If you watch my YouTube videos you might have heard me talk about Restorative Yoga before. It's a style of yoga which I have been exploring over the last few years and I absolutely love it!
It stands in contrast to most other traditional styles of yoga as it is very slow - you might only do a handful of poses in a 90 minute class and we use lots and lots of props!
Restorative Yoga is often compared to Yin Yoga but I find that there are some major differences (see below).
Restorative Yoga practices are usually based on the teachings of BKS Iyengar, however, it seems that the waters are little muddied sometimes when people talk about Restorative Yoga so I'd like to describe how I understand it, how it has been taught to me and how I teach it. Feel free to let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree 🙂
Conscious Deep Rest
The aim of Restorative Yoga is to bring the body and mind into a state of conscious deep rest which goes much deeper than simply "relaxation". We bring the body into different yoga poses and then stay in the poses for a certain amount of time (usually 5-20 minutes).
Adelene Cheong, Restorative Yoga Teacher:
Restorative yoga is the practice of relaxation for conscious deep rest. A practice with the use of props to support the physical body in position of ease and comfort, to facilitate positive relaxation response, for energetic, emotional and mental equanimity.
Use of Props
In Restorative Yoga we use a LOT of props. Bolsters, blankets, chairs, blocks and bricks are the most common ones. The aim is to make the body completely comfortable in the yoga pose to help get into that state of deep relaxation.
Take a look at this lovely set-up for supta baddhakonasana for example!
Using props helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system - also called rest & digest system - of the body which is responsible for digestion, elimination and of course rest!
The main differences between Yin Yoga & Restorative Yoga
Yin Yoga, which is another slow style of yoga can be sometimes confused with Restorative Yoga, however, for me there are some very fundamental differences:
- The use of props: traditional Yin Yoga is done without any props whereas Restorative Yoga is very prop heavy as we have established so that is definitely one of the major differences
- The intention: In Yin Yoga we bring optimal health to a healthy body. In Restorative Yoga we restore a system which has been compromised to health.
- Length that the poses are held: In Yin Yoga we usually hold poses from 3-5 minutes, sometimes 10 minutes. In restorative Yoga it's more like 5-20 minutes!
- Stretch: In Yin Yoga we often "play with the edge" in yoga poses. In Restorative Yoga we are much more on the comfortable side! We don't actually want the muscles to stretch - we want them to release and relax in Restorative Yoga.
Books on Restorative Yoga
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