Restorative Yoga: the most relaxing yoga!
Overwhelmed, stressed by work? You don’t have time to practice yoga or you are not a fan of dynamic yoga? In this article you will discover Restorative Yoga, the yoga that takes the time to do things right in order to relax a maximum!
Restorative Yoga, a restorative yoga
Are you looking for a way to improve your stress management, to become aware of your emotions? During a session – which lasts from 60 minutes to 75 minutes – get away from the stress of your daily life.
This discipline is highly recommended for people suffering fromanxiety disorders, depression. To overcome the daily grind and take a break without having to run around? It is possible with restorative yoga. This distant cousin of Yin Yoga allows a practice that is both relaxing and… empty!
Like Iyengar yoga, Restorative yoga has therapeutic properties and is intended to improve the health of the yogis who practice it. Indeed, this yoga will not allow you to gain flexibility, nor to strengthen your muscles, but simply to relax deeply.
Origins and History of Restorative Yoga
Restorative yoga was created by a former student of Sri B.K.S Iyengar, the famous creator of Iyengar yoga named Judith Hanson Lasater. It has several denominations such as restorative, restaurateur or restoratif.
Restorative has its roots in Vishranta, an ancient system of yoga that is usually practiced on the floor to relax the consciousness. Often associated with nidra which is practiced in a state of semi-sleep and semi-awake. It is also a distant cousin of Yin Yoga which is also based on relaxation and improves your balance but also meditation.
Unlike the restorative, Yin has muscle strengthening properties as it comes through deep stretching to improve flexibility. This form of yoga is open to all because it does not involve dynamic or intense activity and the stretches are low impact.
Principles of Restorative Yoga
The goal of this practice… is to do nothing at all! Its fundamental principle is to let go, to release the entire body from the tensions that have accumulated.
This discipline has simple principles:
- physical and mental rest to rest effectively : stop in your daily activities and take time to rest from this infernal machine that life can be in order to fill up with energy.
- Taking care of oneself also means doing nothing: being able to take a break to recharge one’s batteries and rest for the duration of a sequence also means being able to take care of oneself spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
- Relaxation to release pressure: to allow to unload all the load of the emotions and the accumulated stress by practicing the mental relaxation.
If you are wondering about the difficulty of this discipline, you should know that it is open to everyone who wants to relax. The ease of its practice as well as its positions, it is the privileged means of relaxation for the small ones as for the adults.
With what material should I practice Restorative Yoga?
Often nicknamed the supported yoga for its use of many supports, everything is good in order to guarantee an optimal relaxation and get rid of its bad energies! All the accessories are good to take and to use during its practice! Let’s see what these accessories are and how they are used.
A soft carpet to practice ?
Restorative is a very gentle practice, so you need a suitable mat to practice it. To provide your body with the comfort and softness you need, Yogom has developed the Gentle Range. You will find an XXL rug made from European merino wool, ideal for relaxing. In this range you can find other accessories that you can also use for this type of disciple like a blanket, a knee pad, perfect for meditation and a cushion. This mat is not only for this practice, you can also use it for nidra, yin and other gentle yogas. If you wish the Yogom playlist “ Gentle Yoga Class “, gentle sessions of 30 to 60 minutes, await you!
The bolster: a real supporter
The yoga bolster is this small bolster often found in the soft practices it is very often used during sessions of Yin Yoga for example. Its use is diverse and varied, it can be used during meditations or stretching to extend them gently. It can be used in many positions and offers optimal comfort and support when holding postures to allow complete relaxation of the body and mind. Like the carpet, the bolster can be found in different materials and shapes. For example, in merino wool made in Europe and Oeko-Tex certified from the softness line or simply the cover that you can fill yourself and thus choose its density. The Bolster Guide is available on the Yogom blog, offering 20 positions that can be achieved with these accessories to help you relax.
The brick: helps you keep your balance
The yoga bricks are perfect supports to hold you in positions you have trouble holding. Although this style of yoga is not very physical, or even acrobatic, holding a position for a long time can be complicated and the bricks are there to hold you.
They are available in EVA, a material made from non-toxic and recyclable recycled foam, and in cork produced in Portugal.
How to practice Restorative Yoga?
The advantage of this discipline is that you can practice it in a studio or alone at home, as you feel it! A session begins with breathing exercises called pranayama. The session can then be broken down into a few simple sitting or lying postures that are held for about ten minutes each. Some of the postures that can take place during a session are the mountain position, the goddess of sleep where the yogis lie on a bolster with their legs relaxed. The Savasana position is also often practiced. Between each posture a moment of immobility is held in order to eliminate all the accumulated tensions. Teacher Cyndi Lee offers short sessions of six postures for her classes, using as much support as possible. Very little present in France where very few centers offer restorative courses, the “restorative yoga“has already won over many followers on the other side of the Atlantic for its health and beauty benefits. the well-being of life. In the age of telecommuting, one can only imagine that more and more studios are opening all over the world.
Where to practice Restorative Yoga?
Audrey Favreau, a yoga teacher, trains nearly 120 people each year in the benefits of yoga. On its website it offers a training in four modules available in France, Belgium and Switzerland. Its first and last modules are available in e-learning and are reserved for those who wish to practice, share and respond to students’ problems whether they are back pain, cancer or hypertension. The second and third modules take place over 5 days each, the second training for students who want to become a certified teacher and the third training for those who want to make their teaching therapeutic. It also offers online courses directly from its website.
In France, 34 centers offer restorative yoga courses in the form of retreats lasting several days. Over a period varying from 3 days to 8 daysYou will be able to escape in a neutral environment in the heart of nature where you will participate in hikes and take part in courses of different styles of the discipline such as nidra or the yin of which the restorative. Due to the growing demand and interest in this practice, more and more studios are expected to offer classes soon.
The benefits of Restorative Yoga?
As seen in the article so far, this style of yoga is very passive, so we have the right to ask ourselves what are its benefits in this case. Why practice it if it is useless? This is the best solution for crisis management. Indeed, the results on the body are at first sight non-existent, however restorative yoga is very recommended for people suffering from stress,anxiety and depression. It allows you to take a real break in your day or week to release all the pressure accumulated by work and daily life. His breathing exercises help with all stress disorders and accelerate the relaxation process. The evacuation of tensions and the restoration of the organs and muscles also allow to improve the quality of sleep. Just like other forms of yoga, it allows to realign different factors such as the spiritual, physical, mental, emotional to free oneself from potential emotional blockages in order to find inner peace. After a session, it is normal and even common to feel an overflow of emotions because the body and mind have undergone real changes. It is a real booster for your mental health and your daily life.
If you wish to discover other styles of yoga, we invite you to read the article “ Which style of yoga to practice? “on our blog.