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In a world that celebrates hustle, achievement, and doing more, Yin Yoga and meditation offer something radically different: an invitation to slow down, soften, and simply be. They remind us that rest is not a luxury, stillness is not wasted time, and in non-doing, deep transformation becomes possible.
Years ago, the universe did for me what I hadn’t been doing for myself. It encouraged me to live more balanced days with a more balanced spirit. After completing two consecutive 200-hour Vinyasa yoga teacher trainings, I was energized and eager to share yoga with anyone and everyone. I taught nonstop at studios, hotels, gyms, conferences, universities, even beach classes. From sunrise to sunset, seven days a week, I stayed in motion. I didn’t realize it then, but I was missing the very balance that yoga had the potential to cultivate.
Then one morning, everything shifted. I arrived at a hotel in Kennebunkport to teach and, in my usual rush, reached down to grab my bag of props, then WHAM. I hit my head hard on an antique wooden counter and nearly passed out. The next day, my doctor confirmed what my body already knew: I had a concussion - the result of burnout and a schedule that had run me straight into the ground.
That injury forced me to stop. My body was exhausted, my mind foggy. I couldn’t even keep my left and right straight. It was a deeply challenging time, but also a gift in disguise. I had no choice but to slow down, and in that stillness, something else began to emerge.
It wasn’t the concussion itself that changed my path. It was the invitation the injury gave me to stop doing and to begin simply being. That moment marked the beginning of a new chapter. I found my way to Yin Yoga, Mindfulness Meditation, and eventually, Yoga Nidra.
Training with Bernie Clark deepened my connection to Yin Yoga, and his teachings opened the door to a practice that has become a steady and transformative presence in my life. What began as a search for rest became the foundation of my teaching, my practice, and my life’s work.
The shift from Yang to Yin, from action to awareness, from effort to ease, transformed both my personal practice and my teaching. Yin Yoga and meditation helped me reconnect with the present moment, restore my energy, and meet myself with greater kindness and compassion. Through these practices, I discovered a more sustainable way of living, and a deeper sense of presence not just on the mat, but in everyday life.
That journey is what led me to create Yin Yoga & Meditation, a resource I felt called to write from my own lived experience, and the teachings that continue to support me every day.
I created this book for yoga teachers and dedicated practitioners, especially those drawn to the quieter practices and looking to explore them with more depth, presence, and compassion. For teachers who hold space for others and are seeking new ways to weave creativity and care into their offerings, it’s a quiet companion - something to return to as you deepen your connection to the practice and teach from the heart.
Inside the book, you’ll find:
✺ 75+ photographed Yin Yoga poses with step-by-step instructions, including adaptable options for every body
✺ 40+ guided meditation scripts including mindfulness, Taoist energy, breath, and Yoga Nidra
✺ Guidance for integrating meditation into Yin Yoga to nurture clarity, resilience, and the whole self
✺ Themed Yin Yoga sequences - seasonal, beginner, Wall Yin, full-body, and Yin-Nidra
✺ Creative class planning tools to support intentional class sequencing that aligns with your unique voice and your students’ needs
✺ Foundations in mindfulness, anatomy, and energetic balance for safe, embodied teaching with inspiration from the compassionate teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh
Whether your intention is to support students more confidently, lead transformational classes, or create a deeply nourishing personal practice, this book is here to walk alongside you.
These practices continue to shape my life in quiet, meaningful ways. They’ve taught me to replenish instead of push, to soften instead of grip, and to return to myself again and again with patience, presence, and compassion.
My hope is that Yin Yoga & Meditation becomes a source of steady inspiration and wholehearted support - a reminder that there is wisdom in rest, strength in softness, and healing in the compassionate space of simply allowing yourself to be.
✨ Free Yin Yoga Sequence + Yoga Nidra Mini Meditation ✨
Inspired by Yin Yoga & Meditation: A Comprehensive Guide for Your Practice and Teaching, this practice includes:
“Coming Home to Stillness”
✺ A calming Yin Yoga sequence to gently release tension and reconnect with your body
✺ Guided meditation scripts to support inner stillness and compassionate awareness
Perfect for a personal pause or to share in your teaching space with care and intention.
May this practice be a return to yourself.
🧘♀️ Guided Meditation: A Pause for Inner Stillness & Compassionate Awareness
Arriving to Your Mat
Length: ~6–8 minutes
Begin in a comfortable seated or reclined position. Support your body in a way that feels easeful. Let the eyes close or soften the gaze.
Take a gentle breath in...
And a soft breath out.
Feel your body begin to settle.
Allow the weight of your body to be fully supported by the ground beneath you.
There’s nothing you need to hold up. Nothing to figure out. Just this moment.
Bring your awareness to the rhythm of your breath.
Not needing to change it.
Simply noticing the inhale… and the exhale.
Let each breath invite you a little deeper into presence.
Now begin to gently scan your body.
Noticing where there is sensation, where there is stillness, where there is softness.
If you find places of tension or holding, offer them your awareness without judgment.
This is a space of compassionate noticing.
