Restorative Yoga

By Stan Andrzejewski • February 20th, 2007 • 8503 Views

Restorative poses are a series of supported backbend poses, complimented with supported inverted, forward-bending and twisting poses. The operative word is supported. One's body is propped by blankets, bolsters, the floor, the wall, and sandbags, releasing the muscular body and quieting the nervous system.

Restorative poses are used when one feels stressed, tired, coming down with a cold, or weak. These include times one is particularly stressed with a major life crisis or recovering from an illness or injury.

Stress is ongoing much of the time in our world today. Stress starts with a physiological response to a perceived threat. Our ancestors may have felt the stress living in a world of predators. Today stress includes the fear of losing a job, bias, pollution, nuclear annihilation. To these perceived dangers, the mind alerts the brain to signal the adrenal glands to secret catecholamine hormones, adrenaline and nonadrenaline. These in turn stimulate the sympathetic nervous system into fight or flight response. Heart rate, blood pressure, mental alertness, and muscle tension increase to serve the supposed fight or flight needs. The body shuts down digestion, elimination, growth, repair, and reproduction systems. Their energy is rather channeled into sympathetic system organs.

Fight or flight response is usually in a moment of danger, but when the sympathetic nervous system response to stress is chronic, the body suffers. The nervous system is not designed to maintain a heightened level of activity for very long. Soft tissue adapts to chronic muscular tension with trigger points, cramping, soft tissue restriction, joint immobilizations. Basically the mind and body wear itself out. They need rest. It needs the restoring function of the parasympathetic nervous system to be activated. The new field of pschoneuroimmunology realizes the connection between the psyche, nervous system, and immune system. Relaxation techniques are studied for their powerful therapeutic effects on our well-being. Chronic stress has taken its toll on our society, but the ancient wisdom of yoga is effective today more than ever.

Restorative yoga relieves stress effectively. A body, supported by props, can let go of the increased resting tone of the muscular system. The nervous system is calmed. The spine is stimulate to gently move in all directions, releasing the subtle energies along the spine, alerting the mind while keeping the muscles relaxed....

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Location:  Baltimore, US

STAN ANDRZEJEWSKI is the founder of Greater Baltimore Yoga. He was certified in the Iyengar tradition in 1988 while a student of John Schumacher, but now considers Victor van Kooten as his main inspiration. He integrates 34...