Restorative yoga poses: I chose this photo because in the Yapana® method, which is the style of yoga I teach, we call restorative yoga poses, the “being” poses.
Restorative yoga poses, “being” poses are asanas where the body and mind are supported, there is no struggle to hold or resist against gravity. This quiets the breath and thus supports a yoga mind and a feeling of rest and digest along with relaxation and recovery. The stretching is more passive than in the dynamic poses, and we use strategic prop placement so that the posture is brought to you and therefore has more of a therapeutic component. As I have written before, it isn’t just laying on a bolster, even though we do use them. There is an alignment involved, and actually, the better the body is supported, the more extraordinary the experience of peace will be. This is crucial. You don’t want to be constantly fidgeting because you are not comfortable, you are looking to just feel peaceful in all the categories of yoga poses.
Restorative yoga poses can be backbends, forward bends, twists, inversions and a few others that hopefully, by now you are curious enough to contact me for more information.
Rana Waxman is a registered yoga therapist ERYT-500, with 20 years of teaching experience. Rana is a freelance writer and social media expert in addition to leading yoga workshops internationally and teaching alignment focused private and group Yoga Lessons in Hoboken and Jersey City NJ.
