Yoga with Melissa

Yin Yang Yoga

Yin and yang are complementary, interconnected, and interdependent forces that interrelate with each other. Yin and Yang for a complementary system in which there is always darkness in light and light in darkness. Consider the symbol of yin and yang and the way night gives way to day.

When it comes to practicing yoga, there is yin yoga and yang yoga and in this particular yoga class we are going to bring yin and yang together.

Yin is said to be feminine, dark, passive, receptive, reflective, cool and introspective. In yin yoga classes we keep the muscles relaxed and cool so that we can access the deeper yin like connective tissues of our body including the joints, ligaments and bones.

Yang is masculine, light, active, outward, upward and outgoing. In yang yoga practices, like the hatha yoga we will bring into the latter half of today’s yoga class we practice yoga that develops the muscles, particularly muscular strength, endurance and flexibility.

There are three principles in a yin yoga class. 1. come to your edge 2. stay awhile and 3. resolve to be still. When it comes to the yin portion of our yoga class we will embrace the yin qualities of being. Instead of striving in a yin yoga pose we will soften the muscles, turn inward and be quiet. Rather than rushing onto the next pose, we will passively hold the poses for 2 minutes.

When it comes to the yang portion of the class, we can engage our muscles and energy. The postures in this portion of the class will generate energy and produce heat in your body. This is the expansive and more active portion of the class that will build muscular strength, muscular flexibility, endurance and balance.

In our membership community we have loads of yin yoga classes plus we meet on the 3rd Sunday of every month for our live yin classes with 2 way video.

Direct Bonus Link for Members:

Live YinDulgence Workshops, 3rd Sunday of every month

Yin Yoga Classes in Membership Community

Join our Membership Community for our 8 Week Beginner Yoga Course

Yoga for Beginners Course with Melissa

This 8 week Yoga for Beginners Course is the most comprehensive and easy way to learn yoga slowly over time at your own pace. Complete it in nine weeks or take your time. Melissa has chosen these classes and put them in the best order for you to be able to learn hatha yoga step by step. Within this framework you will be able to see what beginner yoga classes you have completed, you can mark your favourite classes and you can bookmark classes that you want to come back to. Each week you will be given space for rest and renewal with restorative yoga and yoga nidra (sleep yoga). You will begin with basic hatha yoga classes, learn the parts of a hatha yoga class, learn beginner yoga poses, learn the concepts that come up again and again in a beginner yoga class, practice some of the most requested classes from beginners including strength, flexibility and letting go of stress. This truly is the most comprehensive beginner yoga course available on the web and Melissa is here to support you on your journey here each step of the way in our community.

https://www.melissawest.com/membership/membership-sign-up/

 

Yoga Nidra

Yoga nidra is a guided meditation that takes you to a place of relaxed, spacious awareness. You will be guided into a state of effortless non-doing. Through your experience of yoga nidra you will enter into a conscious sleep where your mind slows down and your thoughts move further and further away from you. Yoga nidra quiets the inner noise of your mind and allows you to experience less stress and anxiety.

The guided verbal instructions will lead you to a state of consciousness that are somewhere between waking, dreaming and sleeping. In order to practice yoga nidra you want to be as comfortable as possible. You can practice it on a yoga mat, but you could also practice it in bed, on the couch or in a chair. You are going to be here for 20 minutes, so it is a good idea to have some padding underneath you and a blanket overtop of you in case you get cool. You might want to have a pillow under your head so that your chin is slightly lower than your forehead. This will allow you to access your parasympathetic nervous system - your rest and digest. Using and eye pillow or covering your eyes will allow you to access your inner senses.

When you practice yoga nidra there is no way you can do it wrong.

Let go of trying to do it right. You don’t need to try to stay awake or to try to have a deep experience.

You may even fall asleep and that is not a problem. Should you feel discomfort or resistance to your practice, know that it is not unusual. If physical discomfort or pain persists feel free to adjust your position to become more comfortable. Distractions are often a good way to come back to our practice.

