Finding Comfort in Discomfort
Musings on Yin Yoga, my upcoming 8-week course + sign up for a free class!
I tried to look for comfort in your chaos
To bring some lightness to your dark
You gifted me the sweetest roses
With thorns, you chose to disregard
Not all that glitters is gold
Not all that blooms grows old
And all with beauty to a fault
Will never last, so I was told
— Memento Mori by Jenny Tâm Thai, 2024
Hi, hi Creatives! I hope these past weeks have been nothing short of glowing health and invigorating inspiration.
For me, January was a funny one.
A seemingly endless one. I couldn’t tell you the amount of times I’d check for the date and think how is it still January?
(Let me mention at this point that February has the complete opposite effect on me. I’m scrambling to get things done!)
What happened during this seemingly endless month?
Here are a few of my January highlights:
I hosted my Creative Intentions Workshop in Paris!
I picked up my DALF C1 Results! I passed with 90/100 points (and I’ve managed to hardly speak any French since the exam.. which I need to change, j’en suis consciente)
I released my second podcast episode! This one was all about my writing influences and how I wrote my City of Lights poem
I spent a week in Normandy at The Retreat Space where I didn’t just do a Yin Yoga Teacher training but also helped out with some content (which were both things I wanted to get more into this year, so we’re starting off strong!)
I even managed to sit down with the wonderful Louise, the founder of The Space Paris and The Retreat Space (who is one of the best yoga teachers and teacher trainers I have ever encountered) to film a little podcast episode with her. More about that soon!
During those seven days in Normandy, every minute felt at least twice as long- not in a particularly good way or a bad way, just in an intensely present, all-encompassing way.
This might not be much of a surprise, considering I was removed from the energetic hustle and bustle of Paris. All while dedicating time to dive deeper into the practice of Yin Yoga, which by nature asks you to slow down and go within.
For anyone who might not be familiar with Yin Yoga, it’s a style of yoga in which mostly floor-based poses are held for several minutes. The emphasis here is to let go of any muscular engagement and, instead, relax fully into the poses and find stillness. I often like to describe it as a practice of finding comfort in discomfort.
Why would you want to practice Yin Yoga? In a world that relentlessly shouts go, go, go all the time, a practice such as Yin Yoga helps balance the demands of a hectic (Yang) lifestyle. It has incredible benefits for your fascia and joints and calms the body and mind. It’s a self-care and self-awareness practice that is not to be underestimated.
Yin Yoga has been part of my mindfulness journey for a while, and after diving into it deeper through this training, I thought I’d share three lessons with you that I’ve learned from it over the years, including how to take them off the mat with you into your everyday life.
When in discomfort, just breathe through it
Certain postures trigger certain thoughts and feelings
To create more space, sometimes you need to hold back
Let’s break that down :)
When in discomfort, just breathe through it
In Yin Yoga, we are holding poses (“stretching”) for several minutes. Is it comfortable? Well, not necessarily. But nothing good has ever come from being comfortable all the time, has it?
(As a quick side note here- there’s a difference between ‘discomfort’ and ‘pain’. We are never looking for pain.)
In today’s world, we have become increasingly quick to judge things, to decide whether we like or dislike something, and then to walk away from everything that we don’t like.
But you know what?
It’s okay to dislike something.
In fact, it’s great and enriching if you dislike something. The key is to learn to sit with that and look at it with curiosity.
Because eventually, there will be an end to that uncomfortable stretch. In the same vein, there will be an end to any uncomfortable life situation you might find yourself in. Always, without fail.
Contrary to your yin practice, when you are off the mat and out in the world, you encounter situations that you can’t escape. That you cannot control. But still, you have no choice but to go through them.
And how do you do that?
Yin Yoga teaches us to breathe through it. To take things one breath at a time. To stay present. To observe. To be curious.
When in discomfort, breathe.
Certain postures trigger certain thoughts and feelings
Without going into too much detail, Yin Yoga is linked to the Meridians. In TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), Meridians are pathways through which Qi (life energy) flows (or can get stagnant). If you’ve ever gotten acupuncture, you’ll know what I’m talking about!
Each meridian is linked to an organ in our body, which is linked to a certain function, element, and emotion.
