Yesterday I held a three-hour restorative yoga workshop. While I love a powerful practice with lots of inversi
ons and chaturangas, a practice balanced with poses that encourage you to let go and stay longer is equally important. We need to check-in and come back to what the essence of yoga, it is a union between the mind and the body. Restorative poses help for 5-10 minutes become meditative, and you can feel the body releasing and opening, muscles and the mind softens with each breath.
It’s the same feeling I get when I go for a massage, and I first lie down on the massage table, my entire body lets go. I feel the gentle release at the base of my spine, like putting down a bag filled with bricks. We are constantly holding the body up, even often doing things that we think of as sedentary like watching television. Wherever you are reading this right now consciously let your shoulders soften and let you head fall forward so you can feel the stretch in your neck, then soften your jaw and let the skin of your face become slack. Focus on this softening of your body for ten breaths. Then gently open your eyes and lift your head. How do you feel? Hopefully restored.
Now start the week with an open heart.
Jane Bauer 