Restore and Rebalance: Yoga for Deep Relaxation

by Judith Hanson Lasater

Restorative yoga teacher Judith Hanson Lasater offers a program of yoga poses to help rebalance your mind and body and counteract the effects of chronic stress.

Restorative yoga offers the body a chance to rest deeply and revitalize. Whether you are feeling weak, fatigued, stressed from daily activities, or simply need to slow down and tune into your body, this wonderfully adaptive practice is essential for well being. Many of the practices are simple and accessible for people of all ages and in all states of health, using props that are readily available—like pillows and chairs. These deeply relaxing poses help you

• rebalance your mind and body
•  create feelings of wellbeing, and counteract the effects of chronic stress
• recover from injury or illness
• lower blood pressure, and elevate and stabilize your mood

Discover how just a few minutes a day of active, supported rest can improve your mood, your energy, and your sense of physical comfort and ease.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Health

152 pages, Paperback

Published December 26, 2017

Reviews

[melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Shambhala I received a review copy of this book. On December 26, 2017 Shamhala will release Judith Hanson Lasater´s brand new restorative yoga book, Restore and Rebalance, Yoga for Deep Relaxation. This book comes 22 years after her original publication, Relax and Renew. For those yoga teachers and yogis who are wondering if this new book is simply an update of her first restorative yoga book or a rewrite then we can take a collective 3-part yogi-sigh of relief, because this is actually a new book and not just an update. YAY! The poses in Restore and Rebalance are different from Relax and Renew, but as Judith Hanson Lasater says the concepts and techniques of restorative yoga are based on the same principles.

The book promises to help those of us who are suffering exhausted from stress in our time-pressured, constantly connected world. The book is accessible for all ages and levels of health, especially those who are recovering from injuries and illnesses and those who want to stabilize their mood. The book offers poses and sequences for the reader/yogi and yoga teacher.

So, the book does an excellent job of laying out 20 restorative yoga poses for yoga students and teachers alike, including five variations on savasana. I was particularly interested in Judith Hanson Lasater´s organization. She began with 4 head above heart poses to transition the restorative yoga student and as a way to disconnect from their outer world and reconnect with their inner one.

Each pose includes the benefits, some special instructions, especially contraindications for the pose, the props you will need, how to set up the pose, how to be in the pose, how to come out of the pose and some notes for teachers.

The bulk of the restorative yoga poses are 11 poses that are head below heart poses that include backbends, inversions, forward bends, and even some standing poses. There are 5 variations of savasana.

Part three includes various sequences from a 20 and 60 minute practice to therapeutic practices for anxiety, children, depression, fatigue and stress, lower back pain, menopause, pregnancy, and postpartum. This book is a clear, concise road map to setting up, coming into, coming out of and teaching these restorative yoga poses. The photos are clear and also contribute to the roadmap of how to come into the poses. Judith Hanson Lasater steps back to let you have your own experience in the pose.

I think the book does a good job of offering the body a chance to rest deeply and revitalize. I especially love the attention that Judith Hanson Lasater gives at the beginning of the book to head and neck support and the use of a blanket to support the head and neck for your nervous system relaxation. She spends 3 pages on this and I think this is my biggest takeaway as a teacher, practitioner and my favourite part of the book.

I often have two complaints about restorative yoga books and the way restorative yoga is offered to the world. One is that what is displayed in the book is not generally realistic for the average person at home or even the fledgling yoga studio or yoga teacher. The use of props is luxurious, but it is not unusual to see 3 bolsters and 8 blankets in one pose. The first pose in the book for example lists 5 separate props in addition to 8 blankets. I just do not think this is realistic in terms of resources for the average individual, yoga teacher or yoga studio.

The second is that restorative yoga is often promoted as being of benefit to those who are sick, elderly or injured. While restorative yoga is of enormous benefit to those populations, restorative yoga is essential to our entire population, including the yoga world these days when competition for the best inversion and yoga shape is rampant. We live in a culture of competition and achievement where we are driven to effort our way through absolutely everything, including yoga. It is good to see Judith Hanson Lasater emphasize the need to disconnect and reconnect with our inner world. I just get frustrated with market-speak that focuses on doing, whether that be recovering from illness or injury, rather than undoing the effects of our performance-based culture.

Judith Hanson Lasater brings an incredible skillset to writing this book, she has a bachelor of science degree in physical therapy and the evidence of her understanding of anatomy comes through throughout the book. Additionally her longevity and experience in the field of yoga is unparalleled in the age of insta-success and overnight mega-followers. Judith Hanson Lasater cofounded Yoga Journal in 1975. She wrote the asana column in the magazine for 13 years, as well as articles relating to postures, anatomy, kinesiology, yoga therapeutics, and breathing. She has taught internationally at Yoga conferences and trained yoga students and teachers all over the world.
I would recommend this book as a how-to book to have beside you on your yoga mat as you practice restorative yoga if you are a yoga teacher planning restorative yoga classes or an experienced restorative yoga student. I think this book would be most useful for yoga teachers and students who want ideas for planning their restorative yoga classes and experience. I also think this book is useful for students who prefer to practice restorative yoga without a teacher or video with an instructor talking or any music in the background. You could follow the sequences in the back or make your own. This book is not for you if you do not have many yoga props or if you are not good at adapting poses shown in a book. If you can look at a shape and recreate that shape without as many props then you will be fine. Otherwise, this is for the more advanced student who already has a lot of props and is able to look at a pose, adapt the pose and think about their own sequencing.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

