Feeling wiped out for 24 hours after a yin class?

Please use this forum to ask any questions you may have about yoga in general or Yin Yoga in particular, or to discuss anything you have discovered that may be of general interest. Note, spam will be removed and the user deleted, and this includes putting website in your posting that are purely commercial.
Post Reply
claireylane
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2016 1:35 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Feeling wiped out for 24 hours after a yin class?

Post by claireylane »

Hi there,

One of my students (who is very yin in nature anyway) asked me last week if it was normal / safe to feel "extremely wiped out" for 24 hours after the evening yin class I teach her.

I said that there was nothing unsafe about it (?!) but that it's probably not advisable, esp if she has things she needs to get done. I gave her some general suggestions to go for a brisk walk the next morning, maybe to have some hot water with lemon to pep her up when she wakes up, to balance the yin class with a more dynamic practice.

Just wondered if there were any other suggestions or schools of thought out there?
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Post by Bernie »

Like all things in life, Yin Yoga is not for every body and maybe it just doesn't work for this particular student, however, before arriving at that conclusion, I would want to know a lot more about the student. Was it really the yin practice the evening before which caused her tiredness for the next 24 hours? What else was going on in her life?

Like an Eastern doctor, yoga teachers can be considered gardeners rather than mechanics: a mechanic would hear squeaking brakes and immediately decide to fix the brakes. A gardener, seeing problems with her prized roses, would look more holistically at the garden: is there too much water, not enough water, too much shade, not enough fertilizer, too many weeds or aphids...only when seeing the big picture would she begin therapy.

So too with your student: what else is going in her life? Too much stress at work, at home, in relationships, how is her general health, her diet, her sleep quality and quantity, was she recently sick or was she coming down with something that day? It is not always the "brakes" or the "yoga" that causes symptoms the next day.

Just some ideas to consider.
Cheers
Bernie
claireylane
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2016 1:35 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by claireylane »

Thanks Bernie, appreciate your quick reply - and you raise good questions.

She comes to my classes on a weekly basis, and she says it usually happens the that evening and the next day. I don't know too much about the rest of her life but I do know that she is already a very yin person... slow, tired etc.

She loves the yin classes... but maybe they take her too much to a place of slow and tired.

I'll see how she responds next week...

Have you had this with any students before?

Thanks again
Claire
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Post by Bernie »

I have not heard of this from other students, but everyone is unique. I suspect there is more going on in her life than just what's happening during your classes. She may want to broaden her examination, and even talk to her doctor.

There are yinsters and yangsters: she sounds naturally a bit more yin-like, in which case you may want to encourage her to find balance by adding a bit more yang to her yoga practice.

Good luck!
Bernie
claireylane
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2016 1:35 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by claireylane »

Thanks Bernie, that's what I thought. Appreciate your time!
Claire
Post Reply