Miranda and I were having tea last week. Our conversations are always interesting (to us, anyway) and cover a multitude of topics. The one topic that pops up often, is restorative yoga. We both feel that restorative yoga is the most misunderstood style of yoga. I have taught restorative yoga for about eight years and it seems people either love it or don’t. The number one comment I have heard, from people who don’t love this style of practice, would have to be “My mind is too busy to relax!” For this weeks topic, I want to dive deep into the topic of Restorative yoga.
Let’s start with, what to expect in a restorative yoga class?
You can expect to use a lot of props, such as bolsters (big pillows), blankets and blocks. We use all of these props in order to support your physical body. When the body is completely supported, this will allow the stretch to be passive. Many times, over the years, another common comment I’ve heard is “I didn’t really feel a stretch”. Those of us who practice yoga regularly, we can fall into the trap of always searching for sensation. Sometimes there is the idea, that we aren’t really doing anything if we aren’t feeling a big stretch. I invite you to take the idea of sensation right out of the equation while practicing restorative yoga.
So, here we are-we have the body completely supported by props, we feel a passive stretch in the body, now what? We stay for awhile!! I LOVE when we stay in the pose for 10+ minutes! Talk about heaven on earth!! A couple of things happen when we spend this much time in a pose. First of all, for most of us, it takes this amount of time to allow the body to relax completely into the props. Even with the stretch being pretty minimal at the start of the pose, by about the half way point, you may start to feel a subtle stretch in the body. In my opinion, we now get to work on the real stuff- the mind!
When I teach a restorative yoga class, I like to be silent for most of the class. I will give cues on setting up the props and getting comfortable. Other than the occasional reminder to breathe, I like a quiet room. I know from more comments over the years, that some people will feel really uncomfortable with this extended silence. As we all know, we live in a highly distracted world. Unless we make a conscious decision to do so, we rarely sit in silence with nothing to distract us! Personally, I am 100% an introvert. I crave silence. This is probably part of the reason why I love restorative yoga so much. But we live in a very extroverted world, always looking outside of ourselves for entertainment. Just like the idea of looking for the physical sensation in a pose, we may also find ourselves looking for external distraction, as well.
In vinyasa yoga or hatha yoga we train the physical body so we can sit in meditation. In restorative yoga, we relax the physical body, so we can work directly with the mind. Having a strong physical body is very important. Having a focused mind, is life changing. A common misconception about meditation, is that the mind needs to be completely quiet. Instead, the way I describe meditation, it’s a practice of training my mind to focus on what I want it to focus on, whether that’s my breath or a mantra, rather than allowing my mind to just run around like an untrained dog.
Going back to last weeks post, where we discussed the autonomic nervous system. When the nervous system is in the parasympathetic, it is easier to find that focus in the mind. In essence, the more relaxed you allow your body to be, the easier it will be to train your mind. Our mind is a muscle and just like every other muscle in the body, we need to strengthen it. Our mind, when it is uncontrolled, will create all kinds of stories about ourselves and about the world around us. When we don’t have control over the mind, we believe these stories. But, when we have the ability to control the mind, those stories can become few and far between and when they do pop up, we have the ability to know if the story is truth or fiction.
Of all the different styles of yoga out there, restorative yoga can really be the most transformative style we practice!
Whether you love restorative yoga, like I do or you want to try it for the first time or maybe, you want to try it again- we have a real treat in store for you. On New Year’s Eve we are offering a restorative yoga and massage workshop. Vanessa will lead you through the practice, while Leanne and Miranda help you set up your props and offer gentle massage. I can’t think of a better way to finish off one decade and head into another. To learn more, please head over to our workshop page, here
Until next time!!