Remember, you are always free to step away from your yoga nidra practice at anytime if it becomes overwhelming. If at anytime, the words of the guided meditation do not work for you, let them go, and be with the guidance of your own inner teacher, it always knows best.

As I mentioned, there will be no closeout today so that you can go right to sleep or relax into your relaxation. I want you to get the most out of your experience. I will put the direct link to the downloadable audio file for our members in the show notes and a link to become a member if you would like access to the downloadable file which is just the yoga nidra without all the youtube promotion and preamble at the beginning, the member only audio starts right from the yoga nidra.

Member Only Yoga Nidra Audio Downloads: Click Here

Become a Member Today:

https://www.melissawest.com/membership/membership-sign-up/

Yin Yoga for Legs

In this yin yoga class for your legs we will focus on the quadriceps, inner thighs (adductors) outer thighs (abductors) and hamstrings. Yin yoga for legs is entirely appropriate because yin yoga is generally intended to target the lower body. The lower body, including your hips, pelvis, inner thighs and lower spine are rich in connective tissue as well as meridian lines.

We also apply the principles of yin yoga to the lower body because as we age this is the area the tightens up the most. Bernie Clark points out that as we get older it is from the navel down that we lose mobility and pathologies increase. Osteoarthritis in the hips and osteoporosis with a common site being hip fractures are common as we age.

As we practice yin yoga we always remember to keep the muscles relaxed so that we can get into the deeper tissues.

This is a great time to remember the three principles of yin yoga.

1. Soften. We keep our muscles relaxed and cool. When we practice yin yoga we come into the pose and find an appropriate edge. You want to feel sensation, but not have it be sensational. Remember, we still want to be engaged with appropriate sensation, that is 70% effort. This is not restorative yoga.

2. We resolve to be still. We stay with our mental, emotional and physical discomfort without fidgeting or adjusting. Unless we are in pain or panic, we notice what it is like to stay with discomfort.

3. Steadiness. We stay for 3-5 minutes, passively and let time and gravity do all the work in order to get into the deeper connective tissues.

When we target the fascia of the legs through long held stress, we can lengthen the whole myofascial group and improve the range of motion and health of the tissues of the legs.

With yin yoga we are passively lengthening the muscles of our legs by stressing the fascial bags that wrap the muscle fibers. Imagine all of the pitch around an orange, it is kind of like that. When it comes to the larger muscle groups of our legs, such as our hamstrings and adductors (inner thighs) this is a particularly effective means.

When we practice yin yoga we stimulate the growth of fibroblasts. These are the cells responsible for creating collagen, elastin and the water-loving molecules that hydrate our joints and tissues.

Hydrating our tissue allows our joints to move and our fascia to slide more easily. The end result is that we feel less stiff.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

If you made it all the way to the end of the class put: “I’m glad I know the ultimate secret now” in the comments

Thank you for your donations: Most generous students supporting us in bringing you yoga each week. Loretta, Donna, Cornellia, Donna.

Our next live class will be: March 30 LIVE Restorative Yoga Detox

Releasing tension in your legs is not something you can do in just one yoga video.

I am going to share with you a good, better and best way to do that now.

Good: We release a video here every Friday at 9 am PT, when you subscribe and turn on notifications by pressing that bell, you will receive that video and it will support you in your daily practice

Better: If you are interested in 5 days to a stronger body, then go to melissawest.com/strength

Best: The best way to deal with tension in your legs is self myofascial release and I keep all of my value added soft foam rolling and myofascial release in our membership community. My favourite class for your legs is hamstring rescue and it uses the soft foam roller. I will put a link for members as well as a link to join our membership community.

Direct Link for Members: Click here...

Yoga for Digestion

Your stomach meridian runs along the front of the leg and goes up the center sides of the torso through the diaphragm all the way to the nose. The spleen meridian runs on the inside of the leg, through the groin and goes up the sides of the body through the diaphragm, chest and heart, ending at the root of the tongue.

