{"id":5765,"date":"2017-10-30T15:51:26","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T19:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theyogasanctuary.biz\/staging\/?p=5765"},"modified":"2023-07-31T12:02:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T16:02:13","slug":"meditation-and-restorative-yoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/meditation-and-restorative-yoga\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditation and Restorative Yoga"},"content":{"rendered":"
Complementary Practices to Promote Relaxation and Healing<\/h5>\n
by Melissa Goodwin<\/h5>\n
\"meditation,Students often ask, \u201cWhat is the difference between meditation and restorative yoga?\u201d This is a great question, because we tend to think of both in terms of the same set of desired results: reduced stress, a quieter mind, an improved sense of well-being. But while both practices can lead to those outcomes, the paths to attaining them are quite different.<\/u><\/u><\/div>\n
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Meditation consists of concentration (focusing the mind), mindfulness (being present), and contemplation (reflecting on thoughts and feelings). In meditation, we sit upright to align the body\u2019s energy centers and inhibit drowsiness. We bring our awareness to the breath as a means of focusing the mind\u2019s attention. During practice, we can continue concentrating on the breath, or we might repeat a mantra or concentrate on an object. Notice the word \u201cconcentrate\u201d \u2013 \u00a0that implies effort! So, while we may look peaceful and serene sitting our cushions, inside, we may be working quite hard to rein in our mental activity.<\/u><\/u><\/div>\n
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In contrast, the intent of restorative yoga is to enable healing through\u00a0rest<\/i>. Reclining postures are fully supported with blankets, bolsters and other props, and we remain in them for 15 to 20 minutes so that the parasympathetic nervous system has sufficient time to return the body to its natural, un-stressed state. In this context, \u201crest\u201d is somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, and the experience is meant to be totally effortless, comfortable and relaxing.<\/u><\/u><\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Meditate and Restore<\/i>\u00a0class we offer at\u00a0The Yoga Sanctuary<\/b>\u00a0evolved from a desire to explore the possible synergistic effects of pairing meditation and restorative together. The questions we posed were, \u201cMight we be able to more easily relax in the restorative poses after meditating?\u201d\u00a0 And conversely, \u201cMight the mind more readily focus in meditation after a short period of rest?\u201d<\/u><\/u><\/div>\n
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In this class, we begin with a restorative pose, during which students are guided into relaxation. This is followed by a 15-minute seated meditation, after which we take one or two more restorative poses.\u00a0 The reality of all yoga practice is that each time, for each student, the experience and effects will vary. But in general, students have expressed that practicing meditation and restorative in combination allows them to go deeper into both, leaving them feeling more refreshed, relaxed and renewed at the end of class.<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Meditate and Restore<\/i>\u00a0class is offered on Wednesdays from\u00a011:30am to 12:30pm.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0We also offer a one-hour\u00a0Restorative<\/i>\u00a0class on Fridays from\u00a05:30 to 6:30pm.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Complementary Practices to Promote Relaxation and Healing by Melissa Goodwin Students often ask, \u201cWhat is the difference between meditation and restorative yoga?\u201d This is a great question, because we tend to think of both in terms of the same set of desired results: reduced stress, a quieter mind, an improved sense of well-being. But while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,114,98],"tags":[164,43,163,165,162,64,166],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5765"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5765"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5772,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5765\/revisions\/5772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}