Just coming off the Restorative Yoga weekend that is a component of the Elemental Yoga teacher training I'm pursuing. Restorative is by far the best thing I've ever studied. Can you imagine being propped, pampered, massaged, and basically just made completely and utterly comfortable -- as coursework? Delicious. I was actually repeating the module. When I took it last year I was almost six-months pregnant with twins, big as a barn already, and about as mobile. not that one needs to be in any sort of physical condition to benefit from this practice, but pregnancy puts so many restrictions on how the body can be positioned. There were many poses I couldn't experience in my body the first time around. But when I landed in the hospital a few weeks afterward, needing an emergency procedure due to indicators that my cervix was weakening and that it wouldn't hold the babies, I was feeling very fortunate to have participated in the weekend training and to have started a Restorative practice.
I think the best way to describe Restorative is "active surrender." Active may seem like the wrong word choice, since Restorative is not considered an active practice. Yet, as one grows in his or her Restorative practice, the practicioner cultivates a degree of vigilance over letting go, accepting nothing less than complete comfort. Choice is actively involved -- as in, I am choosing to not settle for "sort of comfortable," although that may be the case in the beginning because "sort of comfortable" feels so much better for lots of people new to the practice than the way they're used to feeling. The expectation that complete comfort is available and recreatable everytime we practice just really turns me on. Disassociation with physical sensation is so widespread in our culture. We're asked to sit in a chair all day, at our desks and in our cars. I once had an Alexander Technique teacher tell me that chairs are the mortal enemy of the spine. And as you might have noticed, our digestive systems aren't too fond of sitting in chairs for long stretches either. There is just a lot of undoing that needs to occur on a physical level that Restorative aids with gently, by allowing the body to stop holding. Even if one is never conscious of receiving all the benefits of Restorative that are going on in the background, fine tuning the nervous system by inhibiting the fight or flight response and encouraging the relaxation response, thus enhancing the immune system, or if one is never able to fully quiet the mind, at the very least they are choosing to attend to the undoing of the physical stress put on the body even if it's solely environmental in nature (the office, the commute, gravity).
If this all sounds really good to you, check out the work of Judith Lasater, the mother of Restorative, in her book "Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times." Here's a link to her site, which demonstrates how to relax into a supported backbend. http://www.restorativeyogateachers.com/relax/simplebackbend.html
Most of us don't have bolsters like the one in the photo, but not to worry: most of us don't need more height than one or two folds of a blanket. Let the unfolded end trail out under the shoulders and head like extra mat. If you have a long pillow, tuck the knees into the chest while you place it under the knees or closer into the tailbone, then let the legs casade over it, releasing any tension in the low back as the feet drape down toward the floor.
Restorative gave me amazing tools for my twin pregnancy, bedrest, labor and delivery. Most poignant for me was the ability to draw on my then newly-found Restorative practice when I had the emergency cerclage due to fear of preterm labor. The procedure was risky for the babies at 23 weeks, and not doing the procedure was even riskier. I was scared. I cried a lot while making the decision and being prepped. Then when they took me in, just working with the 2-1 breathing, I was able to keep my nervous system calm. When the anethesiologist checked my blood pressure and heart rate during the procedure, she said "Wow! You're heart rate is low. in a really good way." I shared what I was doing, and all the docs and nurses in the room were totally excited about it. This experience really gave resonance to the title of Lasater's book: restful yoga for stressful times, indeed!
Restorative: it's a gooood thing.
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