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Okay so I have 2 questions, if you have the time of course. As always your time and knowledge is always appreciated!
#1. After holding a deliciously long pose and you enter corpse pose, there is this momentary feeling of discomfort where you just feel like you need to exhale and even hug your knees to your chest. I think I remember Paul G mentioning it was stagnation moving through the area we were just affecting and it should pass after a few seconds. The question is, if we were opening this area wouldn't the stagnation be making its way out as we are in the pose, as opposed to afterwards? Hope this makes sense.
#2. If a seasoned yoga practionner (more yang style) has just started a yin practice and has noticed that since she began this practice her SI joints (both sides) have become very sore and is causing discomfort to travel into the depths of her thighs (mostly inner), is it possible Yin is causing this?
Regarding your first question: I don't know what Paul had in mind, you may want to ask him directly. But coming out of a yin pose is a lot like releasing water behind a dam. Maybe that is what he meant by "stagnation". It is like pinching off a water hose, allowing the pressure to build up, and then releasing the pinch - causing a delicious flood of energy to drench the tissues you just worked. Thai massage therapists will do this sometimes to the blood flow into the limbs; Yin Yoga does it to the Chi flow.
I don't think that Paul meant to say that stagnation was moving, but rather, while we are still, energy is not moving, but when we come out of the pose and relax, then the energy starts to flow. This releases the stagnation, but if there was too much stuckness in the body (too much stagnation), that flood of energy can be too much. Imagine the dam analogy again: you can release a nice amount of water to fill the river below, or the dam can break and a devastating flood is unleashed that sweeps away everything in its path. You don't want that.
Regarding your second question: there are so many issues to consider that I hesitate to diagnose your student's situation remotely. Perhaps her yang practice is too yang for her SI joint, which has weakened as a result. Perhaps she has some hypermobility there, and Yin Yoga is exacerbating it. Yes, Yin Yoga could make it worse. Perhaps she has had too little mobility there for a long time and it is just painful to regain the normal range of motion. But, what I can say is, if there is pain or discomfort, she really should back off and take it slow. Don't go so deep: don't stay so long. She should pay close attention to this area in both her Yin and Yang practices, and especially the day after, to make sure she isn't making things worse. Finally, if it is a real concern, go see a professional physio. It may be that a physio will suggest to work with and through the pain, due to some scar tissue in that area...but don't let her diagnose herself. If there is pain, she needs to check it out.
