Why is Restorative Yoga good for me?
I’m sure you have heard all about Restorative yoga and how it can help you and why, but do you know what it is?
Restorative yoga is a style of yoga that helps you put your body, emotions and mind at ease. In the practice, you use all the support from props to hold your body up so you don’t have to. The purpose of this practice is to let go, release and reset the nervous system. The practice moves slowly, there are longer holds in poses and focuses on the breath.
There is a quality of passive healing that is deeply therapeutic to this practice that is oftentimes looked over by the Vinyasa junkies of this age. Don’t get me wrong Vinyasa is great but just like a restorative practice, there is a time and place for Vinyasa flow in our lives.
We find Vinyasa is great for helping us feel revitalized, shake off the Sunday scaries, whatever that even means but, we do consist of Yin (gentle/soft) qualities and the Yang (tough/active) qualities and benefit from finding a balance between both. In other words how about all those other times when we are depleted of energy and running on fumes? What about when we are overstimulated with work, school, social media, and the like that our nervous system is crying out for help?
That is exactly when to head to the nearest Restorative Yoga class.
It’s called RE-storative because it restores your nervous system to the parasympathetic nervous system function. AKA the rest and digest state, a place where the body can relax, slow down, and take the necessary breaths needed to keep going.
Because we are helping the body slow down, the body naturally goes back to healing what needed to be healed instead of stress over the deadline or worry about the email.
Restorative yoga can help slow down your breathing, reduce blood pressure, and produce a feeling of calm and increased well-being. Plus all you have to do is basically roll around and make different shapes with your body while being lulled/guided/lead by a gentle voice where you’ll usually find sound bowls and aromatherapy in the room. Ummm, like what’s not to love.
Well, there is that component where you are not having to perform in front of others, no adrenaline aka cortisol running (pst same as anxiety), you are still, sometimes listening to your thoughts, sometimes getting triggered, feeling, sensing oh my.
Yeah it’s kind of a lot, and most say that Restorative Yoga is actually more difficult than regular asana (active) yoga because of the quiet meditation component.
BUT there’s a big but, not that kind but if you’re already going down that rabbit hole do you lol. The magical thing as any practice once you realize it was just you stopping you from getting quiet it’s going to become your favorite thing to do!
Trust me I get it, I felt resistance when I officially began practicing breath work on its own. That was work and still sometimes is. There’s that inner dialogue that I find myself in like, “Ok today is breath practice day. But maybe I should reschedule for tomorrow, I’ll probably have more time and be in a better mood.” and then even during practice I find that sometimes I move more than usual. By the end of the practice, I feel like a shiny new human. It’s a process!! and I get it!
How about starting with curiosity. Then moving to courage, then daring to move towards it, to finding compassion for yourself while doing the practice. Cause trust me your body will need it and love you the whole way through…even if you find some resistance to it.
✨What are the benefits of Restorative Yoga:
Strengthens the immune system
Promotes personal awareness
Reduces chronic pain and discomfort
Fosters natural self-healing
Promotes relaxation
Reduces stress
Balances energy in the body
Promotes restful sleep
Relaxes mind and body
Soothes the nervous system
Enhances your mood
Improves well-being
Gentle on your body
Works as part of an overall treatment plan for chronic health conditions
Safe to perform during pregnancy
💖All of these benefits are exactly what the benefits of Reiki are and why I blend them together. <3
🧘🏽♀️If you are interested in experiencing a Reiki infused Yoga class please check out my events page here
🔗Or head over to my linktree to get all the details
🚨Check out my Restorative class on youtube below
