Restorative Yoga

Last Saturday I spent a wonderful 2 hours at a Restorative yoga workshop.  Restorative yoga is the art of relaxation and mindful awareness, and involves only a few poses supported by props such as bolsters and blocks.  It is derived from a yoga style developed by B.K.C. Iyengar.  In an article on the Chopra Center website, Adam Brady says "Restorative yoga could just as easily be called “mindful yoga” due to the expanded awareness of self and body that comes through the practice". After the session we shared fruit and small talk to 'wake' us up before going back to the real world.  I felt calmer and refreshed.

At uni, my neighbour was wise beyond his years.  Whenever I described my long to-do list to him, he would reply, "But when will you rest?"  We can get so caught up in our busy day to day lives that it's so easy to forget to just be.  Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., PT, author of Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times expresses it perfectly saying "We work very hard in our lives, and while we may sleep, we rarely take time to relax. Restorative yoga poses help us learn to rest deeply and completely."    

If you are interested in restorative yoga, I've pinned some example poses to my Pinterest board.  I hope that you will find some time to rest during your busy week, after all we are human beings not doings.