Holding a Yin posture will stimulate specific meridians (but in a much, much softer way than getting acupuncture, of course).
As a result, you might or might not find certain emotions or thoughts being triggered.
The key here, once again, is to be present and curious. Observe your thoughts. Practice not to judge yourself.
If you’ve never practiced Yin Yoga before, you might be surprised to hear that Yin Yoga is much more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge.
Because if the body doesn’t move, the mind is quick to agitate.
If you think about it, it’s not that different from finding yourself in certain life situations.
You meet someone, you hear something, you see something, and there you are, getting triggered.
Thoughts and emotions might be coming up, old wounds showing, trauma responses taking over, and fight-or-flight mode being activated.
But even in the heat of the situation, you have the choice to take on the role of a curious observer. To look at your reaction with curiosity and compassion, rather than letting things just play out.
Creating that distance is easier said than done, but it is something that practicing Yin Yoga truly helps you to do.
Where suitable, choose softness over reactivity.
To create more space, sometimes you need to hold back
As you might have gathered by now, the focus of Yin Yoga is less on stretching and the physical.
When we hold our Yin Poses, the intention is actually to not use our full range of motion, but only to go to 50-70% of our capacity.
Why? Firstly, some poses do get more challenging with time, and since we’re typically holding them for 3-5 minutes, going to your maximum capacity may cross the threshold of discomfort.
Secondly, the goal is to fully relax your muscles in order to focus on stressing the deeper connective tissues surrounding your muscles, especially your fascia.
Fascia is one continuous, interconnected system in our body that gives us shape, structure and protection. For it to work properly, it needs to stay smooth and hydrated, otherwise we would feel stiff and restricted in our movements.
Yin Yoga helps with that. It’s through the lengthening, compressing and twisting actions that gentle stress is put on the fascia to help it stretch and release.
However- this can only happen when your muscles are truly relaxed. And that’s where you have to let go of your ego and wanting to show off or keep up with someone else in class and, instead, fully tune into your body.
You might feel like it doesn’t look like much, but in the words of Yin Master Bernie Clark: “If you are feeling it, you’re doing it.”
To translate that to life off the mat, it is hardly sustainable to be at your full capacity at all times.
Sometimes, the smartest thing we can do is to hold back a little.
Hold back, and preserve your energy so you can sustain for longer. Like a hibernation period before the bloom of Spring.
Hold back, and make one big step with full intention, rather than taking one step forward, and three steps back.
Hold back, and create flexibility and space for something better to arise or for someone to do their part of the job.
Your time and attention are your most precious resources, treat them as such.
Doing Yin Yoga every day won’t magically solve your problems, but being mindful of yourself and finding balance will make a difference.
Unsurprisingly, it is also a practice that will only enhance your creative life. It’s by listening and observing that your creative sense-making work (aka your ART) has grounds to grow and flourish.
If this resonated with you, and you would like to try out or practice some Vinyasa and Yin Yoga with me, I’m pleased to tell you about my upcoming SPACE_HOLDER COURSE!
This is an 8-week course, accessible both in-person in Paris, and online. I designed this course to help you create space - both in your body while on the mat, and in your life off the mat for anything you want to pursue, be it a creative project, that good old passion of yours you’ve been wanting to bring back into your life, a side hustle, a new hobby, or simply a habit you’re trying to instil.
Each session will feature a mindful movement portion, alternating between Yin and Vinyasa classes each week (creating that perfect balance!), and a creativity coaching portion, which will include journaling, accountability, and discussion rounds within an inclusive and warm community of like-minded people (which is absolutely priceless!).
You have the choice to either commit to the entire 8 weeks (which I highly recommend!) or drop in as you please. If you opt to attend this course in person, you will have access to the online sessions for free in case you are not able to make all the sessions. Online replays will always be made available!
We will start on the 2nd of March (in Paris) and on the 4th of March (online)!
To celebrate, I’ll be offering a free Yin Yoga Class! You can join live online on Saturday, the 22nd of February, 11am CET (replay will be available if you register!) or in person in Paris on the 23rd of February, 4pm (spots are limited). Reserve your spot through the previous survey or by signing up here.
Hope to see you on the mat one of these days!
Until then, stay cozy & creative,
Jenny x