Celebrating Feminist Yogis: Meet Maylin

Join us, in celebrating Women’s History Month and feminist yogis!

We honor female identifying yogis in our community by telling their stories. The diversity of their experiences helps represent the true narrative that yoga is for everybody. Yoga District tries to have safe inclusive spaces that are accessible for all to practice.

Check out past posts that feature feminist yogis in our community. This month we highlight Maylin’s story.

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF?

I am an Asian American that grew up in California with immigrant parents and a socioeconomically disadvantaged background. As a first generation college student, I studied economics and sociology, and also pursued a Master in Public Policy. I moved to D.C. to work for the federal government, as I wanted to work in public service.

Another interest of mine is music. I sing in a DC area choir called Six Degree Singers (1). I obviously also love yoga and Yin Yoga makes me feel at peace.

IF YOGA HAS HELPED YOU COPE WITH MENSTRUATION, ARE THERE ANY RELATED TEACHINGS OR ADVICE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?

For as long as I can remember, I had unusual periods that were long with bad cramps. Doctors shrugged it off as being a teenager and my mom would berate me for looking sick while I was on my period. It is built into us at an early age that it is taboo to talk about periods, pelvic pain, and women’s health in general. A study in 2019, found that cramps and heavy bleeding were linked to about 9 lost days of productivity for a woman every year. Also, that only 1 out of 5 women told their employer or school the real reason for their absence (2).

Overtime, my premenstrual syndrome (PMS) started to last 2 weeks (3). My menstrual cycle would be 7 to 10 days with bad cramps (severe dysmenorrhea)and then there would still be pain afterwards (4). In total, it badly affected about 50% of my life but at least my periods came every 6 weeks versus 4 weeks. At that time in my life, vinyasa yoga felt like something I could do even during the bad days of my PMS and period.

Doctors put me through every type of birth control you could think of to try to manage the PMS and severe dysmenorrhea during my periods. They suspected an endometriosis diagnosis, which was later confirmed (5). Eventually, I developed chronic pelvic pain and fibromyalgia so vinyasa yoga didn’t always feel doable (6). I discovered a yin/ yang yoga class that became my sanctuary. It’s a hybrid of some flow followed by deep releases in long held floor based yin poses. The Yin Yoga practice in particular really helped to open up my lower body and improve pelvic pain.

DESCRIBE HOW YOU RELATE TO YOUR BODY DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE OF YOGA?

Yin Yoga helping with my pain ultimately inspired me to become a yoga teacher. I pursued my 200 Hour training at Yoga District. I have spent 500 hours of training with the top Yin teachers around the world, learning about:

Anatomy and skeletal variation (7)
Myofascial release (8)
Meridians (9)
Meditation.

I also pursued a Pelvic Floor Yoga teacher training program. This integrated my knowledge of Yin Yoga to find great releases for the pelvic floor, which often becomes tight if you have chronic cramps, dysmenorrhea, or other pelvic pain (10). Additionally vinyasa training has enhanced my understanding of how to strengthen the body as well. My yoga training and practice has empowered my body awareness with increased knowledge of my own body. Plus, it’s provided me with more tools for strengthening and releasing my body. Also, the commitment of showing up to teach every week helped me overcome the mental barrier that I couldn’t do vinyasa yoga when I was in pain.

For those who are interested in teaching or deepening their practice, I am part of Yoga District’s 200 Hour Teacher Training Faculty. If you’re looking to learn more about Yin Yoga or how to teach it then check out my 50 Hour Yin Yoga Teacher Training over 3 weekends spread out from April 2023 to May 2023.

WHAT DOES BEING A FEMINIST MEAN TO YOU?

Being a feminist means having control over your body, advocating for your voice and others’ voices to be heard, while also supporting other women. Previous male acupuncturists that treated me had zero idea what it’s like to have debilitating periods. They were pushy about me getting off birth control since they viewed it as an impediment to my progress. For me being on birth control, that generally suppresses periods, is the only way I’ve been able to live my life and advance in my career. I still go to acupuncture on a weekly basis but I have simply chosen to see someone less judgmental and rigid on traditional chinese medicine protocols.

DO YOU FEEL YOUR YOGA PRACTICE IS A FEMINIST ACT?

My goal in becoming a teacher is to share this practice and knowledge with others. I also want to facilitate a change that talking about pelvic pain is okay. The amount of self advocacy and entrepreneurship in putting together the care required would be a lot easier if we shared our experiences (good and bad). In honor of Women’s History Month and Endometriosis Awareness month, I am again offering this free Yoga for Pelvic Pain workshop (March 19 at the 14th studio and online) (11,12). This year, like last year’ workshop, we also included a safe space for a discussion about Pelvic Health.

I’ve had my journey with pelvic pain, yoga, and becoming a yoga teacher. I want to empower, provide support, and be a resource for your journey.

MY YOGA CLASSES

You can find me in my weekly class offerings, where there’s a variety to choose from depending on your needs. If you’re interested in private sessions then you can fill out this form.

If you’re just looking for deep releases and to calm your body and mind then try my Friday Yin Yoga class (6:40 pm at Dupont and online).
Sunday’s Yin Yoga with Myofascial Release class will dive deeper into your body’s fascia and other deeper tissues (13). It also integrates tennis balls for self myofascial release (6 pm at Dupont and online).
Looking to balance out your body with gentle strengthening followed by deep releases then my Sunday Yin/Yang Yoga class is a great choice (12:45 pm at 14th street and online).
Friday ‘s Chill Flow 1-2 class is an ideal beginner friendly flow class to unwind from your week while bringing in some strengthening (5:20 at Dupont).
For a more strength-based flow where you can play with adapting poses for your body then Sunday’s Flow 1.5 to 2 class is a perfect option (4:45 pm at Dupont and Online).

Sources

Six Degree Singers, Singsix.com
Period pain linked to nearly 9 days of lost productivity for a woman in a year, https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/health/period-pain-productivity-study-intl/index.html
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), https://www.womenshealth.gov/menstrual-cycle/premenstrual-syndrome
Dysmenorrhea, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4148-dysmenorrhea
Endometriosis, https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/endometriosis
Fibromyalgia, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4832-fibromyalgia
Functional Yoga: When Is Alignment Important?, https://yogainternational.com/article/view/functional-yoga-when-is-alignment-important/
Myofascial Release, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/24011-myofascial-release-therapy
The Relationship Between Yin Yoga and the Meridians, https://www.yogapedia.com/the-relationship-between-yin-yoga-and-the-meridians/2/12091
The hypertonic pelvic floor, https://www.pelvicfloorfirst.org.au/news/577/the-hypertonic-pelvic-floor/
Women’s History Month, https://www.womenshistory.org/womens-history/womens-history-month
Endometriosis Awareness month, https://nationaltoday.com/national-endometriosis-awareness-month/
Fascia, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23251-fascia