The Therapeutic Power of Yin Yoga for Emotional Healing After Heartbreak
- Brainz Magazine
- Oct 14
- 4 min read
Jasmine Clemente is a Bestselling Author, RYT500 Yoga Teacher, and Spiritual Guide for women on the cusp of profound transformation. Through the ancient wisdom of yoga, the power of storytelling, and the sacred act of journaling, Jasmine empowers women on their self-healing journey.
As nice as it would feel to escape to an exotic island after a breakup, not even the healing waters of Fiji could mend a broken heart overnight. The truth is, moving on takes time, and going through the pain, instead of avoiding it, is part of the process. As someone who’s written a bestselling memoir about several of my own heartbreaks, I won’t sweeten the bitter truth that some breakups are worse than others. That’s why I recommend practicing Yin Yoga because it’s a slow-paced style that honors your emotional journey, wherever you are, one deep breath at a time.
What is Yin Yoga?
Yin Yoga is rooted in the Taoist philosophy of Yin and Yang, with Yin representing feminine energy and Yang representing masculine. During a Yin Yoga class, each pose is held for long stretches of time, anywhere between 2 and 7 minutes. It encourages one to remain deeply present with how they feel during each pose, strengthening their connection to spirit.
Unlike other styles of yoga with faster sequences, Yin anchors your body to the present before transitioning out of it too quickly. Instead, we pause, hold, and nourish ourselves in moments that last. It encourages slow changes with grace, making it the perfect practice for someone experiencing heartbreak.
During breakups, intense emotions tend to dominate one's presence as they may struggle with grief, guilt, confusion, and even anger, making Yin Yoga the kind of style that supports the art of letting go by honoring your reset.
What are some key attributes of Yin?
To identify Yin traits, let’s start with the following, feminine energy, intuition, moonlight, emotion, water, winter, softness, and a slower pace. If you’re suffering through a breakup, slowing down is almost guaranteed, as you probably won’t feel motivated to live your best life because of emotional purging. All the more reason to go easy on yourself.
How slow movement heals
It’s important not to become stuck when you’re in a funk. Depression can have us spiraling into a never-ending pit of self-loathing when we’re forced to accept a loss that perhaps we didn’t want or even see coming. While it’s healthy to explore our feelings, as uncomfortable as they may be, we must keep moving slowly.
Yin Yoga gives us a positive reason to get out of bed in the morning. Whether you’re facing divorce, a breakup, being ghosted, or being discarded, the last thing you want to do is feel worthless. Yes, it may sting. You might need to stay in bed for a few hours, days, or even weeks. There’s nothing wrong with honoring your grief. But eventually, we have to move our body, slowly, step by step, one inhale and exhale at a time.
As we move our bodies, we send a signal to the universe that we’re still alive, even if our growth is subtle. We arrive at our mat and assume a seated pose, grounding ourselves in the earth without the need to push ourselves. If you’re practicing alone at home, begin by placing your left hand over your belly and your right hand over your heart, pressing down until you feel your heartbeat. As you tune in, remember that you are loved by the universe and that your purpose is not over. You still have more chapters to read in your story, more people to meet, and new experiences to have. Give yourself grace for showing up and start with gentle movements, such as lying on your back for a reclined butterfly. Change is near.
Balancing your emotions with Yin
We need both, masculine and feminine. The truth is, none of us would be here if it weren’t for both energies creating a baby. And so, it is through the emergence of two opposite forces that new souls are made. Therefore, Yin is not only necessary, it is magical.
Women get a bad rap for being overly emotional, too sensitive, and irrational. But it is through the power of the feminine essence that creation is born. These emotional traits that correlate with the moon, tracing back to the Latin word “luna” for lunatic, are necessary in order to balance out the masculine’s logical mentality that can often become void of inspiration. This is why it’s no surprise when many women become a man’s “muse,” bringing out his creative edge as he recites poetry or paints her portraits because of the energy she exudes amid his presence.
During a breakup, if you feel a sudden burst of emotions overwhelm you, this isn’t something to hold back. Allow the tides to break as your river of tears flows where they may. Although Yin Yoga will not push you to cry, it also won’t prevent you. When you feel a surge of sensitivity take over, you can fold into a child’s pose, laying your forehead to the ground as you crawl your fingertips toward the edges of the mat, extending your arms forward.
Because Yin Yoga supports sensitivity with light and easy poses in a slow-paced sequence, this is the class to welcome your new chapter as you close out an old one. Whether you breathe a sigh of relief or are still in shock from an emotional ending, know that opposites are just a part of the natural cycles of life, and that a new beginning will bloom again.
Read more from Jasmine Clemente
Jasmine Clemente, Bestselling Conscious Author & Yoga Teacher
Jasmine Clemente is a Spiritual Guide for women on the cusp of profound transformation. As someone who began her career as a Recording Dance Artist before becoming an RYT 500 yoga teacher, Jasmine bravely writes about her experiences of loss, change, and self-reflection, while encouraging women to embrace their unique journey as well. She offers writing courses in the categories of memoir, self-help, and therapeutic journaling.
