Paulie Zink in Media

The beauty of Paulie Zink’s Yin Yoga is that it is a living art form where everyone is encouraged to bring forth their own inner artist. The result: Magic. What is amazing about this approach to the Yin Yoga practices is how good you feel and how fluidly you begin to move in a relatively short period of time.

I’ve been curious about Yin yoga founder Paulie Zink ever since I heard he was Paul Grilley’s teacher. Not only has Paulie been teaching Taoist yoga for over 30 years, but he’s also an internationally acclaimed martial arts champion. So I leapt at the chance to take his workshop at last year’s (2007) Midwest Yoga Conference–even though my back was killing me. Fortunately, Paulie’s style was warm and humble and peppered with gentle humor– which belies the fact that he has been inducted into four martial arts halls of fame, where he is known as “Master Zink.”

In Paulie Zink’s Yin yoga workshops, you practice poses you’ve never heard of before, like seahorse, deer, and T-Rex. As you do the poses, you are also connecting to the five elements of nature, which, according to Taoist philosophy, are earth, metal, wood (which contains air), water, and fire. These elements are related to feelings of stability, firmness, joy, fluidity, and enthusiasm, respectively.

Yin yoga is rooted in the ancient shamanic tradition of China and in the Chinese Taoist philosophy of being at one with everything and being in harmony with our own natures.

When you think “Yin Yoga,” what comes to mind? Perhaps you visualize a yoga teacher sitting quietly at the front of a classroom as students languish in passive, long, and deep stretches. This is the Yin Yoga that many of us have come to know, and perhaps even practice regularly.

The foundations of Yin yoga are rooted in the Daoist traditions of ancient China. Daoism is a multifaceted system premised upon the philosophy of living in harmony with the Dao, with the way of nature.

• “The Art of Yin & Yang Yoga” part 1
• “The Art of Yin & Yang Yoga” part 2