Yoga Journal Presents Restorative Yoga for Life: A Relaxing Way to De-stress, Re-energize, and Find Balance

by Gail Boorstein Grossman

Restorative yoga poses for healing your mind and body!Written by instructor Gail Boorstein Grossman, E-RYT 500, CYKT, and published in partnership with Yoga Journal, Restorative Yoga for Life teaches you how to practice restorative yoga--a form of yoga that focuses on physical and mental relaxation through poses aided by props. It's a gentle yet empowering style that helps you de-stress and re-energize. While restorative yoga is beneficial for your entire body, Gail also shows you how to treat more than twenty ailments, such as headaches, digestive issues, and anxiety, through specific yoga poses and sequences. Guided by step-by-step instructions and beautiful photographs, you will gently ease your way into inner calm and better health with powerful yoga sequences.Whether you're having trouble sleeping, suffering from backaches, or just want to unwind after a busy day, you will find balance throughout your body, soul, and mind with Restorative Yoga for Life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Self Help, Reference, Fitness, Mental Health

468 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2014

Reviews

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for anyone with stress in their life ( who doesn't have stress?) Gail shows you how to make restorative yoga a part of your everyday life. There are poses for many ailments as well as for basic relaxation. I think every household should have this book!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really great resource for all things related to restorative yoga. I've been quite interested in restorative yoga lately and I learned so much from reading this book. I'll definitely be trying out a few of the poses and groups of poses for specific needs.

[Reading Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's...interesting and a good reminder that yoga is constantly evolving, and terminology helps. Judith Lasater would tell you (in her two excellent books on this topic) that restorative yoga is about surrendering to the pose and most poses need to be held for up to 20 minutes. Her routines, thus, are very short--4 or 5 poses for an hour long session.

This book uses a different definition of restorative yoga, one that does not think those long hold times are necessary. It does offer a number of poses routines, but not a lot about how to really pull them together for one's own routines. I think just the name Yoga Journal...I expected a bit more.

[Victoria Greenroyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this very informative and helpful. I have practiced Yoga for over 40 years and it has been a tremendous help with controlling pain in my lower back as well as my arthritis. There was new information I gleaned from this book which I've already put into my routines along with my daily practice.
I'm very glad to have come across Gail Grossman's book.

[Stella Maris Sumaylo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

it brought me to a better understanding on how to rest and relax. Listening to my body to de-stress is the best decision.

[Rick Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

Good book for beginners and old timers. Serves as a good reminder of the basics. I found this book helpful. I hope you enjoy it also

[Marc Oronoz Knight]

A great book for yoga students and teachers

[Knit Spirit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très intéressante introduction au Restorative Yoga. Bonnes illustrations en photo pour comprendre comment se placer dans les postures.

[Trần Hoài Thu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sách chủ yếu hướng dẫn các tư thế thư giãn sâu với dụng cụ hỗ trợ như gạch, chăn, gối.

[Zainab M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love using this book for my restorative yoga practice. Instructions are easy to follow, with recommendations for the time to hold each pose.

The sequences have a short and long versions.

And a section for warm up and easy breathing technique at the beginning.

[createitlibrarian (Amanda) · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Review updated as I did finally read cover-to-cover***

My secret Santa bought me this book after I checked it out at the library. Before I just used it as a general resource to create sequences, but then I read it through when I received my own personal copy. It gave me a lot of extra ideas about what I want to include in my personal practice along with a good reason why.

Anyway,
I bought a bolster in September and love using it with the relaxing postures from this book. Very good for anyone who is suffering chronic illness, grief, anxiety, or stress. Highly recommend in combination with a bolster or two from Hugger Mugger.

[Sheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic comprehensive intro to Yoga in general, and Restorative Yoga

What a fantastic comprehensive intro to Yoga in general, and Restorative Yoga.

I am a newbie to Yoga, exploring it as I have felt the health benefits of my daily transcendental meditation practice, and I wanted to learn more - ie about Hatha Yoga.

I have always been intrigued by the idea of Restorative Yoga, as it completely flips the mainstream image of active, sweaty Yoga (eg Bikram Yoga, Aero Yoga) on its head, and emphasises DEEP RELAXATION.

