Yin Yin Yin Yin Yin
Magen is one of my all-time faves. Fun to be around, eternally positive. Also an ideal cult leader/bride (charismatic, always wearing white)
Shall we revisit my love for Magen?
In case you didn't read my previous review of Magen's barre class, let me recap:
- Magen could hand me a cup of gasoline and I would probably drink it. Because I know she would never feed me gasoline... do you know how that stuff is made?! Not sustainable. Though it is organic I suppose.
- Magen is an awesome teacher, and an awesome person. Her world revolves around finding new ways to be in balance and sharing that info with her clients. Like, it's not just her hobby or her job. That's who she is.
All we are saying... is give Yin a chance...
Yin will help you do a lot of things. Most importantly, it will reverse craziness. The craziness of an intense workout, the craziness of a stressful day at work; the craziness of living in New York City. When I first met Magen I didn’t get why she thought Yin was the most valuable of her offerings. She’s also a kick-ass barre teacher, so I thought, “really? You think Yin is more important than sweat?” Now I understand. What Yin will help you with, if you give it a chance:
- Decompress
- Avoid injury / heal injury through deep stretching
- Calm the fuck down
- Slow your breathing = slow your heartbeat
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Learn to be still. So much harder than it sounds.
On Eastern medicine:
Yup, Magen integrates ideas from Eastern medicine into her practice, which you might know by now is not really my shtick – but she is also understanding of the fact that not everyone subscribes to it. I really dig this open-minded POV. She will talk about your meridians and spirituality and crap, but then she'll follow up by saying "If this isn't your philosophy, just substitute the words that bug you for words that you prefer." This kind of flexibility is what got me to open my mind up to yin...
...sometimes I listen to MB's words without substituting. When my hammy is on fire, listening to a blonde fairy tell me about how I'm healing my stomach issues is actually extremely soothing. It takes my mind off the discomfort.
At the end of the day, it's all about learning to take in what we want, and ignore what we don't. In stretching, in Yin, in life. What I love about Magen is that she understands that not everyone is the same - not everyone digs the same philosophy. So she helps you enjoy the class no matter which camp you're in.
"Yin"
After all, the word "Yin" actually comes from the Yin/Yang of Eastern Medicine principles. So given how much I love this class, I have to admit that there are many non-scientifically-proven things in life that bring me a lot of joy. Slowly but surely, I'm becoming less of an asshole.
Yin does NOT = Restorative.
Restorative is much more “comfortable” than Yin; you use props to assist you in repositioning your body to open up, but the positions are much less intense. I have sometimes fallen asleep in poorly-structured Restorative classes. You will NEVER fall asleep in Yin.
Most Yin positions are intense. Try doing pigeon (okay, they call it Sleeping Swan… giggle) for 5 minutes on each leg. When’s the last time you gave your hip flexors that much lovin'? If you’re a runner, you need this.
A note to the wise (by "the wise" I mean, "people who love being touched"):
Let Magen know if you like being adjusted. She does adjustments anyway, but her adjustments are SO AMAZING and if she knows you like them she’ll come back to you. Plus she has magic fairy fingers....
Click here to read the entire review and to post your feedback on MB's Yin class
