Restorative for stress relief

DON'T STRESS ABOUT STRESS
Stress is not always a bad thing and has its time and place where it is an essential part of everyday life. Stress is the response of the sympathetic nervous system which makes us alert, energetic and increases cognitive function to create and get tasks done. When the nervous system is balanced we have periods of stress and periods of rest and we are able to move smoothly from one to the other. But when we tip the balance into constant, or chronic, stress we start to feel depleted. In a period of period the hormones adrenaline and cortisone are released to help us perform tasks. When the body completes the task the body clears these stress hormones out of our systems. In chronic stress we get caught in a loop, these hormones don’t get cleared out, our immune system is put under pressure and we become more susceptible to disease.

RESTORATIVE YOGA
Restorative yoga targets the parasympathetic nervous system, or the rest and restore nervous system response. Amongst its long list of benefits is that it helps relieve stress. It enhances the malleability of the nervous system – which is our capacity to move easily from activity to rest, and similarly from rest to activity – by rewiring the brain's response to stress and enhancing our ability to heal and find balance. It supports you physically, mentally and emotionally and can be used therapeutically or as a preventative measure. It is a practice of conscious relaxation which gives a deeper replenishment than even sleep and at the same time helps establish good sleep cycles. It comes under the umbrella of ‘non sleep deep rest’, or NSDR, which optimises brain and body functions.

Restorative is a practice of passive poses which consciously relaxes the body. The poses are held for longer periods of time and are supported with props to help you feel effortless comfort. In this practice we look for gentle openings rather than strong stretches. The nervous system responds better to gentle stimuli, less is more!

EXPLORING THE SEQUENCE
Anytime you feel rushed, exhausted or overwhelmed use this sequence to help you relearn how to relax and restore your nervous system. Consider the four pillars of restorative yoga when you are setting up your space – quiet, dark, safe, warmth. The body will cool down quickly so layer up and stay warm. Hold the poses for the suggested minute on the accompanying illustrated sequence. Remember to do both sides in an asymmetrical pose. Stay warm and be completely comfortable throughout your practice. Discomfort will reduce your ability to rest your nervous system. If a pose isn’t working for you just move onto the next one. Use a phone on a low volume to time your holds. As you settle into the pose, scan down from head to toe to make sure everything is happy. Use the gentle rise and fall of your breath if you find your mind wandering. Remember to take 10 minutes of resting pose at the end of your practice to let everything settle in a symmetrical pose before you reintegrate into your day.

PROPS SETUP
Props bring restorative to another level. But you don't have to have a huge array of official yoga props to get started. You can improvise with household items that can do just as good a job.

ALIGNMENT CUES
Below are the restorative techniques used in this sequence. The props you’ll need are:
1 x bolster - or 2 towels, wrapped around a horizontally rolled pillow and tied to secure.
2 x yoga bricks - or 2 two thick similar sized dictionaries.
2 x yoga blankets - or any wool, thick cotton or fleece blanket with density.

No.1 - Constructive rest
Start lying on your back, your knees bent, feet mat distant apart and knees knocked in together. Place your hands on your belly and feel the breath move through you. Take four rounds of 4/6 breath, inhaling for the count of 4 and exhaling for the count of 6. Keep the breath as gentle as possible, notice if you are holding any tension in your shoulders and upper chest. Pause after and notice any change this simple breath observation has made to your body and mind.

No.2 - Star stretch
From lying on your back reach your arms overhead and stretch your feet away in a star shape. Stretch your right arm and left foot away, hold for 3-4 deep breaths. Stretch your left arm and right foot away, hold for 3-4 breaths.

No.3 - Supported bridge
From lying on your back, lift your hips up and place the bolster horizontally under your hips. Settle your hips down onto the support of the bolster. Knees bent, feet hip distance apart. Arms in cactus position or extended either side of your body, palms facing up.

No.4 - Prone twist
Place your bolster vertically along the top centre of your mat with a folded blanket at the far end. Sit with your right hip up against the short end of the bolster. Place your hands either side of the bolster. With an inhale lengthen through the whole spine and on your exhale gently place your front spine along the length of the bolster. Place your right cheek on the folded blanket and let your arms gently hang either side of the bolster. Repeat on the left side.

No.5 - Reclined bound angle
Place your bolster vertically along the top centre of your mat with a folded blanket at the far end. Sit with the back of your hips against the short end of the bolster. Bring the soles of your feet together and let your knees drop out to the sides. Prop your legs with a brick under each thigh or use a yoga belt to secure your feet and support the legs. Gently lie back onto your bolster and place your head on the folded blanket at the top.