Your spleen and stomach meridian are both associated with the element earth. Your stomach in particular is known as the “root of postnatal life” Not only does your stomach digest your food and fluids, moving them along through your small intestine for the assimilation of nutrients, but your stomach also takes energy from your food and fluids and with your spleen transports this food energy through your meridian system to your lungs where it combines with your air energy from breathing. In this way, your stomach meridian is known as the “Sea of Nourishment”

Your spleen is your primary organ for digestion, it sits just behind your stomach on the left side, underneath your diaphragm. Your spleen transforms liquid and food into qi (or energy) and blood of the body. In other words, the spleen’s principle role according to TCM is the production of qi (energy and blood.

When your spleen organ is balanced you will experience a good appetite, strong digestion and vibrant energy. When your spleen energy is weak you may experience bloating, reflux, fatigue, diarrhea, and poor appetite.

We can keep our spleen organ meridian system balanced by not overloading it and not overworking ourselves. Living a moderate live and taking in a moderate diet will leave us with vibrant energy, a calm and balanced mind with clear thinking, balanced emotions and a feeling of ease.

You may notice an imbalance in your stomach meridian system if you have digestive and stomach problems from abdominal pain, bloating, or fluid retention. Emotionally stomach meridian imbalances show up as anxiety, worry, mistrust and lack of confidence. When the stomach meridian is balanced you will experience a strong connection with the earth element and strong nurturing qualities along with being fair, open and caring.

Supporting your digestion is something that we can do so much better in more than just one video. I will show you a good, better and best way to do that.

* Good: We release a video here every Friday at 9 am PT, when you subscribe and turn on notifications by pressing that bell, you will receive that video and it will support you in your daily practice

* Better: At the beginning I told you I will tell you where you could go to get constipation relief in under 10 days: Click Here

* Best: The best way to support your digestion is in our membership community with our amazing recipes and my value added yoga for digestion class.

Direct Link for Members:

Yoga for Digestion

Food Nutrition

Become a Member Today: Click Here

A week ago today one of the members of our community, Nicole Nitzband, was impacted by something that we all hope we will never have to experience as mothers, her oldest son passed away, only in his early twenties, just ready to start graduate school. His passing was sudden and unexpected. We have started a gofundme page to support our friend Nikki in covering the funeral costs for her son Chris, which can range from $7-$10K for funeral services, burial, and installation of tombstones in the US. We also hope our financial support will allow her to take some time to grieve, not worry if she cannot get into work,

Upper Back Pain Relief

Upper Back Pain is probably more accurately represented as upper and middle back pain and can occur anywhere form the base of your neck to the bottom of your rib cage. This part of your back includes your rib cage which attaches to the 12 vertebrae of your spine. It makes up the longest part of your back. The discs that separate each vertebra absorb shock as you move. The muscles and ligaments hold the spine together.

The bones in your upper back are less mobile than your lower back. For good reason too. They keep your upper back stable to protect your heart and lungs. However this does not mean that you do not experience pain in your upper back. Pain can be caused by overuse and strain to the muscles and ligaments that support your upper back. Poor posture from our long hours on screens. Osteoarthritis causes the breakdown of cartilage that cushions the small facet joints of the spine.

While most forms of yoga focus on the superficial muscles, yin yoga focuses on the deeper layers of connective tissues, ligaments, joints and bones. Yin yoga is particularly effective for upper back pain because myofascial pain that affects the connective tissue of the upper back is quite common. Chronic myofascial pain is ongoing or longer lasting pain that can affect the connective tissue or fascia of a muscle or group of muscles.

When you experience chronic myofascial pain in your upper back, neck, shoulders and chest it might feel like a knot in the muscle or a tight band. You may feel sensitivity to the touch. With myofascial pain there are often sensitive trigger points that are tender when touched. That is there is pain when you put pressure on a trigger point. You can experience aching, burning, stinging or stabbing and a reduced range of motion to the affected area.

Yin yoga is designed to get deep into the myofascial layers of our body. We hold the poses for longer to affect the deeper connective tissues that wrap around the joints and the bones. These connective tissues require slow and gentle traction in a passive way over a long period of time. Connective tissue is more “plastic” in nature compared to muscle which is more elastic. This dense and less pliant connective tissue needs time and the effect gravity over time to release. Just like braces the deeper layers of our connective tissues respond to slow gentle traction.

