Paul & Suzee Grilley: Please do, we are listening…

Muriel Burellier: Suzee you have been teaching next to Paul all those years could you share with us, what are the major change that you noticed from your practice and teaching.

Suzee: I have danced and taught dance nearly all my life, so it is natural for me to lead movement. What has evolved over the years of teaching with Paul is my ability to convey concepts using words. I am a dancer who is slowly learning to speak.

Muriel: very well, you are already very articulate and also you have a very good projection of your voice. Do you still perform?

Suzee: I study Taiko drumming for artistic nourishment

Sebastian: So do you carry the big drum around ? (Laugh) do you carry it?

Suzee: yes if you are playing it you have to carry it from your studio wherever you are playing it, yes! Lifting that drum is a huge part of the art of taiko playing.

Sebastian: you roll it ? .

Suzee : No Sebastian, you do not roll it! (laughter), you have to carry it. I should have stayed with dancing because you only have to carry your banged-up body around! (laughter).

(Suzee has to leave us she has an appointment)

Sebastian: Paul you are distinctly known for your expertise on anatomy and you are now offering 200 and 500 hours yin yoga teacher training, so how did those different levels came about and how did you finalize your teachings on chakras and meridians ?

Paul: there are two questions you are asking : how did yin yoga came about and how did the teacher training come about?
Yin Yoga came about because we were teaching (we meaning Suzee and I) yoga at another studio many years ago and studios like to give different classes different names so called it “Daoist Yoga”. This is because I had learned these long stretches from Paulie Zink and he calls his yoga Daoist Yoga, I thought this name would be very clearly alert potential students that what we teach is different.

Sebastian: so you were actually practicing a form of yin yoga but called Daoist yoga for 10 years?

Paul: yes, but when I started to get invitations to travel and teach the students knew nothing about yin yoga so I wanted to provide them with a manual to read. When it came time to publish the manual it did not seem right to call it Daoist Yoga because Paulie’s Daoist Yoga is much bigger than just yin yoga, it has martial art forms, it has movements like Qi Gong, it has many more elements than just floor postures. It did not seem correct to call our yoga Daoist Yoga because it was incomplete, that is why we changed the name to Yin Yoga.

As far as creating the Yin Yoga Teacher Training program, we were reluctant to do that for a long time. We didn’t want to create a “style” of yoga that was in competition with other styles. We thought of ourselves as hatha yoga and anatomy teachers. We didn’t want to compete with other styles, we just wanted students to expand their style to include both yin and yang aspects of yoga practice.

We used to promote ourselves as teaching “Anatomy for Yoga”, we wanted to teach students of all different styles of yoga the basics of skeletal variation, tension, and compression. But we found that people were reluctant to invest time and money into just an “anatomy program”. They were already investing time and money getting a certificate in their style of yoga and usually found the anatomy part of their program boring. But when we advertised our weekend programs as “Yin Yoga” programs people were very interested in attending. And when we introduced them to the anatomical ideas behind the practice they got genuinely excited.

So when it came time to create a teacher training program it didn’t seem like a good marketing plan to call it “Yoga Anatomy Teacher Training”, so we called it “Yin Yoga Teacher Training”.

We taught the basics of anatomy and yin yoga for over ten years before we decided to formalize the program. We originally marketed ourselves as a component of other TT programs, studios would hire us to teach the yin or anatomy component of their TT program. But as yin yoga slowly became more popular people starting contacting us and asking if they could get a teaching certificate from us. So the time came to create certificate program and the Yin Yoga Teacher Training program was born.

Sebastian: I guess that was what people were after..

Paul: It’s funny, Suzee and I are teaching the same basic anatomy ideas that we have for ten years, but now that it is called “Yin Yoga Teacher Training” our courses are much more popular. We hesitated for a while to create a TT program named “Yin Yoga” because we had tried for years NOT to create the image that yin yoga is in competition with other styles. So we had a little bit of conscience, was it the right thing to do or not ? but we eventually decided “oh, just let’s do it” and I think it has been very successful

Sebastian: yes it has..!

Paul: We think much of the success of our TT program is due to teachers like you, Sebastian and Muriel, teachers all over the world who have embraced these ideas and inspired their students. And also, years ago a student did not need a certificate to teach but now a certificate is becoming a requirement, so we are glad we can give them one ! (laughs…)

Sebastian: Paul, you mentioned in your website “you do not need to be certified to teach yin yoga”, is that right?

