All the different kinds of yoga can be confusing. Some styles work you physically very hard; others stretch you out, or focus on breathing and meditation. There’s Vinyasa Flow, Hatha, Ashtanga, Yin… so what is restorative yoga?
Restorative yoga comes from the Iyengar school, which uses ALL the props to support a body into the best version of a pose for that body. It is a practice specifically designed to allow rest and relaxation and it can bring enormous benefits to those who practise it.
Restorative yoga is open to nearly everyone; you can even practise it in bed. That means that even if you’re ill you can still practise yoga. With books as blocks, with cushions and blankets, and with a comfortable, soothing space, you can create your own welcoming nest to nurture yourself. On the other hand, if you’re a very busy person you might find it difficult to switch off at home, so attending a class can allow that distance from your obligations that lets you be present in the practice and not thinking about the washing up, or the cobweb over your bedroom mirror. (You could come to my restorative workshop coming up in Stroud at the Yoga Space in April- book here.)
In our society full of striving and achievement, the real gift of restorative yoga is this permission to sink into being and do absolutely nothing- no physical effort at all. While we might sit on the sofa and watch TV, or scroll through social media on the phone, very few of us allow ourselves the time to do nothing- can you remember the last time you gave yourself that permission?
But what if I get bored, or I can’t relax? I’ll just be lying there worrying, won’t I?
Many teachers will offer you things to think about- poetry, prose, yoga philosophy- and this can be really helpful to quiet the busy mind; but as you stay with the practice you may find even your mind relaxing and switching off. This state of deep rest can allow the body to enter an anabolic state of restoration, as opposed to a catabolic state of energy usage. Engaging the parasympathetic, ‘rest-and-digest’ nervous system in this way allows the body to begin rebuilding itself and reverse some of the effects of stress. Restorative yoga can even surpass sleep in terms of the rest it can bring. So effective can it be that it can invigorate even as it relaxes you, giving you more energy later on.
What good does it do to just lie around?
Studies have shown a host of benefits to practising restorative yoga. A 2017 study (Pandey et al) compared a group doing restorative yoga for 15 minutes with the same time period of quiet relaxation, and another doing stretching. The study measured heart rate and blood pressure; researchers found that the relaxation group showed no significant changes. In the other two groups, there were drops in both heart rate and blood pressure, but the group doing restorative yoga had statistically significant drops compared with the stretching group, and the reduction in blood pressure was maintained over 24 hours. (Study described in the Training Manual for the Professional Diploma in Yoga Therapy by The Minded Institute.) Other research shows benefits for people suffering from metabolic disorders or from cancer (both during and after treatment). The findings from these studies suggest that restorative yoga could also be useful for people suffering from chronic fatigue or ME.
Lots of us think (maybe at a deep subconscious level) that if we’re not doing, we are somehow wasting our time. When was the last time you gave yourself permission to just be?
Restorative yoga reminds us that rest is crucial, that when we rest deeply we’re actually allowing our bodies and minds to repair and restore, which is vital for continued health and wellbeing- and without those, we struggle to do anything.
