Paulie Zink in Media

A Lesson in Yin Yoga: I developed Yin yoga by astutely observing nature and the animals around me and becoming part of it by blending with it energetically. We really are inseparable from everything. We as humans have a very malleable and adaptable consciousness. The intention of our thoughts has the power to expand our consciousness. We have the potential facility to merge our minds with other life forms, to internalize qualities that they possess and infuse our own physical energy with those qualities. If I see an animal in motion and I want to embody the energy of that animal, then will I meditate on it and become one with it. I can then create postures and movements based on the immediate felt experience in my body and mind as I identify with the creature.

Yin yoga article: 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. Yin yoga is a synthesis Paulie Zink created by combining Hatha yoga and several disciplines from the Daoist tradition along with insights, visualisations, and animal based yoga postures, movements, and vocalisations he developed himself. The Daoist components of Yin yoga involve Dao Yin (yoga postures), Qigong, inner alchemy, philosophy, and mysticism.

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• Yin Yoga pg2

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 workshop, 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 and YangYoga comes from theTaoist spiritual tradition indigenous to China.Tao refers to the mysterious source of existence and translates to the way, the path,The Absolute. InTaoism the entire universe is regarded as a living organism imbued with life force. Being in harmony with the flow of this energy in nature is the essence ofTaoist attitude.Taoism finds its origins in the shamanic cultures of people who lived along theYellow River region of northern China thousands of years ago. From these ancient and animistic beginningsTaoism evolved into several primary branches or schools that encompass magic, divination, ceremony and folk religion, philosophy and mysticism, internal alchemy and medicine, and ethics.

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

Everlasting Youth with Yin Yoga by Maria Funk In the early years of study with his master, Paulie Zink realized that a yoga style that was open, free and innovative was missing. He wanted to flow and open up to an intuitive form of self-expression that was true to himself, so he developed a limitless art form in which your own body has the lead: Yin yoga. Just like you did when you were a small child learning to walk, the same way animals move intuitively in the wild, Yin yoga is an art that "allows you to bring forth your own creative potential in how you move,” says Master Zink, “We liberate ourselves from the thinking obsessed mind and become more playful, spontaneous and resilient.”