I haven't been able to exercise or work on mobility much over the past three years. The past couple of years have been filled with chronic pain, migraines, and autoimmune flares. There are times I can hardly eat with my esophageal ulcers from my esophageal Crohn's flares. The last thing you want to do during these times of pain is workout or work on your mobility. I found that on "really good days" I was able to try low impact workouts for short periods of time like the elliptical that is easy on the joints. Swimming was also another low impact workout that I could enjoy. Yet, I could only enjoy these workouts on the best of health days and those don't come very often. Without being able to consistently build some endurance, the pain of basically starting from the beginning each time was mentally draining. And let's be clear that when I say workout I'm not talking about what most people consider a workout. I'm talking about a really low impact, slow, and break filled workout. lol. However, when I started trying yoga, things changed for me.
I started trying some Vinyasa flows for working out. The breath with movement helped me while practicing with chronic pain. And to my surprise working on strength, flexibility, and balance with these workouts helped my pain. I could be sore from the workouts, but my body really responded to the gentle movement in positive ways. I happened to be lucky enough to have chosen Julia Marie's 30 day Yoga Challenge because she builds in break days with Yin and Restorative yoga. I immediately fell in love with this type of yoga and I will always be grateful that she included this in her yoga challenge. While Vinyasa Yoga is great to practice on better health days, Yin Yoga can be enjoyed every day. Even on "bad health days" I can still enjoy Yin Yoga. Yes, there are horrible health days when I don't do any type of yoga, but these days are rare because I can still enjoy Yin on rough health days.
Yin is wonderful to practice after a Vinyasa flow workout or before bed. I love to practice Yin every night, well every night that my body allows, before I go to bed and it helps me sleep better with less pain. It also helps my pain for the next day. Yin is designed to delve deeper into the body by holding poses longer. In this way, Yin is able to work on joints, fascia, and connective tissue along with muscle. It's really remarkable to be able to access these areas where chronic pain loves to linger. In Yin you go into a pose and find your first edge. With the help of breathing and gravity, you start to be able to move pass your edge and really start to find the benefits of Yin. There are a lot of poses that seem intimating at first, but once you start to use breathing techniques and become acquainted with Yin, then you are able to enjoy the benefits of these harder poses. Breathing through the edge or slight discomfort in the stretches also helps one deal with chronic pain. The teachings of Yin can be used every day with chronic pain. I'm not saying that Yoga can heal your Autoimmune or Chronic Disorders, but it can improve one's quality of life and that's something everyone with these conditions wants. Even if you don't have a Chronic Disorder, I believe Yin can improve your quality of life. I know there is almost a stigma with yoga in the Chronic Illness community because so many people suggest yoga or act like it can heal you, but Yin can help with quality of life and how to deal with chronic pain. I have been practicing Yin for the past couple of months and seen its effects. Please give it a try and don't let the stigma stop you from trying something that could open so many benefits for you. Yin is really like a day at the spa for the body. The poses can be uncomfortable to hold while you're working through your edge, but once you come out of the pose the targeted areas feel so much better. At the end of the practice, your body will feel so much better, not just better with chronic pain, but feeling refreshed and relaxed. That's why I say yin is like a day at the spa for your body.
I was very skeptical at first. Yoga was another thing to check off the very long list of things to try for better health. I had tried yoga several times in the past. I even took a yoga class in college, but I never continued with any of the practices because I hadn't found the right type of yoga. I also thought I needed to go to classes in person, which can be extremely difficult or impossible for me. Finding online resources and apps changed everything. I was now able to practice when I felt my "best" during the day and I could practice before bed to help with pain and sleep. I am going to list my favorite resources below. I am also going to list the Spotify playlists and essential oils I love to use with my practice. I hope you will find relief and better quality of life with these resources. If you have favorite resources please share in the comments!