No.6 - Resting pose
End your practice with at least 10 minutes of Savasana or Resting Pose. Lie on your back, legs stretched out, arms slightly away from your body, palms facing up. Legs slightly apart and feet fall out to the side, soften your shoulder, back of the neck long. Gently close your eyes, let the body become heavy and melt into the support of the ground. Soften the muscles across your forehead, releasing all tension, gaze inwards. Let all the muscles and bones of your body release.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Hanumanasana - Monkey or Splits

GOD OF MONKEYS
Splits, or ‘monkey pose’ named after the God of Monkeys Hanuman, is a very challenging pose for most of us – especially if you are a runner, cyclist, or a gym goer. It falls into the ‘hip opener’ category, and stretches the hamstrings in the front leg, and the hip flexors of the back leg. Hip openers are one of those poses that definitely have a feel good factor. They are the most requested poses in a yoga class, and are known for releasing stress, tension and anxiety – physically and emotionally. The psoas (one of the hip flexor muscles) is linked with the ‘fight or flight’ response. When this muscle is tight the fight or flight response is constantly being triggered – leaving you feeling stressed, anxious and exhausted. When it is stretched it stimulates the opposite reaction – the ‘rest, restore and digest’ response. Which is why you feel a calm and happy demeanor after a good hip opening class.

Hanumanasana/Monkey or Splits also help you with your transition into Adho Mukha Vrksasana/Handstand. Handstands are all about getting your hips stacked over your shoulders – the more open your hamstring are, the higher you can lift your top leg, the easier it is to hop up into handstand. This sequence would be a good prep if you are working on your Adho Mukha Vrksasana/Handstand.

Hanumanasana/Monkey or Splits challenge your ego and teach you (sometimes the hard way!) to listen to the messages from your muscles, and respect your limitations. The hamstrings and hip flexors are big muscles and need time to release. Move slowly and take extra time in the prep poses, breathe deeply and let the muscle dictate when it is time to progress. It is a pose that should be approached with care and an ability to tap into feedback from the stretching muscles. The hamstrings in particular are prone to overstretch injuries and an over enthusiastic Hanumanasana/Monkey or Splits can leave you with an overstretch injury for upto 6 to 8 weeks or longer.

THE BENEFITS OF HANUMANASANA/SPLITS OR MONKEY
Hanumanasana/Monkey or Splits is a deep hip opener. It stretches the hamstrings, hip flexors, inner groins and glutes. It counteracts tight hips and the effects of sitting for long periods of time and helps the hips move freer and assists with mobility in everyday activities. It is also a lovely grounding pose, helps balance the nervous system and eases stress, tension and anxiety.

EXPLORING HANUMANASANA/SPLITS OR MONKEY IN YOUR PRACTICE
This sequence will gradually warm up your hamstrings and hip flexors. You will have plenty of opportunities to ease them open, so very gently at the start with the supine leg stretch. Move slowly and carefully to ensure you do not overstretch the hamstrings. The best lesson to learn as a yogi is the difference between an opening stretch and a pinchy stretch, which can be an indication of an overstretching muscle.

If your hips are quite high up when you come into Hanumanasana/Monkey or Splits place a bolster, or some cushions, under your pelvis to help support you in the pose. If your hips still don't reach the bolster comfortably, push the bolster further down your front leg, just under your thigh which will support you from the front leg. If you don’t quite need this amount of lift, use a brick or a rolled up blanket under your pelvis for support, as illustrated in the sequence.

Place your hands on bricks, or piles of books, either side of your hips to help you keep your chest open and your hips squared to the front on your mat. Focus on keeping the hips level rather than getting your hips to the ground.

If your hamstrings are not comfortable in any of the above versions, have a look at my Instagram post for some different versions of Hanumanasana/Monkey or Splits.

ALIGNMENT CUES
This is definitely a sequence to link your breath with your movement. Pause in the poses where you feel the hips opening and use the inhale to retract slightly from the pose and the exhale to soften into your comfortable range of movement.

Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:

• From Anjaneyasana, place your hands on bricks, or the ground, either side of your hips, gradually straighten your right leg, slide your heel forward along the ground.

• At the same time slide your left leg back, reach the top of the foot back along the ground.

• Keep your hips level and squared as you dip your hips down, working towards your pelvis sitting on the ground.