Paul: that is correct

Sebastian: … Have you come across Paulie Zink’s latest statement that he is the only source of a Yin Yoga teacher training certification?

Paul: no

Sebastian: what are your thoughts on that ?

Paul: I do not know, I have not ..is that his statement? Well you know I learned yin yoga from Paulie, actually Daoist yoga, so he certainly has the right to teach and to certify people, so I do not see a problem.

Sebastian: but he was not calling it yin yoga, he was calling his style Daoist yoga at the time

Paul: yes but everybody evolves, changes their names. In Suzee’s and my opinion Yin Yoga is not a trademark it is just a description. All of our students teach it slightly differently, some are more Hatha Yoga in background and others are more tai chi in background, and all of them are teaching some form of yin and we do not want to restrict them or limit their interpretation. And there are many other teachers who have never studied with us but have discovered yin yoga on their own, why should they not be allowed to call their yoga “yin yoga” ? It does not seem fair to trademark names like yin, or yang, or yoga, or Daoism, these are ancient, descriptive terms that belong to everyone.

Sebastian: but people get easily attached to the names

Paul: yes we do not want to be attached to the names

Sebastian: thank you…

Sebastian: The Yin Yoga practice may appear as basic and simple at first glance but as we know this is the tip of the iceberg, can you share some insights on the depth of a yin yoga practice?

Paul: I think that if you approach Yin Yoga as a physical practice and you are used to hard, physical exercise, then it might seem a very simple thing but if you think of yoga asana as a continuum, with the rhythmic movement of astanga vinyasa at one extreme and stillness of meditation at the other, then think of Yin Yoga as a bridge between the two.

The goal is stillness, and yin yoga is a way to practice stillness five minutes at a time. Some people find it very difficult to sit still for a long period of time but they can do a five minute yin pose. Yin practice slowly changes their nervous system and it gradually becomes easy for them to sit in meditation. Meditation is scary for many students, they think “Oh, I cannot sit still for ten or twenty minutes, my mind will explode!” But after they have grown accustomed to five minute yoga poses meditation seems a natural extension of their asana practice. Yin yoga is a practice of being calm but alert to what is going on inside, so it is a nice transition from physical movement to meditative stillness. Yin Yoga is a kind of a half-way house.

Sebastian: thank you , this really open the debate for the need of Yin Yoga !

Sebastian: You are referring a lot in your teaching of Doctor Motoyama and Paramahansa Yogananda, what attracted you in the first place at those two modern spiritual teachers and how have they influenced your personal teachings and practice?

Paul: what attracted me to them is that they write from first hand experience, they say “I experienced this”. Both of them talk about history and theory they also say “I experienced this.” Now even if they are wrong, even if they are mistaken or are deluded, I respect someone who says: “Here is the system and here is my experience of that system.” I respect that, I respond to that.

Paul: I believe in the theories of yoga meditation and I put much time into them but I have not reached the end point of those theories. When I wrote my book I was quoting theories but when Yogananda and Dr Motoyama wrote their books they were relating their personal experience of those theories. That was what inspired me to think: “This is not mythology, these are living ideas.” Yogananda died in 1951 and Dr Motoyama is still alive, they are modern authors and their experiences confirm what is written in the ancient books. When you read their biographies you discover they were both objective in their approach to yoga, they had a good balance of spiritual devotion and objective assessment. This is important, each generation has to test all these yogic theories otherwise they are just mythology, just a story.

Muriel: that is what was pushing them into those deep researches

Paul: yes and that is what drew me to them and what I try to be like in my work: I explain the theories, I am enthusiastic about them, I think they are important, but I try not to take offense if someone else does not believe in these theories because I could be wrong. I think that keeps a healthy emotional balance

Sebastian: Would you like to share some of your favorite quotes from those two spiritual giants?

Paul: (laugh…)
This is my favorite quote and it is not actually from either of them: it is from a poem by Kabir

Sebastian: from Sufism tradition?

Paul: yes , Kabir says ” if you have not lived through something it is not true ” (twice repeated)

Sebastian: food for thoughts indeed….You already partly responded to this so the stillness in yin yoga is very conducive to meditation, would you mind sharing some experiences you may have had during your personal practice? Talking about spiritual insights or realizations

Paul: I have had no visions or revelations of wisdom, or clairvoyance about the future or discovered if there is a god. My progress is primarily that I enjoy sitting, I enjoy being calm, I can hear the subtle sounds of the inner world. Meditation used to be a labor for me, a discipline to do. Now I find it fulfilling, and as I get older I seem less and less affected by desires for this world.