Often what helps with upper back pain is massage. When we practice yin yoga we are doing something similar to massage in that we are pressurizing and manipulating the myofascial tissue. This slow gentle traction over time helps to prevent contracture or the loss of mobility through a joint. Ligaments often begin to shorten and can immobilize and shrink wrap around the joint. By taking the yin yoga shapes we pressurize and manipulate the myofascial tissue easing this immobilization.

Additionally, all the time we spend breathing with non-abandoning attention and compassion in our yin yoga postures allows us to reduce the stress and anxiety that may be causing the upper back pain in the first place.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

If you made it all the way to the end of the class put: “I can move with ease in my upper back now” in the comments

Our next live class will be: February 23rd Let me know on the poll on my YouTube Community Tab if you want Yin Yoga for Legs or Yin Yoga for Runners

Relieving upper back pain is not something you can do in just one yoga video. I am going to share with you a good, better and best way to do that now.

Good: We release a video here every Friday at 9 am PT, when you subscribe and turn on notifications by pressing that bell, you will receive that video and it will support you in your daily practice

Better: At the beginning I told you I will tell you where yo...

Hips and Hamstrings

In today's intermediate yin yoga class for hips and hamstrings we are going to focus on what happens inside our body from an energetic point of view. The energy channels that flow through our body, called meridians, nourish the urinary bladder meridian and stomach meridian when we are doing yin yoga poses for the hamstrings and hips respectively.

But before we get into the urinary bladder meridian that runs along your hamstrings and the stomach meridian that runs along the front of your hips we are going to rest back into some important yin yoga principles.

There have been some important questions coming up about breath, which is amazing, because breath is a fabulous way to free up the energy, chi or prana. When we regulate our breath in our yin yoga practice it is a way to free the energy in our body. Also when we quiet our breath it helps to still our mind.

When we practice yin yoga we want our breath to be quiet, unlaboured and gentle like the surface of a mountain lake. This will help to still our mind. When we practice yin yoga our breath will be calm, even, slow, deep, natural and unforced. I like Donna Farhi´s directions for essential breath (and I will link to a whole video on how to do this breath: click here)

Gradually, without forcing or effort, over the next few breaths, extend your breath out or your exhalation. Notice the pause at the end of your exhalation. Rest in the pause at the end of your breath out. Notice the pauses between the breath out and the breath in are the places of deepest stillness.

When we are focusing on the front of the hips, we are stimulating the stomach meridian which relates to anxiety. We are constantly digesting our internal impressions and external environment including everything that we see, read, hear smell, think and feel. This can be quite overwhelming in the age of digital and social media and the information overload.

We may go over our thoughts in our head again and again and obsess about certain ideas. When we overthink we have difficulty concentrating. Overeating is one way that we compensate for lack of mental peace. When our stomach meridian is balance we will feel grounded, centered and connected to Mother Earth.

When we are focusing on our hamstrings we are stimulating the urinary bladder meridian. This is the longest and most complicated meridian line in our body. Mentally it refers to the fluidity of our ideas, thoughts and attitudes.

In nature, water can take many forms, from a clear lake, a raging ocean, subtle mist to a frozen glacier. Water is adaptable. When our urinary bladder meridian is balanced we know when to be still and quiet and when strength and power is needed.

If our mind is dry we become fixed and brittle with our thinking, attached to our beliefs and unable to go with the flow. When our bladder meridian is balanced we feel hopeful, calm and peaceful. Our bladder meridian is the guardian of peace.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

If you made it all the way to the end of the class put: ¨those lunges though!¨ in the comments.

Thank you for your donations: Sean from NY, Anne Marie from Australia, Leah from NY, Peige from Italy.

Opening up your hips and hamstrings is not something you can do in just one video. I am going to share with you a good, better and best way to do that now.

* Good: We release a video here every Friday at 9 am PT, when you subscribe and turn on notifications by pressing that bell, you will receive that video and it will support you in your daily practice

* Better: At the beginning I told you I will tell you where you could go to get 8 days of yoga for back pain. If you go to melissawest.com/backpain you can sign up there to receive 8 day...

Yoga for Back Pain

Back pain is a symptom caused by numerous biopsychosocial conditions. If you are like me you are probably wondering what biopsychosocial means. Basically it means that your back pain is not just caused by spinal pathologies such as herniated discs, in fact they make up less than 1% of back pain. They are not even mostly caused by radicular syndromes such as sciatica, these only make up 5-10% of back pain.

Non Specific Back Pain makes up 90-95% of all back pain, which means that most likely your back pain is a combination of what is going on in your physical body, your social circumstances including your work, social and family life as well as your psychological well being. All three of these areas of course overlap into each other and the tension you experience as pain in your back is the result.

I think we can all relate to the biopsychosocial conditions that cause pain in our bodies or specifically our backs as we are talking about today. Perhaps we have work in conditions where our boss continuously demands more than we can humanly deliver. Many of us are doing the work of three or four people and in order to support our families we do everything we can to make sure we complete the work being asked of us so that we can keep our jobs and our income.

Biopsychosocial conditions can hit much closer to home with strained family relationship and family circumstances. Any parent with a newborn will know the strain of sleepless nights and just hoping to get through that first year of sleep deprived life. Maybe you have a parents who are aging and experiencing declining health, caregiving is incredibly stressful physically and emotionally. And anybody who is going through a relationship that is ending can know how difficult divorce or breakups can be.

Many of us are attending school and improving ourselves through education. School with its assignments and testing, has its own set of stresses that can add to the biopsychosocial conditions that contribute to back pain.

We live in a culture that puts a lot of pressure on social appearances. Social media asks us to present polished versions of ourselves, our homes, our food and our vacations. Not only that but social media creates an environment where it is easy to compare ourselves to others and feel as though we are not measuring up.

All of these psychosocial conditions create a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety that we experience as tension in our body. When our boss (our ourselves if we are self employed) places unrealistic demands on us and we feel ourselves bracing against those unworkable requests our body tenses in response.

This tension becomes a habitual bracing against our experience, whether it is the children screaming at each other or our feelings of not being enough and then chronic back pain ensues. This is not a problem.

Through practices like yin yoga, we can become aware of the tension in our body. When we practice yin yoga the sensations in the yin yoga poses for back pain can be quite intense. We can experience sensations of discomfort as we stay in the poses for 5 mins. This is why it is important to choose an appropriate edge, one that is free from anything sharp, electric or anything with nerve pain.

When we learn to be with discomfort, soften into it and breathe into the pose with an attitude of tenderness, kindness and compassion we learn that we can do the same when we are experiencing the stress of taking an exam at school or feeling the guilt of not being able to buy our children the newest and latest ____ that all of their friends have.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

If you made it all the way to the end of the class put: ¨My back feels SO much better!¨ in the comments.

Thank you for your donations: Laraine,

Liver Meridian

Happy New Year! In this Holiday Special New Year Live intermediate Yin Yoga class we will be doing a liver meridian detox. In our culture the new year is a time of new beginnings. To support us at this time of year it is important that our liver is functioning well. As we employ the yin yoga poses to cleanse liver energy it will also allow us to cleanse our emotions, clear out old stagnant energy and see more clearly so that we can move forward in life with renewed passion and purpose

The liver is the largest internal organ in the body and is responsible for detoxification. The liver is commonly understood to be taxed when overfed toxic substances such as sugar, fats and alcohol. However, the liver organ is over-taxed when we over-do it generally speaking. This means taking on more than we can handle, physically, emotionally, mentally and energetically. If that doesn't sound like the holiday season, I don't know what does!

Our liver sends blood to specific parts of the body nourishing the tissues. If the liver is healthy we will have energy to do our daily activities, if not, the blood will not get to our body and we will feel tired and exhausted. Since we are coming out of the holiday season where generally we take on too much, most of us will be feeling tired and exhausted.

During the holiday season, we eat foods that are high in fat, high in sugar, denatured and highly processed. These lifestyle choices congest the liver lead to disharmony physically, mentally, and emotionally. When your liver meridian is balanced you will feel free of stress and tension, calm and easily be able to make decisions.

Your liver is also responsible for the health flow of chi or energy in your body, this has a huge impact on your emotional body. If your liver energy is stagnant you will feel angry, frustrated, depressed and generally wound up. You might feel like you have pressure on your chest, a lump in your throat, and bloated in your belly.

Your liver controls your tissues. When your liver is balanced you will be able to move freely, relax and contract with ease. If your liver blood is deficient you will become dry and brittle and can experience muscle spasms and cramping.

Experience for yourself how this yin yoga sequence supports a liver meridian detox and new beginnings for our new year. You will leave this class with old energy cleansed so that you can move forward in your life with clarity, renewed passion and purpose.

Resources:

Dusky Leaf Yoga Mat

Insight Yoga by Sarah Powers

Mary Oliver Devotions

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

If you made it all the way to the end of the class put: ¨Now I´m ready for the New Year¨ in the comments

Our next live class is December 29th at 9:00 am PT go to youtube.com/drmelissawest, click on the community tab and vote for in yoga for upper back or yin yoga for legs.

Thank you for your donations: Peige from Italy, Diane from Nova Scotia, Mandy, Donna, and everybody who donated to Dressember.

Right now we are saving up for a slider to get smooth shots for you. It is going to cost us about $300 US. If you would like to contribute to the slider, you can make a donation, just let us know that you are donating to the slider by donating and mentioning the slider in your donation. :)

Preparing for the New Year is not something you can do in just one yoga video. I am going to share with you a good, better and best way to do that now.

Good: We release a video here every Friday at 9 am PT, when you subscribe and turn on notifications by pressing that bell, you will receive that video and it will support you in your daily practice

Intermediate Yin Yoga for Neck and Shoulders

Your shoulders are one of the most mobile and yet also one of the most complicated joints in your body. Shoulder movement is actually made up of two part your arm movement and your scapula movement

Your arm has 6 degrees of freedom and your scapula can move in 8 directions. That makes up 48 possible movements for your shoulder. Yin yoga, although it usually targets the lower body, is also ideal for the upper body and the neck and the shoulders in particular because it targets the deeper yin tissues of our joints, ligaments, deep fascial networks and bones.

Since we experience our shoulders as being so tight, stiff, and tense, the qualities of yin which are yielding and allowing can be so helpful to embrace as we practice our yin yoga for neck and shoulders. When the muscles are relaxed, the stress is moved to the ligaments binding the joint.This is why we continually relax our muscles in our yin yoga practice, to drop down into the deeper connective tissues in our body. Part of the essence of our yin yoga practice is to learn to yield.

We can embrace the downward flow of gravity (another yin quality) to release tension from our shoulders.

The deep yin tissues of our body are much dryer and less elastic than our superficial muscles. Muscles respond well to being warm with rhythmic repetitive movements. The yin ligaments remain cool and would get injured if they were treated in the same way. Instead they respond well to gentle pressure applied over a long period of time. That way they are stimulated to grow stronger.

Yang yoga with is great for strengthening the muscles, but yin yoga with its long holds is good for lengthening the muscle. As Bernie Clarik best says, ¨Remember we are not trying to stretch our ligaments or joint capsules with Yin Yoga. We are trying to stress them. Over time the tissues may become longer, thicker and stronger, but in any particular yin yoga session, we are not trying to lengthen these particular tissues. The key is the stress not the stretch.¨

I love how Bernie Clark says, ¨we do not use the body to get into the pose, but we use the pose to get into the body.¨ We continually let go of our expectation of how the pose should look and tune into how they feel in our body.