NO PAIN = GAIN.

It struck a chord with me, how we should be relieving tension & stress with our fast-paced lives, NOT adding to that tension & stress. Hence Restorative Yoga.

I loved learning about
- the basic tenets of Yoga,
- the history of Yoga, and of Iyengar (who inspired/created Restorative Yoga, and Iyengar Yoga -- use of props was pioneered by Iyengar),
- my 7 Chakras and my elemental makeup (Vata-Pitta-Kapha)
- Breathing exercises (Pranayamas), which are just as important as the poses (Asanas), if not MORE IMPORTANT!
- Props needed
- Poses (Asanas) -- a lengthy selection of them! More than enough for a few years of practice, for a newbie like me!
- then a wide range of Sequences, for specific problems eg Lower back pain, Insomnia, Digestive Issues, Pregnancy, Menopause, Depression, Stress release, etc etc.
- and finally concluding with Where To Go From Here

Having gone through the whole book briefly now, it is definitely worth the book price. I shall be referring to this reference-guide-cum-beginner's-guide, for the many months ahead. God bless.

[Virginie · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre qui m'a permis de mieux connaître le yoga restauratif.
Il est très bien structuré au niveau des explications de postures : matériel nécessaire, photo, effet sur les doshas et les chakras, variations, séquence courte ou longue ...
Super aussi les spots "yogic wisdom" et "threads of thought"
Ex. : "Atha yoga-anusasanam" : your yoga practice begins wherever you are right now - tired, weak, energetic, or strong - yoga is ready when you are
J'ai aussi apprécié les textes de visualisation comme celle du nuage ou de la paille.
Une véritable boîte à outils qui détaille quelles postures pratiquer pour quel type de problèmes , comment utiliser les accessoires, plier les couvertures, etc.
Et enfin une très belle mise en page soignée jusqu'aux moindres détails : choix des couleurs, des motifs, espaces, sobriété ... la simple lecture de cet ouvrage nous plonge déjà dans une atmosphère calme et aérienne. Et lorsque l'on pratique, l'effet se prolonge en extase !
Un grand merci à Juste qui m'a fait découvrir le yoga restauratif et conseillé ce livre

[Miz Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource for doing restorative yoga at home. Though suggestions are made for some on-hand alternatives for props, restorative yoga really does rely on good props and they are worth investing in. The outline of props needed and the sequences for various health issues or concerns are very useful. Though it's useful to read through the information and the poses at the beginning, it's real value is for the sequences as well as the step-by-step instructions for the poses, along with a variety of modifications.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a handy book. Some of the sequences seemed a little odd which I did try but did nothing for me. Like the pushing against the wall as a warm up. I prefer the stretching and breathing to slow the body down in preparation but even though I did not get it I still stored this little tidbit away in the event I need it in the future.

My only concern about this book is I am not sure how well it would go over if you were new to this practice. So I would suggest someone actually attends a restorative yoga class a few times and then tries some of these things at home.

[Nex Juice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is 241 pages long to show you 35 restorative yoga poses and sequences for different ailments. It felt longer than necessary to me, but you'll notice that trend if you check out my other reviews. I like succinct, practical information I can easily reference for my teachings. This will probably collect dust on my shelf - but hopefully it will serve me many years into the future!

[Maria Kemplin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Restorative Yoga for Life is a well-designed, visual walk through of both relaxing and energizing yoga exercises. I enjoyed reading this via Amazon Prime, however it must be said that I am a reader (not an athlete).

[Elizabeth Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few typos, but overall an excellent book!

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for those serious about restorative yoga, teachers and students. Lots of sequences, lots of detailed descriptions. A must for restorative yoga instructors.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent descriptions and photos of restorative poses, lots of background and recommendations for sequencing. A bit too much aryuveda for me but otherwise solid.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good base of information to frame a practice

[Rachelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall looks like a really good book, downside is how long the pose collections take to do. I'm a SAHM and even with the kids being at school I don't have that long!

[Linene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource

[Sam Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great easy to use/follow book for individual postures and sequences.