Sebastian: like disenchantment ?

Paul: I am not pessimist but I am no longer as ambitious. I used to say: “Oh, I want to be a great scientist or a famous novelist.” but those things do not affect me the way they used to. I still admire scientists and writers but there is no envy. I do not think I have arrived at a high spiritual state but it is an improvement from where I was.

Being married to yoga practitioner like Suzee has been a tremendous help. We talk about yoga philosophy every day, we examine our actions and thoughts. We encourage each other in the habits of meditation and self examination. When you compare the calmness of meditation with the feelings that follow wrong behavior and wrong thoughts, and you do that a thousand times, you eventually drop the bad behaviors and strengthen the good ones. I do not think this would have happened just by aging, I think it is due to putting yoga theory into practice.

Sebastian: so no siddhis, very down to earth…

Paul: no siddhis

Paul: I am still waiting….

Paul/Sebastian/Muriel: (laughs.. )

Sebastian: any plan of a second book at some point in the future or a dvd regarding the new meridians theory ?

Paul: anything is possible but we do not have any plans. I think the new scientific theories about chi and fascia are very interesting but there better qualified people to write about them, people like Deanne Juhan, Gerald Pollock, James Oschman, and Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama.

Sebastian: but these theories are not related to yoga…

Paul: hum.. Well these theories are intimately related to yoga, related to the theories of chi, prana, meridians and nadis that are fundamental to yoga theory. There are several acupressure and shiatsu books that demonstrate the relationship between energy movement and body positions. Sarah Powers has written a book that illustrates how meridians are affected by the yoga postures and Biff Mithoefer has created the “Yin Yoga Kit” that illustrates with flash cards which meridians are affected by which yoga postures. I do think the new theories about water and fascia are exciting and will impact the future of yoga theory and practice but I do not think that I am the guy who should write a book about these subjects, but perhaps I could compose an introductory article for our webpage.

Sebastian: Certainly looking forward to it.
Last one but not the least question, who is Jimmy Changa?
(Laughs )

Paul: he is a famous mexican yogi (laughs…) I heard he is a very sweet guy…

Sebastian: for us Europeans it does not ring a bell, we do not know…

Paul: Chimmy Changa is a mexican dish !! (More laughs ) so that is our joke about students wanting more “Chimmy Changas” during their vinyasa practice.

Sebastian: thank you very much

Paul: you are welcome !

The post Paul & Suzee Grilley Exclusive Interview On Anatomy, Meditation & Laughter appeared first on With Yin Yoga.

Enjoy the viewing…

The post Look Inside with Yin Yoga Video appeared first on With Yin Yoga.

In Yoga we talk about 3 stage of nature or the 3 gunas.
Rajas (Yang) or a dynamic state, Tamas (Yin)  or a passive state and Sattvic or
(Tao) the state of balance and clarity.

Yoga is about finding balance…

Yang Yoga: Is associated with movement or Vinyasa which require muscle contraction,building physical strength and stamina,it also fortify weak articulation.The faster pace help the practitioner to detoxified and improve the flow of Prana throughout the body.

Yin Yoga: In the opposite emphasize maximum de-contraction,the different joints in the body are targeted, holding the posture for longer time in a relaxed manner allowing the practitioner to lengthen the connective tissues around the joint in order to create more space.The slow pace allow the practitioner to direct the Qi toward different part of the body,and practice breath integration.

Yin Yoga is the perfect practice to complete a more Yang style, in this workshop we will explore both in order to balance our energetic body and reach a state of harmony.

Theory

Learning about Yin&Yang Philosophy
(Coexistence and interconnectedness…)

Understanding Yin-Yoga Vs Yang-Yoga
(Differences between those 2 practices)

Exploring the 3 main tissues for Yoga practice
(Bones, Muscle and connective Tissues)

Discovering Tension Vs Compression
(The limitation of every Asanas)

Practice

• Looking at the 20 mains Yin Yoga poses with variation
• 2 Yin-Yoga Session including Pranayama & Meditation
• 2 Yin-Yang Vinyasa Flow Session including Pranayama & guided

Day 1 :   Morning Session “Opening Prana Flow”
Afternoon Session “Finding Stillness”

Day 2 :  Morning Session “The Quiet Practice”
Afternoon Session “From Strength to Softness”

This workshop is designed to benefit beginners and advanced practitioners alike.

