The Power of Restorative Yoga

by Debbie Woods

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My teacher, Judith Hanson Lasater refers to Restorative Yoga as radical self care. I love this! Before I studied restorative yoga, I was like many thinking why would I want to spend time in what seemed like a few savasana postures when I could be at the gym, riding my bike or be on my mat with intense flow and arm balancing?

Eventually it all clicked & I realized that I felt better physically, mentally and emotionally the week following a restorative yoga class. Yes, all types of movement are great. But I saw the biggest change in myself after restorative yoga. I was able to think more clearly, be more productive, sleep more soundly and the list goes on. We live in a world where more intensity and speed are revered. But eventually, you burn out. This radical self care practice can help you reset and recharge. You’ll find that with radical self care you actually can accomplish so much more and (warning) you may find yourself accomplishing more with grace and ease.

Come practice restorative yoga on Sunday, June 10 at 4:00 Evolution Yoga Glenview. Sign up online to reserve your bolster.

Deepening your Practice

by Erin Ipjian

"Don't believe everything you think." -Byron Katie

It's a common story we all have heard -- "I came to yoga to get more flexible/stronger, but what I found was so much MORE."

At the very beginning, we, as yoga practitioners, are often caught up in the physical details, "right foot forward, left food back, and where is my pelvis supposed to be?"  With practice, we start to sense positive shifts happening in our bodies and even discover that we can execute poses that we never thought possible.

As we spend more time on the mat, however, we begin to appreciate that the point of the practice is not nailing the perfect pose. Moving to the rhythm of the breath and refining the details of the poses all serve a deeper purpose -- to become more aware of the noise the mind creates and spend more time connected to the awareness that lives beneath our thoughts and emotions.

This week, we have two wonderful opportunities to delve a little deeper and explore the inner workings of the mind with two meditation and mindfulness classes:

Meditation Series with Polly, Thursdays, 5/10-5/31 5:30-6:30

Mindfulness for the Restless with Kira and Allison, Saturday, 5/12 3:00-5:00pm

Sign up to reserve your spot here.

Yoga: a Practice for Everyone

by Erin Ipjian

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I love the physical discipline of yoga practice - so much so that I practice it every day. When moving to the rhythm of the breath and refining the details of the poses, something magical happens. I can't always explain it, but I most certainly feel it. And I see it in the eyes of students at the end of a well-taught class. Something shifts. There is a sense of clarity and steadiness that we somehow reconnect with.
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My wish, as a teacher and studio owner, is for people to understand that yoga is for everyone. And while you may be (as most people are) initially drawn to the physical benefits of the practice, it has so many additional layers to offer, if you remain focused on the intent behind what you are doing on your mat.
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I am in love with this passage from Jon Kabat-Zinn on the purpose of yoga,
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"The appeal of hatha yoga is nothing less than the lifelong adventure and discipline of working with one's body as a door into freedom and wholeness. Hatha yoga was never about accomplishment or perfection, or even about technique by itself. Nor was it about turning one's body into an elaborate pretzel...To my mind, hatha yoga is potentially beneficial to huge numbers of people at every level of physical conditioning...
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For mindful yoga is a yoga of wholeness that has nothing to do with what your body can or can't do at any given moment, or with how your posture looks. It has everything to do with the sincerity of your effort, with how awake you are in your life, and how embodied you are in the only moment in which you are ever alive-- which is always now."

Check out our current class schedule here! We'll see you on the mat!