Member-only story
How Yin Yoga Calms My Nervous System After Burnout
Most need more parasympathetic nervous system engagement.
I left my career in technology to heal burnout three years ago. Yin yoga has become one of my favorite ways to calm my nervous system since I first tried it last year.
Yin yoga helps you engage your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which facilitates many restorative processes in our bodies, such as digestion, sleep, and healing.
By moving slowly, extending exhales, and holding poses for several minutes, a yin yoga practice encourages relaxation.
“Many of us are living life as a race leading us to be in the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) 80% of the day instead of 20%, causing a domino effect of health problems,” writes Dr. Thomas Ball in a 2018 Performance Health Center post.
Experts refer to SNS as our “fight or flight” nervous system and the PNS as the “rest and digest” system. We all have both nervous systems.
SNS-dominant people may have many symptoms, such as difficulty relaxing, irritability, muscle tension, headaches, anxiety, decreased immunity, fatigue, restlessness, or digestion issues.
For maximum health, Ball recommends we engage our PNS 80% of the time and the SNS 20%.
