Restorative yoga for optimal relaxation

Restorative yoga: back to basics

Daily demands and a hectic lifestyle have a negative impact on your health and well-being. Restorative yoga promises healing, deep relaxation of the body, recovery and regeneration of body and mind. It is interesting since it can be practiced at any age, it is open to a wide audience and at all levels of practice. It is an accessible and beneficial yoga in the long term. 

Origin

Restorative yoga is a sport dedicated to deep relaxation and at recovery of body and mind. Like dynamic yoga, this form of yoga uses brackets such as cushions and blankets to ensure that they support the practitioners' bodies and provide a let go. 

But how was this idea born? This yoga has its origins in ancient yogic traditions. But it has been adapted to meet the stresses of the 21st century. The form we know emerged between the 1960s and 1970s thanks to teachings of BKS Iyengar and Judith Hanson Lasater. This yoga resembles iyengar yoga initiated by bks iyengar. Interested in this model, Judith Lasater attended a course and then the American created the foundations of restorative yoga based on specific sequences and of restorative postures. 

The principle of restorative yoga 

Restorative yoga is a technique gentle et regenerating which aims to absolute relaxation et l’équilibre in a hectic lifestyle. With its sustained postures, deep relaxation and conscious breathing, restorative yoga offers a moment of relaxation and recovery. 

Enjoy his company

Restorative yoga teaches you to be caring towards oneself. This type of yoga requires attentive and caring listening of your body at the level of your sensations and your needs. 

Firstly, it requires you to honor your boundaries. Indeed, each body is different and has needs and restrictions who are to him clean. It is by listening to your body that you avoid injuries. Then, restorative yoga allows you to focus on sensations present in your body. By listening attentively, you can recognize sensations of heat, cold, tension or pain to adjust your practice accordingly. Another point, you can use your breathing as a guide. Indeed, by connecting to your breath, you can better perceive the sensations that run through your body, as well as knowing whether you need to stay in a position for a long time or adjust it. 

Meditation through postures

In restorative yoga, the use of brackets is common. You can find blankets, cushions, straps, blocks and bolsters there. These tools allow you to explore postures like twists, inversions and bends without feeling like you are exerting physical effort. Knowing that a restorative yoga class lasts 1h30, generally consisting of 3 or 4 positions held for between 5 and 30 minutes 

Your brain will automatically find the comfort ultimate for your body to blend into the supports by calling on your parasympathetic nervous system. The latter controls your state of calm while reducing your cardiac frequency, your arterial pressure, your stress and your respiratory rate. 

When the parasympathetic nervous system is engaged, it responds to the sympathetic system, responsible foracceleration of your metabolism functions to find a emotional balance and one state of serenity. When you play sports, muscle tension activates your sympathetic nervous system. But practicing restorative yoga allows the use of accessories for each posture in order to minimize tension and bring you into a state of relaxation, of mindfulness and well-being thanks to the supports. 

Restorative yoga postures 

The postures are specially designed to achieve deep relaxation. Here are some essential postures of restorative yoga and their benefits: 

• Balasana : It is a posture that is practiced on your knees, the forehead facing the ground with the arms extended. You need to release accumulated tension in your back, shoulders and neck. It is deeply relaxing, allows you to open your hips and breathe deeply. 
• Savasana : Considered the most important posture of this style of yoga, it is practiced on the back, arms and legs apart, you can completely relax in this resting posture. Your muscular tensions will be released. This is the ideal position to practice mindfulness and analyze the sensations present in your body.
• Supta Baddha Konasana : This is a position to be done on the back, bringing the soles of the feet together while letting the knees open to the sides. It releases tension in the pelvis and stretches the muscles of the inner thighs.
• Viparita Karani : This is an inverted posture to be done on your back, with your legs vertically against a wall. This posture helps revitalize the body by promoting blood and lymphatic circulation. 
• Supported Matsyasana : Take a cushion to support your back, lie back and rest your neck on the support. This posture stimulates your respiratory system and stretches your upper body. 

The systems used in restorative yoga

The practice of restorative yoga is gentle and calming and engages different systems in the body to create regeneration, relaxation and balance. They contribute to your overall well-being. We will see which ones are affected. 

Musculoskeletal system 

This is stimulated by the postures. Indeed, postures held for a long time allow the muscles to loosen in depth and stretch delicately. It releases tension and stiffness while improving joint flexibility. 

Respiratory system

The respiratory system is beneficially stimulated by causing slow, regular and deep breathing. He operates oxygenation of the body and blood circulation. Which has the effect relaxation of respiratory muscles, improved breathing capacity and expansion of the lungs. 

The nervous system

The nervous system promotes the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system which sends relaxation and regeneration. This results in a reduction of anxiety, a improvement in sleep quality and an stress reduction. Mind and body can heal. 

Energy system

It is activated since it circulates vital energy. By being deeply relaxed, using breathing techniques, the body's energy channels are stimulated. 

The important points of restorative yoga

Restorative yoga is a type of slow yoga similar to Iyengar yoga and Yin Yoga effective in combating stress, calm down et heal. This form of yoga emerged between the 1960s and 1970s thanks to the work of BKS Iyengar and Judith Lasater. 

Restorative yoga helps you be kind to yourself. In particular by respecting its limits, by focusing on the sensations felt then using your breathing as a fitter to know if you are comfortable in a position. To achieve maximum comfort, brackets are available (blankets, blocks, bolsters, etc.). They are useful for supporting the body and feeling like you are not exercising. This is what makes the sessions enjoyable. At the same time, the supports activate the parasympathetic nervous system which activates the state of serenity et decreases heart rate, there arterial pressure and the stress. 

If there are postures that you should remember from restorative yoga, they are these: 

• Balasana
• Savasana

• Supta Baddha Konasana

• Viparita Karani

• Supported Matsyasana 

Completely relax at POSES

Want to live a awake sleep and to be totally released ? 

Go on an adventure with POSES. POSES is the rediscovery of movements, transitions et postures yoga. This is an opportunity to work on your strength and say goodbye to your muscle tension. 

If you are a fan of muscle strengthening, you can enjoy bodyweight exercises during 50-minute yoga flow workout sessions. 

Be comfortable with your movements under the dim light in the good company of our caring coaches while listening to exclusive playlists for a unique moment.