Yin Yoga The Foundations of a Quiet Practice
Join popular yoga teacher Paul Grilley for a comprehensive introduction to this quiet yet profound practice. This definitive set will provide you with everything you need to begin a complete Yin Yoga practice. In addition to the carefully planned classes that teach you how to practice, there are additional lecture materials that explain why Yin Yoga is an essential complement to Yang forms of yoga and a necessary practice for living a balanced life.
This 2-disc set contains over 5 1/2 hours of material, including: nearly 2 hours of theory lecture; 2 fully guided Yin practice sequences of over 60 minutes each; 1 fully guided Yin & Yang practice sequence of 60 minutes; 3 specially choreographed Yang sequences; 8 voice-only guided Yin sequences of adjustable length; Customizable playback of the Yin and Yang practices to create new sequences.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars body,rather then soul , but very good for both.
I liked the concept that slow motion is effective for long journeys.I like the chubby, not too muscular and not too flexible instructor, and most I liked staying in the poses for whole five minutes. It is so relaxing,sweet surrender into the body and yet one feels having control over it, mooving like a dancer few weeks after beginning to practice.
5 Stars Amazing
Paul Grilley is an amazing teacher. A wealth of knowledge and insights. I have had the opportunity to take his workshops, and the dvd’s are close. there is nothing like ‘the real’ thing, and I highly recommend taking one of Paul’s workshops… but the dvd’s are close in depth of theory.
5 Stars good for back pain
I have been practicing yoga for many years now. I recently tore a ligament in my back while running. I was a regular practictioner of “astanga” yoga, but have since had to reluctantly give it up. When I tried to return to practice, and my instructor recommended this DVD. After doing the spinal series, I was able to enjoy a few hours without ANY pain. I have not been without pain in months! As with anything, it may not be for everyone, but it fills me with hope and a positive outlook upon returning to an active lifestyle.
5 Stars Review by a yin yoga teacher
I am a certified yoga teacher, have taught yin yoga for two years, and been familiar with Paul Grilley’s work for quite some time. Allow me to let you in a secret - yin yoga is simply holding standard yoga postures longer (2-5 minutes) and trying to relax the muscles during the poses. There is nothing complicated about a yin practice, and it is particularly useful for beginners, the chronically ill, seniors, and anyone wanting or needing to have the time during a yoga practice to go deeply inward. Grilley has renamed traditional hatha yoga postures (for example he calls pigeon “swan pose”) so there aren’t any new postures to learn. It is the way of practicing these postures that is unique.
I tend to dislike the packaging and branding of yoga “styles” as a commercial endeavor, however Yin Yoga: The Foundations of a Quiet Practice is extremely well done and worth owning. One strength of the DVD is Grilley’s detailed explanation of anatomy and theory. He explains how yin yoga affects fascia and connective tissue and why practicing yoga this way can be so transformative to the body and mind. The DVD serves not only as a practice tool, but as a source of education about the role of connective tissue and fascia in the body. Grilley has brought the philosophy behind cranial sacral massage to yoga. The results are transformative.
The second strength of the DVD is the well thought out organizational format. The DVD contains a stand alone lecture for background information. The individual yin practices are broken into categories, such as hip openers, and there are also three yang sequences. What is particularly ingenious is that the viewer has two narration choices for the sequences. You can choose detailed narration with explanations and anatomical cues, or you can choose to have a more quiet practice with minimal narration. Grilley is very skilled at narrating, and his cues and explanations are informative without being distracting. I appreciate his emphasis on the individuality of a person’s practice and that yoga is about making a pose your own. Viewers learn that yoga is not about exactly imitating the teacher or following some preconceived notion of what a posture should look like. With that approach towards yoga, he uses the models in the DVD to show how people experience poses differently. For example he compares a very flexible model to a stiffer one, showing how in pigeon the very limber person achieves a spine stretch, while the stiffer person experiences primarily a hip stretch. Do not heed other reviewers’ criticism of this DVD as being inappropriate for beginners or seniors. Grilley uses models with a range of flexibility, however the DVD could have been stronger if he used one model that needed the aid of props for certain poses. His overall message of making a yoga pose work for your individual body will make even a stiff beginner feel comfortable trying a yin yoga practice. Lastly, there are several bonus routines that feature only a still picture of the pose, and timed prompts to move onto the next posture. This section is great for someone who knows the postures already, and is seeking minimal guidance through a routine. This section really allows you to go deeply inward in silence. You get a lot of bang for your buck with this DVD. Grilley’s lecture is similar to the $150-200 he charges for a workshop, and the multitude of practice choices on the DVD will keep you challenged for a long time.
5 Stars Great restorative practice!
I have studied many styles of yoga, and Yin is one of my favorites, but you need to have this master DVD to really understand the full implications of the practice and how to do it. Yin gets to the core of connective tissue and holds each stretch for several minutes, allowing full stretching and relaxation of the muscles and tissue. It works along various meridians, and I could not live without doing this at least twice a week. This DVD is great because one disk is a full explanation of the practice and the other is a series of one hour, 30 minute, and even shorter practices, with and without verbal instruction and music, so you can choose what you want to do, and it provides options for stretches that are too challenging or too simple. A wonderful DVD.
