Taking time each day to relax and renew is essential to well-being. Restorative yoga explores the capacity to relax deeply, to understand the body and mind more intimately, and to open your heart more fully to love.

Overview of Restorative Yoga

The antidote to stress is relaxation. Restorative yoga, guided meditation, and breathing practices help to calm the mind and nervous system, relieving chronic stress. When our body relaxes instead of constricts, our entire being integrates – body, mind, breath, and spirit. Rather than working on changing anything, we can simply allow ourselves to surrender, to completely let go.

By activating our rest, digest and repair response (parasympathetic nervous system) our body rebalances internally. With regular practice, our body and mind gain the capacity to stay relaxed and centered even in the most challenging times.

Use of restorative props provide complete support to create nurturing physical postures of ease and comfort. By supporting the body with props, we alternately stimulate and relax the body to move toward balance. Layers of tension melt away as you learn to be present. When deep relaxation is realized, healing can happen on many levels.

Benefits of Restorative Yoga

These practices are especially beneficial at times when your energy is depleted related to major life events or challenges (marriage, divorce, death of a loved one, pregnancy loss, infertility, moving, career change etc..) and whenever you feel overwhelmed. Restorative yoga assists in reducing the effects of chronic stress and fatigue, and creates overall feelings of well-being.

• Stress Management - restorative yoga counteracts the negative effects of stress and elicits 'the relaxation response' (slower heart rate, metabolism, rate of breathing, lower blood pressure, and slower brain wave patterns). Can reduce and prevent the effect of stress related diseases.

• Brings calm and equilibrium to the body-mind. Relaxes and deepens the breath which in turn relaxes the nervous system and calms the mind.

• Assists in management of depression, anxiety, and over-stimulation of the nervous system. Can help with insomnia.

• Supports recovery from injury, surgery, or illness - illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, adrenal fatigue, and fibromyalgia.

• Relieves muscular tension and tightness - opening and releasing areas of tightness and congestion in the body.

• Promotes better circulation of blood and lymph, balancing the hormonal system - Inversions in particular reverse the effects of gravity.

• Promotes health of internal organs - stimulates and soothes organs as part of a balanced restorative sequence.

• Assists in management of menstrual pain and discomfort and can support recovery from menstrual imbalances.

• Supports women's hormonal changes (pre-menstrual through menopause).

• Can improve reproductive health and promote fertility.

• Moves the spine in all directions, promoting a healthy spine which can enhance wellbeing.

• Rejuvenates and energizes - you don't have to use energy to gain energy!

• Balances the energy within the body - balancing the masculine energy of 'prana' (upward energy) with 'apana' the feminine (downward energy).

• Supports healthy immune function.

• Can help relieve headaches and migraines.

• Can help with back pain.

• Supports weight loss.

Practices for connection, grounding and calming are so important. Learning how to cultivate self-care and create a healing space for yourself is relevant more now, than ever.

Within My Restorative Sessions

I often begin with mindful movement to shift energy and to warm and relax the body. We practice supported restorative poses for deep relaxation; connect with our breath and direct it to different areas of the body; and explore guided meditation and visualization finding inner stillness.