Yin will force you to become still, find peace, overcome mental challenges and emotions and build resilience to stresses. 

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The principle of all exercise is to stress tissue so the body will respond by strengthening and stretching it. Yin is different and works by moderately stressing the joints rather than the muscles. Connective tissue and facia is different from muscle and needs to be exercised differently.

 

Instead of the rhythmic contraction and release that best stretches muscle, connective tissue responds best to a slow, steady load. If you gently stretch connective tissue by holding a yin pose for a long time, the body will respond by making longer and stronger—which is exactly what you want.

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Although connective tissue is found in every bone, muscle, and organ, it’s most concentrated at the joints. In fact, if you don’t use your full range of joint flexibility, the connective tissue will slowly shorten to the minimum length needed to accommodate your activities. If you try to flex your knees or arch your back after years of underuse, you’ll discover that your joints have been “shrink-wrapped” by shortened connective tissue.

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Using props such as bolsters, pillows, blankets and blocks together will will work on mat based poses to hold and let gravity work the magic. Still your mind and body.