When most people think of yoga, they probably picture a contortionist pretzeling themselves into one impossible asana after another, or a sweat-drenched yogi blasting through vinyasas and ujjayi-breathing like a dragon. While these aren't *wrong,* they're not everything - the yin to that yang is restorative yoga, or the practice of relaxing into supported poses for long, slow amounts of time. This type of practice is great for all bodies: healing for those with injuries or illness; relaxing for those dealing with busyness or stress; gentle enough for older practitioners; and for those yogis who thrive on challenge, well, they can find it in trying to ignore distractions and remain in stillness for extended periods of time.

This book is a great guide. Each pose is thoroughly explained with pictures, precise prop instructions, a list of benefits from practicing the posture, some things to watch out for, and special instructions for yoga teachers. For some of the more advanced asanas, the book offers variations suitable for beginners or those who need to back off the intensity a bit; for the prop-heavy and complicated postures, there are instructions and pictures outlining the easiest way to move into the pose and onto the props.

My one criticism is that a couple of the poses are VERY prop-heavy - we're talking piles of blankets, multiple bolsters, various sandbags and straps and eye pillows - and this may be a hindrance to both home practitioners, who almost certainly won't have all of these though they can improvise with what's around, and studio practitioners, where props are often limited in number.

[yamiyoghurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I would classify the practices here as yoga therapy rather than restorative yoga. The set up for the poses are more elaborate and requires more props, I think they are more suited for working one on one with students rather than ideas for a group class. Great insights for a personal practice though!

[Cheryl]

Lots of great poses, but requires way too many props to be realistic to do any in a class.

[Annelies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superpraktisch boek vol restorative yogaposes + sequenties.

[Rachelmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome reference book that I’ll return to many times I’m sure to help inform my yoga teaching. The author has a wealth of experience and knowledge and thus particular book focuses on a more restful and restorative practice. Gift from my sister Kathleen, thanks sis!💜

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

These pose setups feel too complicated for me. I know from her other restorative yoga book, Relax and Renew, that once I got into the poses I'd probably love them, but the complication factor feels stronger than my motivation right now. Definitely prefer Relax and Renew, which had some poses that were simpler to set up for and also had more information on each of the sections it focused on (headaches, insomnia, etc.).

[Linden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, a yoga instructor in the San Francisco Bay area and founder of Yoga Journal magazine, presents restorative poses with detailed instructions for both practitioners and teachers. Each pose is accompanied by a photograph and a description of the props needed, and they require a lot of props. According to Lasater, the "Props You Will Need" are a sticky mat, 4 blocks, 3 bolsters, 3 hand towels, 3 eye bags, 8 blankets, a strap, and a yoga chair!

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book on restorative yoga, with instructions for props, a section in each asana for teacher instruction. However, I have Lasater's earlier book and a few other restorative books, and this doesn't offer anything new. Also, I wish restorative yoga books would understand that not every yoga studio has chairs (none that I've worked in!). All of the chair asanas are useless for me as a teacher. (I love the idea. I have only ever been in two studios with chairs, and one was in India.) I wish she'd do more with home props as well. But despite that, really great book for any restorative yoga practitioner.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice introduction to restorative yoga. I think it would help to have a little background in yoga, like, this wouldn't be great for uber beginners. There is a list of various restorative poses with extensive instructions on how to get set up for either yourself or what to look for if you are teaching.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lasater provides an accessible entry point to restorative yoga. However, I wish there had been better editing and more descriptions of how the setups should feel versus where to put blankets (I.e., people's proportions are different and inexperienced practicioners may have an especially hard time figuring out how best to set up the poses).

[Rachel Stroup · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a restorative yoga teacher, and I use poses from this book in every class. Fantastic breakdown of setup for poses, along with figures and photos that clearly illustrate how to get students into the poses.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would agree with the other readers that many props are needed so tricky to teach to a large group. I tried out many in my home practice but Relax and Renew book is better for teaching and poses are easier to get into. Overall good info.

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing details and clear directions on poses

[Chrisman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I need about a million more props

[Linene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book to use if you need to teach a class, but haven’t done a training. Good Basics.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Judith’s teachings

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you teach restorative yoga this book is a must-have! I love the pictures and the descriptions I draw so much inspiration from this book

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent descriptions and illustrations for restorative yoga poses.
Repetitive in places.
Will return to this book.

[Knit Spirit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très bien pour les postures de bases du yoga restauratif.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My “go to” for restorative yoga …

[Denise K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

I really enjoyed this book. It clearly detailed how and why to use each pose. It is a great book to read if you do restorative yoga.

[Perrilyn Pringle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 Very useful for easy on you yoga but it just misses that last mark for me. Still a great book.

[Molly Niemczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that uses multiple props for each posture to fully relax

[Ashley Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Restorative poses to relax and help heal. Restorative poses are prop-heavy.