YIN YOGA
history
The concept of Yin Yoga was initially founded in the 1970s by Paulie Zink, an American Martial Arts Expert and Taoist Yoga Teacher. Master Zink developed this style of movement by combining the postural practice of Hatha Yoga with Taoist philosophy. At the time it was referred to as Yin-Yang Yoga because it consisted of both passive Yin poses and active Yang poses.
Yin poses promote growth, clear energetic blockages, and enhance circulation of blood, oxygen, and Qi (chi/prana/life-force), while Yang poses develop core strength and muscle tone, improve balance, and increase stamina.
Paul Grilley became a student of Master Zink’s Yin-Yang Yoga classes in the late 1980s and enjoyed the long held passive poses. Then, Paul Grilley began offering “all-Yin” practices to his own Hatha students, which became popular and motivated him to develop Yin Yoga further. He developed an academic curriculum based on anatomy, his own philosophy and theories, and Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama’s scientific research on the chakra system and acupuncture meridians from Traditional Chinese Medicine.
At the time, Paul was calling his practice “Taoist Yoga” because that was how Paulie Zink referred to the practice. When Sarah Powers teamed up with Paul Grilley, she coined the term “Yin Yoga” by pointing out that the postures they were offering were primarily Yin, not equally Yin and Yang. Both Grilley and Powers continued to expand Yin Yoga further, popularizing it in North America and Europe. Yin Yoga as taught by Paul Grilley only has gentle, passive poses, and it not intended as a complete movement practice or exercise regimen. Yin Yoga was developed to complement active forms of Yoga and exercise
“It was never my intention to promote Yin Yoga as an independent system of asana practice because Yin Yoga is, by definition, incomplete. It was and is my intention to promote Yin Yoga as a supplement to Yang forms of exercise.”