Halloween Baby

hello friends!

There’s so much unfolding at The Yin Lounge right now, I hardly know where to begin. Perhaps I’ll start at the beginning, which was four years ago today! That’s right. On Halloween of 2021 the Yin Mat was born after an online Yoga Nidra teacher training I had taken the weekend before. The instructor had us “make a nest” that would be comfortable enough to lay down on for up to an hour. Well, she was speaking my love language because making people comfortable is my superpower and now I had the invitation to turn that towards myself.

I set up a corner of my living room in cozy, sacred space with a piece of latex I happened to have (my sister in law used to own an organic mattress store), and a gorgeous linen curtain that I had been meaning to get on to a rod for for about two and a half years ;)

My nest WAS THE BEST and I left it set up after the course was over because I found that it was excellent for getting me to get out of my head and into some gentle movement and general embodiment throughout the day every day. After a bike ride - plop down and stretch. Watching a movie - hey I can lounge around in ways my body liked better than the couch and not be a potato on this thing! I also discovered that if I folded it like a Z, it was more comfortable and supportive than any meditation cushion or bench I had ever tried - EVER.

When that Halloween rolled around, my son who was 11 bailed on me to go trick or treating with his friends. Instead of crumpling up and crying on my nest (I’m mildly exaggerating) I took it as an opportunity for some halloween flavored soul care. I put on the vintage hits, busted out the heady weed and had myself a little solo party, stretching and lounging and eventually sitting up to meditate.

During my meditation, I had that flash of insight that people talk about. It was all pretty instantaneous. Within a matter of seconds I knew that this contraption I was sitting on had to come into the culture. The days of using the sticky mat for all things embodied were over. People and their nervous systems needed an inviting place to land that was soft and beautiful and aligned with the earth ~ made of natural materials. And it was to be called a Yin Mat.

Yin is the feminine aspect of the Tao — calm, intuitive, and inward. The soft pull of gravity, the body’s exhale, the spacious pause that balances Yang’s fire and motion. It is everything that we need to have more access to at this time on this planet. More feminine. The earth is the divine feminine, and laying down is the fastest way to get grounded and connected with that mother. Our bodies are the divine feminine, even if you’re a guy. The body is SHAKTI. The goddess. And we just need to get down into these bodies and onto the ground soooo much more often. That’s where we find regeneration. That’s where we can access balance and harmony and intuition. That’s where we find nervous system regulation that enables us to go beyond survive and ease on into thrive.

Burnout is REAL and crushing our society. Estimates of burnout among Americans vary, but recent surveys show that between 65% and 77% of workers have experienced burnout in 2025, with some studies finding even higher numbers like 89%. Of course, it’s hard to know what constitutes “burnout”, but it’s safe to say that a majority of Americans feel overextended and undernourished, and it isn’t until now that we have a product that serves as a body altar to mitigate that stress and depletion.

I encourage you to set up sacred space in your home.

Get yourself a body altar. Here are the different applications for our three signature offerings🌹:

YIN MAT: 1” thick, a bit wider and longer than a sticky mat. Excellent for slow and stretchy embodiment practices, such as (but not limited to) Yin Yoga. Light enough to take with you to classes, camping, sound baths or on your trip just in case the mattress could use an extra layer of comfort. Great for your psychadelic trip too!🤠

SOMA MAT: 2” thick, wider and more plush than the Yin Mat. Excellent for resting, Nidra, lounging, meditation, self regulation and co-regulation. Replaces a couch - sitting all day and into the night is super bad for your body! Elongate, unwind and decompress as needed.

AXIS MAT: straight up replacement for your sticky mat (minus hot yoga:). Made of pure wool from happy sheep, the Axis Mat has just enough grip to stabilize your practice but not so much that you’re dumping out of your core. Soft, sweet and stable for your flow yoga practice, pilates, HIIT, light cardio and jazzercise.

Coming soon (debuting at the Living Local Craft Fair Nov. 29th in Peterborough NH):

TUSH CUSH! Zafus and Zabutons (meditation cushions) made from organic latex with fabulous, gorgeous covers.

Did you know that some indigenous cultures ask the tree sap to carry their prayers to Mother Earth? Latex is the sap of rubber trees, and ours is sustainably and ethically harvested in Sri Lanka. Imagine lining your chakra column up with the worlds most primordial prayer-deliverer holding and supporting you while you meditate. And beneath your whole body in the case of the yin and soma mats.

Well, Happy Halloween to you and Happy Birthday to the Yin Lounge. We are wishing you heaping doses of Yin nourishment in the dark, cold days to come. The coming season is not everybody’s favorite but it’s where we tap our power, so lean in and lounge on my friends.

Love, rah

ps: I did finally hang that curtain. I'm sure ppl sometimes wonder what the red polka dot is. 'It looks like blood but how did it get on the curtain?' ;) #noshame #moregoddess