I’ve recently joined a yoga studio, as a way of honouring my own mind/body/spirit connection and supporting my holistic wellness. This has been a wonderful experience on many levels, and one yoga philosophy in particular has really impacted the way I talk about healing – so much that I’ve used it in sessions with clients multiple times since!

Yin yoga is a restorative class that focuses on gentler, deeper healing. It’s meant to support the connective tissue (joints, cartilage, and fascia) to heal rather than simply stretching the muscles, and this is done through the stillness of holding each pose at a gentle level of stretch for longer than traditional yoga classes. The philosophy in this class is that if you support the muscles fully, they feel safe enough to relax – and this is when the connective tissue begins to heal. However, if the muscles don’t have the needed level of support and safety, they can’t relax, and the connective tissue doesn’t get the same benefits.

I love analogies and this is such a beautiful one for emotional healing as well.

We all walk on this earth with our own unique painful experiences, whether it is past abuse or trauma, job stress, difficult relationships, or feeling like we can’t let our true selves out, or something else entirely. In order to be able to heal our deeper issues and pain, we need to feel supported and safe.

Often clients come to see me who have such a high desire or motivation to heal that they (consciously or unconsciously) try to power through their emotions and experiences in order to speed up the process – who wouldn’t want to feel better faster, right?!?

Unfortunately, speeding up isn’t always faster with therapy – and sometimes we need to slow down in order to go faster. It doesn’t make sense in some ways, but if we think about the philosophy with yin yoga, where support and safety are needed, and poses are held longer, it starts to fit more.

We need to feel safe and supported in healing, whether that’s in a therapy session, a yoga class, or in our own lives. And these things can take time to build. We also need patience for ourselves, for the process, and for the discomfort (aka the “icky” feelings) that come up as we meet ourselves more fully.

We all need community and support in our journeys – if you’re feeling alone or in need of a support system, look into your local health and wellness options, join a yoga studio to try it out, or connect with a therapist in your area.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts below, or contact me with any questions or comments.

Have a beautiful day!