What is Restorative Yoga

Do you feel unrested in the mornings? Do you wake throughout the night? Do you have a difficult time falling asleep and getting back to sleep? Then this series may be what you need to help support the body and mind in preparation for a good nights rest. The body and minds ability to rest, digest, and replenish is dependent on entering a state of relaxation and stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system.

Restorative Yoga is helpful for:

  • Regulating the nervous system by stimulating the parasympathetic response, rest and digest
  • Helps create a healing environment reducing stress, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and inflammation
  • Can support emotional health and wellbeing
  • Provides practices to helps improve sleep hygiene
  • High stress elevates cortisol. When we have chronically elevated levels of cortisol in the body, we can start to suffer from adrenal fatigue, digestive issues, suppressed immune function, weight gain (particularly around the abdomen) and disrupted sleep
  • Studies show restorative yoga reduces subcutaneous (abdominal) fat and promotes weight loss in comparison to just stretching (levels of cortisol, which rises during times of stress and is known to increase abdominal fat)

Rest, Digest, Replenish

A 6-Week Therapeutic Yoga Series to improve sleep

In this 6 – week series we will join together for a 75 minute late evening practice designed to help settle the mind and body so it can let go of the day-to-day worries and stimulation so the nervous system can enter a state of rest and recovery, a parasympathetic response, to help ease into sleep.

Each week we will explore tools to help us enter a state of deep relaxation and tools to help us stay there. We will also look at some things that can do the opposite and stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, fight or flight, right before bed that can contribute to sleeping troubles and lead to waking up feeling unrested. We will explore a variety of postures mostly on the floor and/or a bed. and work towards releasing whatever the day has brought so you can rest easefully. The practice will include a guided meditation for relaxation.

By the end of this series you will have learned about proper sleep hygiene, building a bedtime routine that is supportive, deep relaxation positions and techniques, ways to regulate the nervous system, and how you can support the body and mind during your day to set you up for a restful sleep.

This program is offered online or in-person for locals in Edmonton, AB and surrounding areas. Whether you and a group of friends or family members are looking for a shared yoga experience to enhance wellness, or you would like to “zone” in on your own personal practice, the choice is yours. This program can be offered as a group series or through private one-on-one’s.

To learn more, book a free Meet & Greet by clicking HERE. Or email yourdiscoveryandjourney@gmail.com with inquires

Suggested props: sturdy chair, no-slip surface, yoga blocks or books, yoga strap or belt, tennis ball(s) or similar, Pilates ball or small inflated ball, yoga bolster or firm pillow(s).