The post Workshop Foundation of Yin-Yoga Theory & Practice appeared first on With Yin Yoga.

In Chinese medicine, the function of organs is not only measured by the anatomical roles they play, but by their energetic constitutions as well. There are 12 major Meridians in the body connected to 12 principal organs which can be positively affected by doing Yoga poses.

Going deeper into the practice of Yin-Yoga will promote the removal of blockages and stagnation of energy, enhancing the flow of Qi to stimulate the function of the Meridians & main Organs restoring & balancing our physical, energetic and emotional health through the practice of the Yin-Yoga Meridian Series.

Theory

Introduction to the 5 Elements Theory 
(Supportive and controlling cycle)

Approaching the Meridians System
(Meridians location and relation to the organs)

Understanding the Flow of Chi
(Chi Movement, and Different type of Chi)
And much more…

Practice

8 Tao Series & Qi-Qong Stances/ Yin-Yoga Sequence according to the Elements and Meridians.

Including Pranayama & Guided Shavasana.

This workshop is designed to benefit beginners and advanced practitioners alike.

The post Yin-Yoga “The Meridian Series” Part 1 & 2 appeared first on With Yin Yoga.

The practice of YIN-YOGA is naturally evolving toward meditation, as Yogi our effort on the path go toward an understanding of the nature of the mind.

YIN-YOGA spontaneously bring us closer to this understanding, the calmness and relaxed approached allow the practitioner to integrate more easily breath awareness, the Asanas are design mainly to open the lower body which enable oneself to sit for longer time and lessen discomfort. Ready to practice and explore MEDITATION.

Theory

Looking at the main sitting Meditation Postures
(Adjustment and relaxation in the posture)

Learning the relation between Yoga and Meditation
(Why Hatha Yoga is the preparation for meditation ?)

Studying the 5 Hindrances to Meditation
(The obstacles to Meditation and how to overcome them)

Exploring the 8 Limbs of Raja-Yoga & the 8 Jhanas
(The spiritual path of Yoga & the Meditative absorption)

Practice

4 Yin-Yoga Session including Pranayama & guided Shavasana

4 Introduction Meditation Session based on breath awareness, Concentration & visualization

The post Yin-Yoga & Meditation Workshop appeared first on With Yin Yoga.

No need to look too far to grasp the concept of impermanence, from the invariable cycle of the seasons or even the natural growth of our own body…

It becomes quite clear that nothing last… neither the sunny days nor the comfort of youth, like the day rises, shines and diminishes as soon as we are born to this life we are in a process of decay, each moment rising is passing away at the same time, the seed of impermanence is entangled straight away from our very birth.

Looking at impermanence is to look at our own mortality.

But we are keen to forget and behave like we own the future instead of celebrating the present…

It is a little intimidating to face this ultimate truth and to accommodate oneself with it, we might be reluctant to re-member our mortality persisting on holding our right to life.

If only we can invite an attitude of acceptance and cultivate a little bit more surrender in our daily life, it will blossom with more stability, helping us in the making of a peaceful mind.

It is said that there are two levels of impermanence:

1. Gross—change of matter happening over long periods of time.

2. Subtle—inner changes of mind and invisible changes of matter happening in the shortest part of a second, the rising and passing from moment to moment.

Our mind cannot perceive subtle changes of matter happening at the particle level; it can only see the gross changes from day to day, hour to hour. From the obvious to the more refine nothing escape the law of impermanence.

If we can remember impermanence and death, we have the understanding to prevent the arising of negative state of mind such as greed, ignorance, hatred, pride, jealousy and so forth… cause of discomfort, suffering and confusion.

Facing the shortness of the human life unfolds on enough discernment, appreciation and insight towards it, to somehow ease those unwholesome states of mind.

It is most important to acquaint oneself with this self-evident principle, by doing so we are blessed with a sense of deep freedom a sense of timelessness, by embracing impermanence we touch the very core of our existence, some people are so fearful of death that they are afraid to live, yet there is a beautiful truth to apprehend by accepting this process of constant change.

This remembrance is greatly useful at the time of death, contemplating it on a daily basis transforms death as an ally, and offers a substantial tool to ease the mind from the fear of letting go, embracing this final stage with peace at heart.

