Because both Yin Yoga and Restorative Yoga are slower-paced practices, they’re often confused and used interchangeably. But they are distinctly different practices that each have different goals. Yin Yoga is designed to gently affect tissues in the body through compression and stretch. You are meant to feel sensation in a Yin practice. Contrarily, Restorative Yoga targets your nervous system, and specifically, your parasympathetic nervous system (or your “rest-and-digest response”).