May you be well :)
~Brooke
"Everything you need, your courage, strength, compassion, and love; everything you need is already within you." -Anonymous
The Yin Yoga app is great! It's $6.99 for the app and that is a one time purchase. Please note I'm not affiliated with any of the resources I've listed. I just really want to share the resources I finally found that help and that I love to use. This app only has Yin Yoga and it is incredible because it is the first app I have found that allows me to make my own Yin sequences! I absolutely love this app and there are so many pre-made sequences with specific focuses as well. Definitely worth buying! Best $6.99 I've spent! :)
I am officially in love with the Down Dog App. It lets you select your type of yoga, length of practice, time, and even a specific thing you want to focus on. And the best part is that every practice is different! I'm amazed. They offer specials and I paid $23.99 for the year. That's $2 a month! Incredible that it could be so cheap for such an incredible resource. They also have a form to fill out if you are not able to pay for the app because they want this yoga app to be available to everyone. On good health days, I love to practice the "Full Practice" yoga that is a Vinyasa flow. I will select and practice Restorative on bad health days. I select Yin before bed to help with sleep. I try to practice Yin every night. There's several other practice types to choose from as well.
This is where my yoga journey to better health all began. You can access many of Julia Marie's courses on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and on the Psychetruth Wellness website or app. I love the Psychetruth Wellness practices. There's so many amazing instructors. I absolutely love Julia Marie and I love that she incorporates Yin Yoga days into her Vinyasa courses. You can always go to her courses and find a great Yin or Restorative Yoga session! And if you really want to improve your strength, flexibility, and balance, then her Vinyasa Yoga sessions are amazing! She always give modifications so that everyone can go at their own pace.
I love this book and it has become a great resource! If you want to learn more about the poses, modifications, and make your own sequences, then I highly recommend this book. If you feel you're doing a pose wrong or need to modify it, then this book is the resource! It's great to have on hand to help with your practices.
My Favorite Spotify Playlists to Enjoy with Yin:
One of my favorite aspects of the Down Dog App is that you can choose to listen to just the voice and not the music. I really love having the option to pick my own music. I think it's really important to pick music for each practice depending on your mood and what you want out of your practice. Music is so important and helps with emotional release and healing during the practice. Here is a list of some of the Spotify playlists I frequently use in my yin practice.
Peaceful Summer Nights (click here)
Peaceful Retreat (click here)
Peaceful Music Instrumental (click here)
Peaceful Piano Music (click here)
Calm Classics (click here)
Instrumental Background (click here)
Soft Irish Music (click here). This light and airy music helps boost the mood. Love to picture being in the place where this music originates. I think it's great to have some music from different cultures that can help transport you to another place during your yin practice.
Indian Music (click here). If there is something really heavy on your heart, then this playlist that inspires deeper mediation is perfect.
My Favorite Essential Oils to Enjoy with Yoga:
I love making my own blends to put in my diffuser, but it is so nice to have essential oil yoga blends on hand! I have been collecting these essential oil yoga blends from Jade Bloom and I now have a complete set. I absolutely love these blends! It is so nice to be able to quickly grab a blend to put in the diffuser and use for my yoga practice. These really enhance the yoga experience and help clear the mind and relax the body. You can buy these as a set or as individual blends (click here). I love being able to use a blend to match my mood or my practice. I don't think I could pick a favorite, but the Om is really helpful when dealing with emotions for me and the Savasana is extremely relaxing for yin. The Citta is great for focus and is probably better for Vinyasa flow. The Namaste really helps me have a peaceful session. I mix 20 drops of the Ananda with 2 oz of witch hazel in a spray bottle to use on my mat as recommended by Jade Bloom. I absolutely love the smell of my mat after I use the spray! These are definitely worth trying! Love not having to take extra time to make a blend and saving time getting to my practice. I hope they will be as helpful to you as they have been to me! :)
Hello Anna :) Thanks so much! Yin is amazing for sleep! I hope you will be able to get a great night's sleep with this practice!
Yin Yoga sounds absolutely amazing! I love that it can be done even on difficult/exhausted days. And hearing that it feels like a "spa for your body" just makes it sounds incredible. I can imagine putting on my spa-like smelling nightly moisturizer and doing yin yoga and just having the most peaceful sleep! Definitely going to try this out! And the Down Dog App looks so cool! I love that a lot of the things you shared you are able to customize to your own needs! Perfect for everyone! Thank you for sharing!