Why Restorative Yoga?
How would you feel if you took more time in your life to relax?
Taking the time to properly rest is an essential requirement for living well.
Modern life doesn’t give us time to slow down and take a break. We face daily pressure to be better, to perform better in our jobs, in school, even at home.
Staying busy and constantly having things to do can have a negative effect on our well-being and health. In a fast paced world we can choose to slow down consciously now, or we will be forced to slow down later as our bodies develop illness or injury.
This is where the practice of restorative yoga comes into play. This is when we decide that our health and well-being matter more than checking off our to-do list. We often forget that sometimes we just need to take time to relax.
The practice of restorative yoga is a receptive practice, not an active practice. Deep healing, balance and rejuvenation take place in this simple act of relaxing. The body has the power to restore itself from all the stresses when we take the time for it. In restorative yoga the body and mind are brought into balance and enter into a deep state of relaxation where the healing magic happens. In this practice we get to experience the connection to the peaceful and calm space within each of us, far away from the daily obligations and responsibilities.
During restorative yoga we are held in the poses by different props, pillows, blankets. By being fully supported, the body is comfortable and able to fully let go. And with the act of letting go, we enter a state of balance and healing.
Origins of Restorative Yoga
Restorative yoga was developed by B.K.S. Iyengar (1918-2014), who was the founder of Iyengar yoga. He was a sickly child who has struggled since his early life. He lived with his sister and brother-in-law, Krishnamacharya (1888-1989), who was a highly influential and respected yoga teacher and scholar.
Iyengar took another approach to teaching yoga, which he developed through his own yoga practice in improving his health. His method was through using props, such as blocks, pillows, walls. In this way he used therapeutic alignment while reducing strains and preventing injuries. One of his students popularized restorative yoga even further. Judith Hanson Lasater, PhD PT defined restorative yoga as the practice that creates comfort and facilitates health and relaxation.
My story
My journey of yoga began close to 20 years ago when I was brought into a very secluded and cozy yoga studio by a dear friend. It was during that lunch break practice that my love for yoga sparked up. The way I felt after that one hour of yoga was nothing that I had ever felt before. It was my body and my mind that felt absolutely free and my spirit was rekindled. This day I decided that I needed to know everything that was taking place and how.
Fast forward many years later, years of teacher trainings, years of personal daily application of all the aspects of yoga, numerous workshops, many ancient literature studies and texts, connecting with countless like minded people, I know what rejuvenating benefits to our life yoga brings.
Finding the connection to the true source, the joy within, the reservoir of our own wisdom is the secret for happy living. I am grateful for the expansion this path has led my way and brought me in close connections with people from all around the world. I have learned that health practices together with allowing the flow of creativity, love, community are the true ways for one to thrive.
My mission is to share my knowledge with all that are looking for it, to bring more people together in their determination to find the connection with the source of wisdom, bliss, joy, health, love within.
“Be at least as interested in what goes on inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place”
ECKHART TOLLE