Restorative yoga poses for your next yoga lesson.

If you’re in search of a slightly different yoga experience, you should try a class involving restorative yoga poses. These poses specifically target relaxation and restoration of your mind and body through a series of slow movements and passive stretching. Practitioners love the benefits and will often make them a regular part of their regular yoga regimen.

To give you a quick crash course, we’ve selected five of our favorite restorative yoga poses and provided you with instructions on how to perform them. Look at each one and then check out the benefits listed immediately thereafter. After that – we’ll see you in class!

5 Restorative Yoga Poses

Practicing yoga is one of the best ways to calm your mind and body. Every yoga session will do this to a certain extent, but there are several poses that always have great results in this arena. To get you started, here are some of our favorite restorative yoga poses:

Child’s Pose

Start off by sitting back on your shins with your glutes against your heels. Next, press your forehead down onto the yoga mat and “walk” your arms way out front, then spread your fingers. Inhale deeply and softly exhale through your neck and shoulders. You also have the option of adding to the stretch by reaching out just a little bit more as you take a couple of small breaths.

Heart Opener

For this yoga exercise, start off with your feet together and knees wide to either side, which will give you a good opening in your hips. Using a yoga block, start to come down and place it in the middle of your back between your shoulder blades. Allow your arms to fall to the side and breathe softly into the pose. You will feel a deep stretch across your chest, neck, and shoulders.

Reclined Twist

Start on your back, knees bent and feet on the floor, and then slowly lower your knees either left or right. Next, place two yoga blankets between your inner thighs and knees. Rest your arms to the sides so that your shoulder blades stay anchored to the floor. Also, if you need more support, add a partially rolled blanket under the back of your neck.

Supported Bridge

To do this exercise, you’ll want to lie back with your knees bent and feet on the floor approximately hip-width apart. Relax your arms to the side and push into your feet to elevate your pelvis a bit. From there, place a yoga block under your lower back region, supporting the tailbone. Finish off the exercise by lifting your hips, removing the block, and then slowly lowering back down.

Final Resting Pose

This yoga exercise is really nothing more than lying down flat on your back and relaxing. As the name implies, this makes a great final pose for your restorative yoga session. This allows you to calm your mind and body and reach a meditative state with your breathing. This simple pose helps to relieve anxiety and stress and has been known to reduce feelings of depression as well.

Benefits of Restorative Yoga

If you’ve already taken yoga classes or done some poses on your own, then you’re already aware of some of the amazing benefits. However, the poses listed above along with several others are often considered more focused in calming and restoring your body. In case you’re not fully aware of what you’ll get out of it, here are some of the benefits of restorative yoga poses:

  • Shortened Recovery Time — With so many of us leading hectic lives, we all require some downtime to give our body and mind a bit of a reset. By taking part in restorative yoga poses, you’ll be able to recover more quickly.
  • Decreases Stress Hormone — These yoga practices are an incredible stress reliever, in part because they lower the amount of cortisol levels in your body. This helps to lower your chances of high blood pressure, heart disease, weight gain, and more.
  • Improved Rest and Sleep — A big reason why people don’t get enough sleep these days is that their bodies and minds are restless. Restorative yoga poses have been shown to improve sleep by increasing melatonin and reducing hyper-arousal.
  • Balances Nervous System — The rigors of everyday life can wreak havoc on our nervous system and can often keep us stuck in fight or flight mode. This stops us from relaxing, which can be treated with a handful of yoga poses.
  • Reduced Pain/Discomfort — Millions of people across the country suffer from daily pain and discomfort. Certain types of yoga, including restorative poses, have been shown to assist with the management of musculoskeletal pain.
  • Enhances Body’s Flexibility — We obviously can’t discuss the benefits of any type of yoga without bringing up increased flexibility. The restorative yoga poses listed above, in addition to many others, will help you achieve your flexibility goals.

Contact East West Healing Solutions for Yoga and Massage Services in Palm Harbor, FL

East West Healing Solutions is the leading yoga and wellness studio in Palm Harbor and the surrounding areas. If you’re in search of restorative yoga poses or would like to use yoga for meditation, exercise, flexibility, weight control, strengthening, and other uses, our incredible staff can help. If you have any questions about our East West Healing Solutions store or any of our services, reach out to us by calling (727) 216-3972 today.