When I committed to the 200 hours of required instruction to become a yoga instructor, I had no idea if, when or where I’d have the opportunity to teach. But shortly after receiving my certification, an opportunity presented itself. 

A friend, who at the time was teaching a yin yoga class, asked if I’d like to take her spot as the teacher. She was going to pursue a new career and would no longer have the time to teach yoga. As a result of that favorable occasion, I’ve been a yin yoga instructor for the last six years.

Who Would Have Thought?

Although I’d taken a few yin classes before becoming an instructor of this style of yoga, I never thought I’d become an instructor. My preferred yoga practice included hatha and ashtanga  because I worked up a sweat, increased my heart rate and flowed quickly through various poses. 

Yin, on the other hand, does not involve a whole lot of movement and you do not work up a sweat. Instead, you hold each pose for up to four minutes while practicing interior attention, awareness and contentment. Over the years this type of yoga has taught me much about my faith and the art of letting go. 

First of all, neither yoga or walking by faith is a competitive sport. Each body is unique and each individual is unique in their beliefs. Comparing myself with how far I can go into any pose is not part of practicing yoga. Neither can I contrast my faith with anyone else’s. Both my body and its ability to flex is unique to me, as well as my walk of faith. The important thing about yoga and faith is that I make a commitment to practice them and as a result of practicing, change is inevitable. 

Secondly, I cannot force myself into deepening any pose. I can only wait for my body’s signal that it is ready to fold deeper into a particular pose. The same goes with my faith. I cannot force my faith to grow, it only grows as I become aware of those divine appointments that present themselves to me. Both yoga and my faith require focused and acute awareness in order to respond to and move into the openings. 

Finally, the more support I feel, the more I can release. Holding a pose in yoga for three to four minutes makes one aware of the places we may be gripping, holding and resisting with our body. This rigidness is unnecessary and can be loosened the moment we realize that the floor, the mat, the bolster or the block is supporting us. And so it is with my faith. I am not walking alone, nor is it up to me to hold all things together. Instead, God is praying on my behalf and never will he forsake me. Like the floor, the mat, the bolster or block, I can release myself into the full support of the one who created me. 

Why bother letting go? With yin yoga and with faith, releasing our grip allows us to feel all the benefits of the practice.