could be off-putting, if not dangerous. He calls out students for thinking they’re limited by genetics from being as flexible as he is.  That said, ever noticed how circus performance tends to be a family business? 

Enter Paul Grilley, aka “The Anatomy Yogi.”  Paul was a West Coast Ashtanga Yogi who had suffered injuries in the 1970’s, his impetus to begin training in anatomy under Dr. Garry Parker.  Through his training, he started to unlock answers to a persistent question: how come he could practice as diligently as another student (with a different body type), but have lesser results? He then saw Paulie Zink on TV in the late 1970’s. Dazzled by his flexibility, Paul joined Paulie’s Taoist Yoga class where he became interested in Chinese medicine and meridian theory–perhaps more so than Paulie Zink cared to teach. 

TURNING JAPANESE?

Then in the 1990’s, Paul Grilley met Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama, a Japanese expert in Chinese medicine and ventured to Tokyo to study with him. Through Dr. Motoyama’s teachings, Paul began to see the connection between the asana practices he had been doing, Chinese meridian theory, connective tissue, and applied anatomy.. 

Eventually, Paul Grilley combined his knowledge of anatomy, Taoist yoga, and meridian theory to manifest what most of us in America would recognize as Yin Yoga. One of his first fans was yoga celebrity Sarah Powers (Tibetan Rinpoche), who helped bring Yin into the mainstream.  

Paul Grilley does trainings around the world and I was lucky enough to take one in Santa Barbara. There, I spent 5 days un-learning/ re-learning anatomy with intermittent Yin practices that brought a level of flexibility to my body and quiet to my mind that more active yoga simply could not. 

So who started Yin Yoga: Paul or Pauli? What about Sarah Powers’s star power and Motoyama Sensei’s insights?  Either way, Yin Yoga is looking at Indian Hatha Yoga through the lens of Chinese Taoism. 

Is it just me, or does this sound like a recipe for an international HotDish?