Let your breath move gently toward any area that feels tight or tender.
And on the exhale, allow yourself to soften just a little more.
Inhale…I am here.
Exhale…I am held.
Repeat silently to yourself:
Inhale…I am enough.
Exhale…I let go.
Now, invite a feeling of compassion to arise.
Compassion toward yourself - for how far you’ve come, for the way you continue to show up,
even when life is challenging, even when you forget to pause.
Let this moment be your pause.
A space of kindness.
A space of presence.
A space to come home to yourself.
Feel the breath gently rising and falling.
Feel your body grounded, safe, supported.
Begin to return with slow awareness.
Maybe deepen your breath slightly. Wiggle fingers or toes.
And when you’re ready, gently open your eyes or lift your gaze.
Carry this presence, and this compassion, with you as you re-enter your day.
Yin Yoga Sequence: A Pause for Inner Stillness & Compassionate Awareness
Practice length: 45-60 minutes
✺ Suggested Props:
2 blocks
1 bolster
1-2 blankets
Optional eye pillow
1. Wide-Knee Beetle (Child’s Pose)
3–5 minutes
Knees wide, bolster under torso, arms resting
Let the forehead to rest, breath to soften.
Invite the body to settle and feel held by the earth beneath you.
Counterpose: Closed-Knee Beetle (1-2min)
2. Butterfly Pose
3-5 minutes
Soles of feet together, knees relaxed out to the sides
Fold forward over a bolster or blocks for support.
Let go of striving, just soften into the shape.
Counterpose: Sitting Beetle (1-2min)
3. One-Legged Butterfly
3 minutes each side
Folded over extended leg, bolster under upper body and small rolled-up blanket under each knee as needed
Breathe slowly and gently through the back of your spine and along the extended leg.
Sense yourself letting go more and more with each easeful exhale.
Counterpose: Heart Beacon (1-2min)
4. Leaning Sleeping Swan
3-5 minutes each side
Gentle hip flexor release and outer hip opening
Breathe into the outer hips and observe what arises with compassion.
Counterpose: Savasana (1-2min)
5. Sphinx/Seal
3-5 minutes
Chest and spine opening, bolster under forearms if needed
Notice sensation without the need to change it. Practice witnessing with warmth and welcome.
Counterpose: Stay A While Crocodile (1-2min)
6. Two Twig Twist (2-Knee Supine)
3 minutes each side, with blanket between knees as needed
Arms wide, breath soft, gaze neutral or eyes closed
Invite the breath to move freely through the whole body.
Counterpose: Tipped Beetle w/Knee Circles (1-2min)
7. Gentle/Angel Fish
3-5 minutes
Back on sloped bolster, soles of feet together, knees supported
Let the heart open and receive the breath. Rest in spacious awareness.
Counterpose: Side-Lying Beetle (1-2min)
8. Savasana - Deep Rest & Relaxation w/optional Yoga Nidra Mini (below)
8–10 minutes
🕊 Guided Yoga Nidra Mini: Resting in the Still Waters of the Heart (an excerpt from my Yoga Nidra book):
Begin to notice your physical body - resting, breathing, supported.
Bring your awareness to your toes. Feel the toes, calm.
Then your feet, calm. Your ankles, sense calm.
Let your attention move slowly up through your body…legs…hips…belly, all calm.
Sense the breath in your chest, calm and at ease.
Your shoulders…your arms…your hands...calm.
Notice your neck...your jaw...the space between your eyes…full of calm.
Perhaps now you place your attention on the blank space behind the closed eyes.
Watch only the dark, friendly space behind the eyes.
On this screen of your mind, see gentle waves rolling.
Calm, deep blue waves rolling from the mind onto the shoreline of the heart.
See blue waves form deep within the mind and carry themselves to the shore of the heart.
Deep blue waves rolling from mind to heart…calm…easy…peaceful.
See the peaceful blue waves of the mind…the peaceful blue waves of the heart.
Sense deep calm in the mind…deep calm in the heart.
Mind…heart…connected, calm.
Move your attention from the space behind the closed eyes to an even deeper place within.
Let it move down into the completely still and vast space of the heart…vast as a calm blue lake.
Within the center of the heart, become aware of a complete calm and stillness settling.
A still and deep calm settling inside you.
The peaceful, still waters of the heart.
Completely still…completely at peace.
For some moments, rest here in this experience of infinite calm…infinite stillness…infinite peace…deep in the infinite space of your heart.
Deep and silent…always present…the loving, still waters of the heart.
Remain here for as long as you'd like - held, supported, and completely at ease.
📘 You can find Yin Yoga & Meditation: A Comprehensive Guide for Your Practice and Teaching on Amazon HERE where you can take a peek inside!
✨ If you enjoying weaving Yoga Nidra meditation into your Yin Yoga sessions, you might also check out my book - The Book of Yoga Nidra Meditation Scripts: 30 Yoga Nidra Scripts for Deep Relaxation, Inner Peace, & Manifesting Your Joy - available on Amazon!
In Love,
Sagel
