Yin Yoga is becoming more and more popular with each coming year. Is this a new yoga or similar in any way to traditional Hatha Yoga. Something new and different has the elements of attracting new interest but are new methods really new or just rediscoveries of tried an tested systems from ages past? Well I particularly like Yin Yoga and for the following reason, that it concentrates on allowing the body to find it’s own natural range of movement without the extra emphasis on reaching that little bit further that can take one into the realm of strain. This is very important because what I have found is that although it may feel and look more pleasing to the eye to exhibit a ‘flat back’ say in Paschimottanasana, forward bend, does it have to be that way. In fact when we go forward in this pose if we do so with a flat back then we target the lower back muscles which may strain if we push too hard. But if we go forward in a more yielding way and with a more rounded back then the whole of the back comes into play and as we experience the pose becoming more free, we can then lengthen into a more ‘flat back’ position which by then becomes more a movement involving the whole body and a safer method of practice. In fact older pictures of yogis doing this posture do in fact exhibit a more rounded back whilst showing these postures.In fact if we take on a softer approach to our practice than we may find that the way we naturally tend to move into postures can often be safer than learned and drilled ways of practice. What I’m saying is that as yoga has moved and fashioned itself into the modern era, the shape of the postures has also taken on a new appearance. Yin yoga in many ways allows this ‘See how it feels for you’ sense to be active within us and a less rigid approach to our yoga.