Last month, I talked about Yin versus Yang energies. And I introduced the notion that we could benefit from more Yin-like experiences to balance out the prevalent Yang-like activities in most of our lives.
This month, I’m offering you the perfect opportunity to experience this! In my May Therapeutic Yoga workshop, we’re going to learn how to stretch our joints. Yes, you heard me right…. We’re going to STRETCH our joints!
Now I know what you’re thinking… “Sheetal, you’re nuts! You’re not supposed to stretch your joints – you can really hurt yourself by stretching them!” And my response is that you are absolutely correct…. IF you are thinking of stretching your joints in the same manner that you stretch your muscles. IF you try to use the same type of approach then you may most certainly harm your joints and that is NOT recommended!
Ok – so now that I’ve completely confused you, let me explain further…
At our joints, we primarily have a variety of connective tissue – things like tendons, ligaments and fascia. All of these things bind or “connect” the muscles, organs and systems of our bodies. Without connective tissue, we would not be able to hold our “shape” as humans.
When compared to muscle, connective tissue is Yin (hard and inelastic) while muscle is Yang (soft and elastic). This key difference is EXACTLY why we cannot exercise and stretch connective tissue, or for our purposes – our joints, the same way that we exercise and stretch our muscles.
This idea of exercising and stretching the joints at all may seem foreign to most people. We all understand and accept that exercising and stretching our muscles are important because that’s how we can stay strong and flexible. But working our joints & bone is equally as important.
To quote Paul Grilley, a leading authority on Yin Yoga which focuses on joint health:
I have known many muscularly powerful adults who are physically incapacitated or uncomfortable because of joint problems…. Bad ankles, bad backs, bad knees – these are the injuries that force athletes to retire and old people to shuffle around. Yin Yoga postures gently stretch and rehabilitate the connective tissue that form our joints.
So while taking that run, weight training, cycling, power & flow yoga are all great examples of working the Yang parts of our bodies (like muscles), therapeutic and yin yoga are effective methods for exercising the Yin parts (like our joints). Both are important and for most of us, it’s matter of learning how to balance the two in a way that suits our own bodies.
That’s why I’ve chosen the topic of “Maintaining Healthy Joints” as the focus for this month’s Therapeutic Yoga Workshop. The manner in which therapeutic yoga and yin yoga postures are experienced is very similar; thus, including some yin yoga as part of our therapeutic yoga practice is natural.
Check the Anyone Can Do YOGA calendar for dates/times and locations. Remember… Happy Joints lead to a Healthy Body! 🙂