Yoga involves equal parts stretching and relaxing. We all feel good in poses that help us get stronger, but many of them are difficult! Restorative yoga is the cherry on top of a tough sequence, the poses that allow you to relax, achieve a sense of peaceful calm, and feel good about what you’ve accomplished. These poses focus not on stretching but on supported relaxation. While all yoga poses have some capacity to be restorative, these poses are in a special category of their own.

Restorative yoga postures help you nourish your muscles and create an environment for your mind to feel peaceful and rested. These poses require props and supports to help you achieve a better sense of calm, which can even help you get to sleep. These props are the main reason that beginning yoga students skimp on restorative yoga, but they shouldn’t! It’s a valuable addition to any sequence, and a calming practice even when used all on its own.

Read on to learn how to do restorative yoga and a few of the poses you should add to your sequence.

 

1.    Be Sure to Warm Up First

It may seem strange to warm up for a restorative pose (we’re not stretching, after all), but it’s just as important to warm up before these poses as any others. Gently move your body with soft stretching and get used to the space.

This will not only “warm” your muscles, but also begin the process of calming down your restless thoughts. It’s ironic that those of us that need restorative yoga the most are least prepared to be able to relax into it! Mentally wash off your busy week by warming yourself up and trying to calm your even busier mind.

 

2.    Prioritize Your Comfort

In preparation for relaxing into restorative poses, you need to make your comfort a priority. When you’re holding an extended relaxation pose, a crinkle in your blanket or a crooked prop can turn a minor annoyance into a lack of relaxation.

The goal here is to achieve a sense of calm. A perfect setup, a quiet space, and a clean, open area can be the difference between restoration and annoyance. You can’t hope to quiet your mind unless you make your space as perfect as possible.

But if you can, restorative yoga can help you calm your mind and relax yourself to sleep. Restorative yoga can therefore be great insomnia therapy, which helps you get to sleep and even makes your sleep more restful too. But it only works if you prioritize your comfort!

 

3.    Bring Your Props

Props that help support you during restorative yoga can make your sequence more effective. The act of sitting quietly in a pose with no deep or challenging stretches may seem simple to beginners, but these poses are just as difficult in their own way! They challenge you to find inner peace, to stay a busy mind. For some of us, that’s the most difficult thing of all. And the thing we need the most.

Props are your friends when you’re trying to do this, and not just the ones you can buy. Sure, you can shop Amazon for blocks, straps, sandbags, therapy balls, and other stuff. But even if you want to spend $0, you have props at your disposal. You can cover your eyes with a handkerchief, use towels and blankets for support, and prop yourself in your pose using chairs, pillows, and even the wall.

 

4.    Recommended Poses

Several poses come recommended for a soothing restorative yoga sequence. You can add or subtract from this list as well to find your perfect relaxation routine.

Legs-Up-The-Wall (Viparita Karani) can help you relax weary feet and open your hips. Corpse Pose (Savasana) challenges you to find total relaxation. Happy Baby Pose (Ananda Balasana) gives you a chance to open your hips and increase pelvic awareness. Child’s Pose (Balasana) allows you to really give your tailbone and hips gentle permission to release their tension.

 

The Takeaway

Whichever poses you use, restorative yoga involves the practice of letting go, something a lot of us achievement-obsessed, Type-A personalities have a hard time doing! That’s why we need this practice. Restorative yoga de-emphasizes harsh stretching and attempts to return you to a state of total calm. This calm helps you achieve restful sleep and can even treat insomnia by helping you relax.

This may not be easy to master, but a well-practiced restorative yoga sequence tailored to your body’s needs can revive you from the tension of a busy week and calm your troubled mind. It is, essentially, a simplified form of what all yoga hopes to achieve.