• Hug your inner thighs and hips to the midline. Right toes pointing up, left heel in line with your left hip joint.

• Lengthen through the spine. If your hips are grounded, reach your arms up high, gaze forward.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.
Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Sun salutations

This sequence is available on YouTube.

SALUTE TO THE SUN
The Sun Salutation, or Surya Namaskar in Sanskrit, is traditionally practised in the morning as a salute to the Hindu god of sun ‘Surya’. It is an energising movement meditation traced back to the spiritual wisdom seekers of the vedic period who worshiped the sun through mantra and prostration. Today's Sun Salutation attributes its roots to the vedic period but is very different to the one they would have practiced 3,500 years ago. The Moon Salutation, or Chandra Namaskar in Sanskrit, was created to practice in the evening as a cooling and calming end to the day. Both can be practised anytime of the day depending on what you are looking for from your practice. They both stretch and strengthen all the muscle groups, increase circulation, build a strong respiratory system, aid the digestive system, boost the immune system, unwind a busy mind and release physical and mental tension.

The repetitive and meditative quality of the movements in The Sun Salutation relaxes the mind and body, reducing stress and anxiety and increasing mental clarity. As you move through each pose you take either an in-breath or an out-breath which helps you link your breath with your movement. When done slowly it establishes a conscious breath that stimulates the vagus nerve and causes a chemical reaction which activates the nerve fibres and sends messages to the brain. The brain processes this information from the vagus nerve and initiates the parasympathetic ‘rest and restore’ response.

There are three main versions of Sun Salutation, or Surynamaskara. Sun Salutation A, B and C (also called Sun Salutation Classic). Sun Salutation C is the best version to start any practice with. You step back from your first Forward Fold/Uttanasana, to Anjaneyasana/Low Lunge, which is kinder on the joints while you give your system a chance to warm up. It also offers a softer decline to the floor through Knees, Chest, Chin, rather than Chaturanga Dandasana/Four Limb Pose. Coming all the way down to the ground offers a gentler backbend with Bhujangasana/Cobra, instead of a full Urdhva Mukha Svanasana/Upward Facing Dog. You can also incorporate a soft bend in the knees for the forward folds, allowing time for the hamstrings to warm up.

EXPLORING SUN SALUTATION IN YOUR PRACTICE
The Sun Salutation is the perfect place to start when building a home practice. It can be repeated as your whole practice or built into your flows as a warm up. For your 1st round of Sun Salutation C pause in each pose to observe your alignment. Use your second round to get used to what the breath is doing in each pose. Don’t worry if you get the breath wrong. It gradually starts to make sense – as a general rule of thumb, when you are folding down you are pressing all the air out of your lungs and when you are rising up you are filling your lungs. The third round builds in intensity by adding a small standing flow in the centre of each Sun Salutation. Finish by coming down to the ground with Malasana/Squat, pause for a few breaths in Baddha Konasana/Bound Angle and take a few minutes for your Savasana/Corpse Pose after a supine windscreen hip of the legs with bent knees.

Below is a step by step guide to Sun Salutation C. Each full Sun Salutation C consists of two rounds of this flow. In the first round step your right foot back after your first forward fold, and step your right foot forward after your second downward facing dog. In the second round step your left foot back and forward.

• Tandanana/Mountain - stand at the top of your mat with feet hip width apart.

• Urdhva Hastasana/Upward Salute - Inhale, reach your arms up high.

• Uttanasana/Forward Fold - Exhale, fold forward.

• Anjaneyasana/Low Lunge - Inhale, step your right foot back, knee to the ground.

• Adho Mukha Svanasana/Downward Facing Dog - Exhale, step your left foot back.

• Phalakasana/Plank - Inhale reach forward to stack shoulders over wrists.

• Ashtanga Pranam/Knees, Chest, Chin - Exhale, lower knees, chest & chin to the ground.

• Bhujangasana/Cobra - Inhale, press into your hands, lift chest up & lengthen forward. Lifting with the whole back

• Adho Mukha Svanasana/Downward Facing Dog - Exhale, press back to Downward Facing Dog.

• Anjaneyasana/Low Lunge - Inhale, step your right foot forward, left knee down to the ground.

• Uttanasana/Forward Fold - Exhale step your left foot forward, folding down.

• Urdhva Hastasana/Upward Salute - Inhale, reach your arms up high.

• Tandanana/Mountain - Exhale, lower your arms down by your sides.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru