Resting is a lost art.

Today, it’s safe to say the world could benefit from utilizing creative, simple ways of generating and harnessing energy – without having to use or waste a lot of energy.

When I look around and see how precious natural resources and ecosystems are being wasted, poisoned, or dwindling from excessive and unsustainable consumption, I can’t help but wonder – how does this all relate to how I am using my own resources of energy, how I am treating my own bodymind system?

Restorative Yoga is a revolutionary tool in a world that is surrounded by a constantly accelerating pace and an insatiable hunger for constant production, information, and activity.

It’s not uncommon today for humans to be tense, exhausted, bombarded by external stimulation, and disconnected from the body. As one of my teachers likes to say, we receive more stimulation today in one day than a caveman likely would have his entire lifetime! This takes its toll on the bodymind system in ways that are only just beginning to be understood.

Restorative Yoga is a way of setting up the ideal conditions to invite deep rejuvenation while nourishing vital healing processes and restoring natural rhythms. Restorative Yoga poses also soothe busy minds and free restrictions and tensions that influence the flow of breath and energy in the body.

Judith Hanson Lasater, one of the pioneer teachers in Restorative Yoga, says “when we take the time to create ease in our lives, we not only affect ourselves and our own bodies, we also affect the quality of our actions…and the choices we make…and then we begin to affect the world. When we act from deep ease, we will affect people we haven’t even met!”

Anyone can practice Restorative Yoga! In fact, why not try right now? Be revolutionary enough to STOP staring at the computer screen for a few minutes. Go find a wall.

One of my teachers calls this pose ‘pure ambrosia for the overworked nervous system’.

• Approach the wall facing the side with your knees into your chest. Get as close as you can to the wall, then carefully swing your legs up the wall as you lower your head and torso down.
• You might like to include a soft blanket or towel under your head and/or over your legs and body.
• Let yourself nestle in and surrender the full weight of your body into the earth. Release your head a few times from side to side, relaxing your jaws, tongue, and throat.
• Stay here for 5 to 10 minutes, resting your attention on the natural expansion and retraction of your breath. Notice what it feels like to be in this fresh relationship to gravity, the ground, and space.
• When you feel ready to come out of the position, carefully roll to one side and pause there for a moment, soaking up the shift in circulation and energy. Then, you could either lie flat on your back or in childs pose for a moment, before reorienting to your day.
• Afterward, notice the effect on your energy level and state of being.