Restorative Yoga

By Elizabeth Henshall
Restorative Yoga goes beyond remedial yoga. It is the pathway to a very deep and profound self healing. Remedial Yoga works with people who have had specific injuries and helps them rebuild the function where the injury was whilst keeping the rest of their body mobilised. Restorative Yoga is also for people who have been ill or injured and are in their recovery period - but very specifically it is for people who are highly stressed and recognise that their levels of stress are affecting their body and their health badly.

A typical example of someone who would benefit from Restorative Yoga is a person who is becoming burnt out through their lifestyle and the particular demands it has. They probably would have been chronically stressed for some time and their bodies will be giving a lot of signals saying that it is getting too tired and depleted to carry on like this. They may have been told they have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, ME or fibromyalgia and warned against the perils of carrying on their current lifestyle.

As the body moves into this chronic state of stress and the systems such as the digestive system, the immune system and the cardio vascular system get more and more overloaded they stop working well. Bit by bit the person finds that they have a whole series of small health problems which then escalate into something more serious. For example, Angela got divorced 6 years ago and because she had to work so hard to try to keep up payments on her mortgage she was constantly worried and scared - but also physically tired running a job, seeing to her children and grandchild and keeping the house and garden under control. A couple of years later her mother became ill and needed nursing and attention and Angela found the energy from somewhere to give her mother the support she needed. However that was when she had her first asthma attack. After that she was always a bit worried that she would have another one and noticed that she quite often felt dizzy. Her doctor told her she needed to take it easier but that seemed out of the question to Angela given what was happening in her life. The following year she caught a very bad cold and that turned to bronchitis. Leaving her weak and ever more fatigued she then caught a series of flu viruses throughout that winter and the next. In summer she tended to feel better but as soon as winter began she would start to feel low and ill. She began to notice that she was sensitive to wheat and that her tummy didn't quite cope with eating late at night or very spicy dishes anymore. It just seemed to struggle to cope with whatever she put in it. Her energy got even lower and her spirits just wouldn't lift as she looked forward to a life of coping and struggling against feeling so poorly. Her doctor told her she was depressed and prescribed antidepressants for her. She also discovered that her blood pressure was higher than it had ever been before and was warning her like the red light flashing on the dashboard of the car - her petrol was about to run out!

Angela hated taking the anti-depression medication and really wanted to do something to help herself. This was when she came across Restorative Yoga and also began to see a herbal specialist who gave her some gentle natural remedies to support her very tired body and weakened systems as she did her new yoga practice. Restorative Yoga enabled her body to find a place of rest and balance again. For a short time every week Angela let her body be supported and very gently put into positions that opened her rib cage, stretched her spine and eased her digestive system. She learnt how to mediate while she was resting in the various poses that were right for her body. She also learnt how to breathe fully, yet gently, using all her lung capacity. Her body, which had been deprived of enough oxygen for so long with her shallow breathing pattern, responded very quickly as it absorbed the vital energy in the air. Her skin tone improved, her digestion strengthened and her heart rate calmed down as her body's nervous system realised that it didn't have to be in fight or flight mode every day. She taught her body that sometimes it is OK to be working at high gear - but when that time is over it is time to go back to a balanced state of mind and body.

Angela is one of many people who have found their way back to health through practicing Restorative Yoga and allowing the body to find its own 'inner healer'. Talk to your Yoga teacher or have a look for a specialist in Restorative Yoga near you if you recognise yourself in Angela's story. Your body will love you for it!

Find out about Restorative Yoga by attending workshops run by Elizabeth Henshall. Visit restorative yoga to see her international schedule and find out more about this powerful self-healing technique..

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