Gabriela Dias Instagram – Yoga can be casual and straightforward to be beneficial and meaningful. I love a simple yoga flow, and as I work on developing a better understanding of my practice, even the asanas (postures) that I know well are challenging to me. I love yoga and how it makes me feel. After my hot yoga today, I will practice Yin Yoga. Yin Yoga creates relatively little training, and, for the most part, I am not trying to engage or contract my muscles. Instead, I am letting gravity do most of the work for me. I intend to relax and rest and slow down to be present with myself. During my Yin Yoga practices, I love to use props, whether a bolster, bed pillows, couch cushions, or folded blankets. For me, there’s a mental shift in perspective that takes place when I use props. When I have something there as support, I can relax more. When I don’t use props, I am tempted to push myself past my comfort zone or edge without realizing it. When I feel depleted or need to find balance, my Yin Yoga practice makes a huge difference, an invitation to slow down, to place my well-being first, and to rest deeply.