This post was originally published on our blog in January 2017.
My name is Emma and I am a Restorative yoga evangelist. 🙂
In our busy world, Restorative yoga is an effective way to learn how to slow down and deeply rest. Restorative yoga can help you to reduce stress and support your body’s innate responses toward balance and health. As a very gentle form of yoga, Restorative yoga integrates resting postures, breath techniques, and meditative relaxation. I want to share with you three reasons why our upcoming Restorative Yoga Immersion is for you.
After this immersion you will be able to:
CUSTOMIZE a restorative yoga sequence to meet your specific needs
MEDITATE in a restorative pose
GIFT this practice to friends and family
CUSTOMIZE – Learn to design a sequence that meets your specific (and changing) needs
Did you know that different restorative poses can have different effects on your nervous system and your experience of your thinking, feeling and breathing? In our deep dive into Restorative Yoga, you will learn which poses have an uplifting and energizing quality, which poses have a settling, grounding quality and which poses might allow gentle release. You will have the time and space to get to know the poses and how different poses can help you respond to feelings of lethargy or dullness, overwhelm or anxious thinking, or feelings of constriction. By the end of the immersion you will be able to create sequences of restorative poses that can respond to your changing needs. This ability to customize your restorative practice can help deepen your experience of a class at the studio or when practicing at home.
BONUS: We will be exploring a few exercises in our Restorative Immersion that do not usually get included in drop-in classes, because they require more time and explanation than drop-in classes allow. You will have the opportunity to explore these exercises in depth and later be able to incorporate them into your practice.
MEDITATE – Add meditative technique to your restorative practice
Sitting meditation can be a challenge for many people. In our restorative immersion, we will explore the meditative quality of restorative yoga – how we can begin to observe our breath, our arising thoughts and feelings, and learn from them without a specific agenda or end in mind. If you are curious about a meditation practice, adding meditative techniques to your restorative practice is a wonderful place to start.
GIFT – Share restorative yoga with friends, family or coworkers
Restorative yoga is a simple practice that you can share with friends or family, without completing an entire yoga teacher training. Once you learn more about sequencing, meditative breathing and the anatomy of support, you will be able to guide friends and family into comfortable and restful poses to help them unwind, relax and decrease tension. If you are a body worker, therapist or social worker, you might also share certain poses with clients, as part of a larger self care strategy.
Our Restorative Yoga Immersion on Nov 9-11 is open to anyone; no yoga experience required. For yoga teachers and those wanting to share Restorative Yoga with others, there will be additional weekend of training and a practicum component following the immersion. Read more about the teacher training portion here.
Emma Dines is the creative director of Queen Street Yoga. She loves writing, visiting thrift stores and going for walks in the woods. She also loves cartwheeling, sewing and making her own kimchi.
The Branches 