Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

It’s true––sleep is a form of nourishment and necessary to wake up refreshed. Or put another way, rest is just as important as work. If all you do is work, you’ll burn out and be less able to live a well-balanced, healthy happy life. And if all you do is sleep or lay around on the couch, you’re missing out on the world around you. Many of us live busy lives, so it’s important to quiet your mind and tap into your parasympathetic nervous system. Life is all about balancing active, “fight or flight” energy and passive “rest and digest” energy. If you’re a chronic insomniac or only suffer sleepless nights occasionally, an evening yoga practice is a great way to get ready for bed.

Have you noticed that every time you step onto your yoga mat it’s a different experience? Sometimes we choose a fast-paced sweaty class and others we seek a more chilled out type of practice. While all yoga will help you relieve stress, taking the time to slow down and unwind can nourish your system on a deeper level. This week we’re bringing you slower classes designed specifically to help you shift your system back into balance. One of the most profound ways a slower yoga practice impacts us is by soothing our parasympathetic nervous system. Holding poses for longer periods of time, like in Yin Yoga, encourages our “fight or flight” adrenaline responses to quiet. When you’re in Sleeping Swan (half-pigeon) for several minutes on each side, not only do the tight muscles and connective tissue begin to relax, but the mind quiets and the heartrate slows. When you can slow down and leave the rest of the day behind for even a little while, you’re refilling your well and soothing your nervous system.