This is the time to be slow. As Nature begins to retreat inward for a well-earned rest, the best thing we can do is follow her lead and embrace the opportunity to do the same. Contrary to what the capitalist culture we’re embedded in will have you believe, WE NEED REST, and plenty of it. Even more so during challenging times (hello 2020) and in the colder months when the energy of the sun and Vitamin D is in short supply.

Just like Mother Earth, our value is not determined by our output. We can forget the worn out ideas of over work and over consuming as the means to finding happiness. These will only serve to wear you out too. True happiness lies in taking care of ourselves and each other in ways that holistically support us and the nature beings that sustain us all. We were born to live in harmony with the cycles and rhythm of Nature.

Shamanic and indigenous cultures across the world have been living in harmony with the land forever. Their survival and self-care is rooted in the care of the Earth and the elements as they recognise that they are one with the life giving source that sustains them. I know this too. My studies of shamanism has given me a ever deepening connection to the Earth and the elements but it’s the practice of restorative yoga that taught me how to pause and inhale more of life.

Restorative yoga shows us how to slow down and begin noticing the patterns that exist within us an outside of us. Embracing rest as resistance and allowing ourselves to rest unapologetically whenever we need to, we fine tune our body awareness and learn to resist urges to reach for substances and things outside of ourselves when our vessel is feeling empty. Instead we lean into the support of the bolsters and to the Earth, rediscovering our connection to ourselves first of all, and then the world. This deep supported rest is as pure an act of rebellion towards our capitalist system that I can think of. Sacred activism rooted in self-care.

For me, restorative yoga is the most therapeutic practice there is. It offers a quiet sanctuary to process all that is unfolding within and without and offers an antidote to the intensity of these challenging times. With so much fear and uncertainty in the air our individual and collective nerves are under sustained stress which isn’t great for our mental or physical health.

Through deep rest and breath awareness, restorative yoga restores balance to the nervous system by dialling down the stress response of the sympathetic nervous system and increasing the relaxation response of the parasympathetic nervous system. The end result is a healthier nervous and immune system and a gradual remembering of who we really are and what is important.

Restorative yoga invites you to meet yourself where you are and go deep within to find the inner stillness beyond the outer noise. It’s here we become the vessel for healing and a return to wholeness to take place as the wisdom of the body unfolds. It is here we remember that supported by nature, WE ARE THE MEDICINE.

You can try this short sequence at home with the support of a bolster, a blanket and some bedroom pillows. The poses can be practiced independently if you don’t time for the full sequence, but avoid practicing the twists on their own. Practicing child’s pose before, after or in between sides is a lovely transition and take a few minutes in a variation of Savasana you like to end. It’s always wise to end in a neutral pose that allows the body to settle back into its natural alignment.

Effortless Rest

Place a neatly folder blanket under the head and lie on your back with the knees bent. Place the hands on your side ribs and begin to follow the breath as the body settles and it finds it natural rhythm. Breath softly and evenly for 5 minutes. This begins the process of settling and forming a deeper connection to your breath.

Windscreen wiper legs

Begin in effortless rest as above with feet hip width apart. On the exhale take the knees to the right, rolling on to the edges of the feet. Pause for a full breath cycle and return to the centre on the inhale. Repeat to the other side. Repeat 2 – 3 times.

Side lying spinal twist

Place a bolster lengthways on your mat with a blanket to support the head (optional) Bend your knees to the left, placing a neatly rolled blanket between the thighs and resting your right hip at the short edge of the bolster. Turn to face the bolster, placing your fingertips either side of the bolster and inhale deeply to lengthen the spine and torso. Keeping the extension in the spine, exhale and lay your torso onto the bolster. Rest your cheek on the bolster facing the same direction as your knees. Soften fully into the experience. Stay for around 5 minutes.

Image from Yoga A Manual for Life by my dear friend Naomi Annand

Supported Childs Pose

Support the torso with a bolster (or a pillow from your bed wrapped into a bolster shape) placed vertically under the body. Hug the ned of the bolster with soft gently cupped hands. Turn the head to one side. Optional to roll up a blanket and place it between the buttocks and the heels if you experience knee pain.

Side lying spinal twist (second side)

Reclining bound angle pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)

Place a bolster vertically under the body from the waist upwards, with your pelvis on the floor. Support the head with a blanket. Bring the soles of your feet together and let your knees release to the sides. Support the knees and outer thighs with bed pillows, foam blocks or blankets. Stay in the pose for 10 – 20 minutes focusing on your breath, breathing deeply into the diaphragm. This is a deeply nourishing posture, releasing tension around the pelvis, hips and abdomen. It relaxes the whole body and the nervous system and helps to relieve fatigue whilst boosting our overall wellbeing. Supta baddha Konasana is the perfect posture for women to practice around their cycle, as it releases tension in the womb area whilst giving a sense of being held and supported by something greater than ourselves.

Anna Ashby - the oracle on all things restorative yoga. She taught me to teach restorative yoga after introducing me to the practice 15 years ago

Legs up the wall pose (Viparita Kirani)

The mother of all restorative yoga poses. Donna Farhi call it the ‘The great rejuvenator.’

Place a blanket underneath the head and swing your legs up the wall. You can place a bolster under the pelvis for support , or on the feet or the abdomen to ground the lower back. Inversions are incredibly calming for the nervous system and the lymphatic system and helps to bring calm to busy minds. It also helps to refresh legs if you’ve been sitting or standing all day. I often do this for 15 - 20 minutes at the end of the day after teaching or before I go to bed.

Viparita kirani is the best way to punctuate or end the day every day!

My dear friend Chloe (Stretched Mums Yoga), Doula and yoga teacher resting on my Cornish retreat.

KEEP UP THE GOOD REST