🧘🏻‍♀️Our First Yin Yoga class!

Sat Nam, and Welcome in!

We had our first Yin class this week, and we all went to bed that night wondering what the heck had happened to our bodies! I got this text at 10 pm:

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WHY AM I SO WIPED OUT?!

That’s a great question — so I looked it up! Yin Yoga might look gentle, but it’s actually a deep dive into your body’s parasympathetic and fascial systems. Here’s what’s happening under the hood when you feel that bone-deep tiredness afterward:

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🧠 1. Nervous System Downshift

Yin Yoga activates the parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest and digest” branch — through long, still holds and slow breathing.

• When you stay in a posture for several minutes, vagal tone increases, heart rate drops, and cortisol levels begin to lower.

• The body exits its usual low-grade fight-or-flight mode. That shift feels relaxing, but it also demands energy to recalibrate the nervous system — like switching from high-alert to deep repair.

• The result: a kind of nervous system hangover — heavy limbs, slowed thoughts, a deep need to sleep or be still.

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🦴 2. Fascia Rehydration and Release

Yin postures target fascial tissue — the body’s connective web that surrounds muscles and organs.

• Gentle, sustained stress signals fibroblasts to produce hyaluronic acid, which rehydrates and lubricates the fascia.

• That process temporarily increases tissue permeability and fluid exchange, which can leave you feeling loose yet drained, as the body redirects energy toward re-equilibration.

• Think of it like wringing out a sponge: after the “squeeze,” tissues pull in fresh fluid — and that re-absorption phase is metabolically demanding.

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🩸 3. Blood Flow and Lymphatic Shifts

Because Yin shapes often compress or stretch deep tissue for minutes at a time:

• Blood and lymph temporarily pool or reroute.

• When you come out of a pose, the rebound creates a rush of circulation that flushes metabolites and delivers oxygen.

• This rebound phase activates the baroreceptor reflex, momentarily lowering blood pressure — another reason you feel mellow or even dizzy.

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😴 4. Hormonal Reset

Sustained stillness lowers cortisol and adrenaline, and boosts melatonin, oxytocin, and serotonin — the body’s repair and bonding hormones.

That biochemical cocktail is literally preparing you for sleep, not for action. It’s a sign your endocrine system is doing deep work.

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⚙️ 5. Energy Redistribution

When muscles aren’t contracting, your body finally gets to send resources to the quieter systems — digestion, immune repair, tissue regeneration.

That inner housekeeping can feel like exhaustion, but it’s actually a healing recalibration. Many people describe it as “yoga fatigue” — similar to post-massage heaviness or the deep nap feeling after emotional release.

So if you think this sweetness should be in your future, please take a Yin class sometime! I only allow four students per class, so you will be given lots of individualized attention if you are new to yoga, or just to this form of yoga.

I got you. Come and see how great you can feel after just one hour of resting in posture.

Light refreshments always available after class.

Sat nam, and thanks for watching,

Andrea 🐿️ 🍁 🍂