Resources: The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga by Bernie Clark

Props Needed: Yoga bolster, Yoga Blocks, Yoga strap, blankets, wall, meditation cushion

Yin Yoga Sequence for Neck and Shoulders/Yin Yoga Postures for Neck and Shoulders: Half Saddle, Heart Melting Pose, Sphinx, Sitting Swan, Shoelace with Cow´s Face Arms, Shoelace with Eagle´s Arms, Reclined Twist, Savasana,

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

If you made it all the way to the end of the class put: shoulder and neck relief in the comments

If you know somebody who could benefit from these teachings on lower back pain, please feel free to share it with them

Our next live class is December 29th at 9:00 am PT go to www.youtube.com/drmelissawest/community

Yin yoga Holiday Special Yin Yoga for New Year

Thank you for your donations: Donna and Cornelia

Right now we are saving up for a slider to get smooth shots for you. It is going to cost us about $300 US. If you would like to contribute to the slider, you can make a donation, just let us know that you are donating to the slider by donating and mentioning the slider in your donation. :)

Releasing your neck and shoulders is not something you can do in just one yoga video. Just like brushing your teeth, taking care of your neck and shoulders a way of life and is something you can embrace everyday. The best way I have learned to care embrace the yin way of life is to make good sleep a part ...

Judith Hanson Lasater

If you are curious about Judith Hanson Lasater's new book on restorative yoga, then this video is for you.

Wed Dec 27 - Overview of 30 Day Challenge coming in January

January - 30 day challenge

On December 26, 2017 Shambhala will release Judith Hanson Lasater´s brand new restorative yoga book, Restore and Rebalance, Yoga for Deep Relaxation. This book comes 22 years after her original publication, Relax and Renew. For those yoga teachers and yogis who are wondering if this new book is simply an update of her first restorative yoga book or a rewrite then we can take a collective 3-part yogi-sigh of relief, because this is actually a new book and not just an update. YAY! The poses in Restore and Rebalance are different from Relax and Renew, but as Judith Hanson Lasater says the concepts and techniques of restorative yoga are based on the same principles.

Resources:

New Book - Restore and Rebalance: Yoga for Deep Relaxation

Original Book Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times 

The book promises to help those of us who are suffering exhausted from stress in our time-pressured, constantly connected world. The book is accessible for all ages and levels of health, especially those who are recovering from injuries and illnesses and those who want to stabilize their mood. The book offers poses and sequences for the reader/yogi and yoga teacher.

So, the book does an excellent job of laying out 20 restorative yoga poses for yoga students and teachers alike, including five variations on savasana. I was particularly interested in Judith Hanson Lasater´s organization. She began with 4 head above heart poses to transition the restorative yoga student and as a way to disconnect from their outer world and reconnect with their inner one.

Each pose includes the benefits, some special instructions, especially contraindications for the pose, the props you will need, how to set up the pose, how to be in the pose, how to come out of the pose and some notes for teachers.

The bulk of the restorative yoga poses are 11 poses that are head below heart poses that include backbends, inversions, forward bends, and even some standing poses. There are 5 variations of savasana.

Part three includes various sequences from a 20 and 60 minute practice to therapeutic practices for anxiety, children, depression, fatigue and stress, lower back pain, menopause, pregnancy, and postpartum. This book is a clear, concise road map to setting up, coming into, coming out of and teaching these restorative yoga poses. The photos are clear and also contribute to the roadmap of how to come into the poses. Judith Hanson Lasater steps back to let you have your own experience in the pose.

I think the book does a good job of offering the body a chance to rest deeply and revitalize. I especially love the attention that Judith Hanson Lasater gives at the beginning of the book to head and neck support and the use of a blanket to support the head and neck for your nervous system relaxation. She spends 3 pages on this and I think this is my biggest takeaway as a teacher, practitioner and my favourite part of the book.

I often have two complaints about restorative yoga books and the way restorative yoga is offered to the world. One is that what is displayed in the book is not generally realistic for the average person at home or even the fledgling yoga studio or yoga teacher. The use of props is luxurious, but it is not unusual to see 3 bolsters and 8 blankets in one pose. The first pose in the book for example lists 5 separate props in addition to 8 blankets. I just do not think this is realistic in terms of resources for the average individual, yoga teacher or yoga studio.