“Life is the companion of death, death is the beginning of life. Who understands their workings? Man’s life is a coming together of breath. If it comes together, there is life; if it scatters, there is death. And if life and death are companions to each other, then what is there for us to be anxious about?” (Daoist philosophy)

Meditation of course is one of the most reliable practices to embrace, in order to cultivate a healthy bond with impermanence, however the practice of Yin-Yoga is also of tremendous help.

The Yin energy ultimately is an energy of surrender, acceptance and letting-go…

It is with this mind-set and heart quality that the Yin-Yogi approaches the mat, accepting everything, holding onto nothing attitude, as we hold the position for longer time; three to five minutes often we come across discomfort, Yin-Yoga prepares you to stay with intense or unwanted sensations that arise, learning to cultivate an equanimous response towards the present moment.

Whenever we start to feel stress or tension building in our system, we will try to divert our attention to the breath awareness and the heart center cultivating relaxation and surrender, combining meditation and Asanas.

For Patanjali, Ishvara Pranidhana or (surrender) is a potent method for dissolving the endless agitations of the mind; it is also the step where attentiveness describes the practice.

Clearing the way and allowing oneself to harmonize responses with what “is”, rather than using our energy to compete against what is inevitable. As we let go of our willful need of reacting to discomfort, we learn to poise the moment, allowing transformation to take place or at least the possibility of a different approach or attitude.

As Aitken Roshi, modern Zen teacher said “Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world, but accepting that they pass away.” (Aitken Roshi)

The post PERMANENT IMPERMANENCE… or Yin-Yoga the practice of Surrender. appeared first on With Yin Yoga.

Hot Yoga, Power Yoga, Zen Yoga, Laughing Yoga, Dharma Yoga … just to name a few. (All those styles are part of Hatha-Yoga)

No wonders, that the aspirant Yogi find it difficult to pinpoint the style suitable to his needs.

Coming back to the source from the Yoga Sutra of Pattanjali it is said:

Sutra 1. 2 yogash citta-vrtti-nirodah

Yoga occurs when the perturbations “Vritti” : whirlings, spinning, and agitations of “Citta” :  the mind-field  dissolve, cease, and become still “nirodha“.

To keep it simple, yoga is a discipline to quiet and still the mind…

Any style that is providing a sense of serenity to the practitioner is giving justice to Yoga.

Yin Yoga is a style of yoga where you will explore this quality of quietness and stillness more than any other style, Yin “passive” as opposite of Yang “dynamic”.

The main ingredients in this practice are the relaxation of the body and the length of time that the posture is held for.

Keeping the body relaxed allows the practitioner to actually go deeper into the stretch and explore the full range of motion of the joint because Yin Yoga is targeting the connective tissues (cartilages, tendons, ligaments, fascias) rather than the muscles, connective tissues are responding to stimuli much slower than the muscle.

Holding the posture for longer time, and keeping the muscles relaxed allow the Yogi to access and lengthen the connective tissues.

Yin Yoga is opening the structural body: with a regular practice it will enable the practitioner to gain a much greater flexibility.

This is for the physical aspect of the practice.

Yin Yoga is actually focusing more on the lower limbs in order to open the hips, legs and lower back, this to prepare the practitioner for longer seating.

Why seating?

The Sanskrit word “Asanas” posture literally mean to seat.

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali suggests that the only requirement for practicing Asanas is to be steady “Sthira” and comfortable “Sukham“.

The body is held poised, and relaxed in the posture with the practitioner experiencing no discomfort, being able to breathe effortlessly.

Those are very much the quality of Yin-Yoga, The nature of this practice allows the Yogi to integrate the breath without difficulties, keeping unity of mind and body.

Most of the time the Yin-Yogi remains in the pose with closed eyes to move from external to internal awareness enabling the  withdrawal of the senses from his sense object “Pratyahara“.

The practice of Asanas is very important primarily to restore and maintain the practitioner’s well being, improve the body’s flexibility and vitality.

It is not the Vinyasa, and strenuous postures that will get the Yogi enlightened or experience higher states of consciousness.

But it is the practice of “Pranayama” integration of mind and body through Breathing exercises and “Dyana” Meditation which enable the Yogi to alter his consciousness. Asanas are the preparation for meditation.

It is laborious to enter “Dharana” Concentration of the mind when oneself keeps moving and changing position. It is the quality of stillness of the physical body, which allows stillness of the mind.

When the body becomes still the real nature of the mind is revealed stepping into the field of meditation.

The post Why YIN-YOGA..? or Yin-Yoga Vs Pattanjali appeared first on With Yin Yoga.