Yin & Yang Yoga
Paulie Zink’s complete art of Yin and Yang yoga encompasses:
Yin Yoga- Postures of stillness for promoting growth, clearing energetic blockages, and enhancing circulation.
Yang Yoga- Postures for developing core strength and muscle tone, balance, and stamina.
Taoist Flow Yoga- Including both Yin and Yang yoga, Taoist Flow is more than just a sequence of postures. In Taoist Flow the process of transition from pose to pose is as integral to the practice as the postures themselves. Taoist movement incorporates continuous, smooth and circular motion that promotes ease, fluidity and grace in the body.
Taoist Alchemy- Cultivating and harmonizing the five elemental energies contained in the body and its energetic field.
Chi Kung- These exercises involve very simple and gentle movements and breathing techniques. They are designed to increase vitality and to restore harmony in the natural rhythms and functions of the body and its energetic field.
Yin and Yang yoga is an ancient Taoist tradition. Being in harmony with the rhythm and flow of nature is the essence of Taoist attitude.
Yin and Yang yoga draws upon the doctrine of the five elements and the principle of yin and yang used in Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Yin and yang are the polarities of a whole, the complimentary opposites of dark and light, cold and hot, soft and hard, female and male that allow all things to come into being. They are the two sides of a coin. One cannot exist without the other. Yin and yang is the vibration of the universe, the energy that informs all life.
Specific yoga postures are used to actualize the energetic and mystical attributes of various creatures and to stimulate the transformational properties of the five alchemical elements, thus enlivening and harmonizing these qualities within the body and animating the primal spirit that resides within us all. Integrating the power and healing aspects of these energies will help to balance emotions and put one into accord with the true nature of our being.
Master Zink continues to evolve his Taoist art of Yin and Yang Yoga by adding postures, variations, and insights. Through many years of study, practice, and teaching he has further developed this ancient tradition into his own distinctive and dynamic style.
YOGA ALCHEMY
In its simplest terms Alchemy is the method or power of transforming one thing into another. Taoist Yoga Alchemy is an internal art. It is concerned with the dimensions of spirit, consciousness, and subtle energies, and with the effects of their vitalization on one’s being.
The five transforming energies are alchemical elements. They are contained within the universal life force and express distinct qualities and actions. The five energies are interconnected, existing in a dynamic relationship with each other. Each element has specific individual characteristics and participates in a cyclic process of transformation from one to the next. The five elements are:
EARTH
METAL
WATER
WOOD
FIRE
The mind, body and spirit are endowed with the five elements. Through the practice of Yin and Yang Yoga the qualities of these energetic states can be enhanced and harmonized resulting in improved health, greater vitality, heightened awareness, and freedom of movement and ease with one’s body.
YIN YOGA
Yin Yoga is the first level of Paulie Zink’s Taoist Yoga. Paul Grilley studied Taoist Yoga with Master Zink for about a year in the late 1980’s. Grilley taught the basics he learned about Taoist Yoga to Sarah Powers. Sarah began teaching what she learned from Grilley and changed the name to Yin Yoga. Grilley also incorporates his own philosophy and theories and that which he learned from his studies with Dr. Motoyama into his teachings. In order to avoid confusion Master Zink now refers to his Taoist art of yoga as Yin and Yang yoga.
CHINESE YOGA - HATHA YOGA
Yin and Yang yoga is a Chinese Taoist form of yoga that uses postures based on the five transforming energies or elements. Everything around us is made of these energies. Our health depends upon being in a natural state of balance with these elemental energies. The Chinese Taoist philosophy sees the entire universe as a living organism and our body’s organism as a microcosm of the universe. Everything is interconnected and interdependent.
One difference between the Taoist tradition and Hatha yoga is in the emphasis on the flow of energy. In Hatha yoga the focus is on moving energy (or prana) along the spine and through the energy centers of the chakras. In Yin and Yang yoga energy is channeled up and down the spine and through the chakras and then through the limbs and out the hands, feet, and head, extending the life force beyond the body. This is called “moving energy in the five directions”.
Paulie on the Prairie
