Dogwood Studios is excited for the return of Yin Yoga.

We are bringing Yin back for Service Week benefiting Healing Pines Respite. Service Week will include 2 Yin classes: Friday Evening Yin with Sam and on Saturday Leesann will teach Restorative Yin and Yoga Nidra. 

  • Friday November 4th Sam will be hosting Yin Yoga at 6:15 pm with an In Person Option and an Online Option

  • Saturday November 5th Leesann will be hosting Restorative Yin and Yoga Nidra (online only) at 6:00 pm.

  • Both of these classes are donation based classes to benefit respite for women with cancer or within 3 years of treatment therefore you will not be able to use your subscription to sign up for the class.

  • Read more about Service Week on last week’s blog.

We will continue to offer Yin Yoga the first Friday of the month at 6:15 pm with an In Person and an Online option for attendance. If this time is not available, you can find a selection of 6 different Yin classes on our video library which allows you to practice at times convenient for you.

Yin is a style of yoga practice that incorporates more yin focused activities. In our Yin classes you do not stand and practice Yang type poses, like Warriors poses or Downward Facing Dog. Yin poses fall into 5 main archetypes and targets: 1) outer hips/shoulders, 2) front body,  3) back body, 4) Inner legs, and 5)Twists.  In a Yin class you gently hold postures with relaxed muscles. Props can help support the body and support levels of intensity. During each pose, you have the opportunity to explore a mindful practice using an anchor like your breath or enjoying the quiet time as your body’s target area responds to the healthy stress of the body’s connective tissues. Paul Grilley explains how you would want to approach Yin with an analogy of exercising your teeth. Wiggling a tooth around will make it fall out, but if you wear braces, you slowly change the position of the tooth. 

Yin yoga provides opportunity to spend more time in places you live in less and time learning how we hold our bodies and relate to the body with the mind and emotions. The teacher offers the pose and the target, and helps the students find a variation that supports their needs. Yin is a patient practice. The teacher will time the pose, so you do not have to worry about it. You are welcome to stay shorter or longer, and also adjust for comfort as you stay. Yin yoga commonly invites exploring more time in a pose, lying, kneeling and seated poses that provide you the opportunity to focus on the different layers of the body with relaxed muscles and target the hips, low back, inner and outer legs, shoulders, chest, and arms. Each pose is linked to a target and there are dozens of ways to shape the body to find the target, for example outer hips target reclined on your back or prone. The teacher will guide you. 

We hope you join us for a contemplative Yin practice, the first Friday of the month, 6:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on November 4th, December 2nd, January 6th, February 3, March 3rd, March 31 and May 5th.

Reach out to us with your questions at info@dogwoodstudioyoga.com. We are here to help.

SAM Sather, founder of Dogwood Studios, is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT), individualizes the yoga practice with appropriate modifications for participants’ unique bodies and medical histories with a focus on finding calm and improving health. She offers several live, online and in person yoga classes as well as private sessions so you can focus on your needs one-on-one.