Copyright Lance
Kinseth, 2012
RATHER THAN REFERENCING balance poses such as “tree” or
“dancer,” the physical practice of all yoga is a process of balance in every pose:
poses done on both sides, back complementing forward poses, intuitive
choice to flow into poses that come from listening to the body that suggest a
need to bring some aspect into balance, and in each pose—even seated and prone
poses—having a intention/invitation of aspiring toward listening for that
“completion” that offers balance, and that balance that comes to the body
especially flat on our backs in savasana.
Rather than simply improving one’s ability to balance on one
leg, the important contributions of yoga and gentle body-mind practices such as
tai chi are their capacity to offer some balance in everyday life. Perhaps even more than physical effort,
due perhaps especially to the fast pace of modern life, there is a demand for
an emphasis upon calmness.
Modern life can be a chaotic process of trying to balance
the demands of vocation, family, nutrition/exercise, social life, and
finances. In addition, there are
the perpetual high-speed micro-moments of traffic, TV, computer, phone, as well
as the slow drag of the “gray of work,” and routine, self-doubt and
self-criticism [I am not good enough].
And there are much larger issues of degrading global environmental
quality, weather disasters, poverty to the point of famine for millions,
disease, and extreme violence that either form a concerning backdrop or are a
direct component of one’s life.
Life is, as it has always been, a juggling act and there is a cost to
trying to keep all of these balls in the air. And for all of the comforts of modernity, the quest for a sense
of balance strongly endures.
More active yoga concentrates on musculoskeletal balance
throughout the body by practicing a sequence of poses. Perhaps even more in modern times as
yoga has exploded in popularity, yoga and asanas [poses] can seem to be synonymous. But asana practice alone can miss
the deeper intent of yoga and most body-mind practices.
Restorative-Yin poses do not utilize typical balancing poses
that typically come to mind, such as balancing on hand(s) or leg(s) or head or
some combination of these parts.
And yet, this practice contributes strongly to the deep intent of yoga
to restore balance to one’s life in a way that can surpass these obvious
poses. Restorative-yin yoga
concentrates on a more internal physiological balance that the mind-body opens
by intentional quieting and calming.
The calmness and quiet and sustained poses of
restorative-yin yoga offer a powerful counter against the fast pace of modern
life. And just a few hours of this
practice might go a long way against the 100+ waking hours in the rest of the
week. And restorative-yin yoga is
not simply a step out of the everyday for a period of recuperation, but rather
a practice that, when regular, may be carried forward into everyday life to
de-stress and help us react less to events that we find either irritating or
traumatic. In facing “problems,
this “training in deep relaxation may, first, counteract overreacting. Calmness can introduce an opportunity
for observing, for stepping to the outside of the “problem” to see what it might
be offering.
Restorative practice is not just a respite for some moments
of mental and physical relaxation.
It is not primarily a mental process where we aspire to do nothing to
relax. It is a concrete, active
physiological process. In fact,
the power of this practice to begin to reach beyond the practice sessions to
affect everyday life comes from its capacity to make a very intentional, active
shift in body physiology. If
activated, the process of “doing nothing” makes a quantum qualitative shift
from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic nervous system. Restorative-yin practice impacts the
major respiratory, cardiovascular, lymphatic, neuro-endocrine processes.
Stillness in restorative practice reduces metabolism. Reduced physical activity/metabolism
activates complex chemicals to increase alpha wave amplitude, and to diminish
the various endocrine glands’ chemical responses to stress. Stilling the body paradoxically sets
off a storm of activity, allowing the body systems to “listen” to the subtle
processes of the body that might be obscured by more external demands of
everyday life—such as water levels and salt levels and cell vitality—and
regulate these processes to bring them into balance that the cells of the body
favor for optimal development.
Sleep offers important rest, but it can be tossing and
turning especially with aging, frustration being worked out in dreams, cycles
of deep to very light REM sleep.
Deep relaxation in restorative-yin yoga is intentional and typically
builds as the session continues.
It brings the mind to the body to intentionally induce stillness and to
soften/lengthen and to slow the breath cycle (while retaining some carbon
dioxide that provokes vascular expansion). And as the breath cycle slows, attention might shift from
guiding the body to follow the body, to ride the “wave” of the breath. Frustration is not really displaced
through hard effort, but rather, let go.
Balance is not bliss.
And restorative-yin yoga or any other body-mind practice is not a “cure.” Life is a rich rollercoaster of
experiences—pain, aches, “darkness,’ self-illusion, and routine, but also joy
and little pleasantries that are often overlooked.
Restorative-yin yoga is a body-mind practice that tips
experience toward tranquility.
Without really pressing for it or seeking it, restorative-yin practice
developing more than just physical and mental calmness. This calmness can open a pathway toward
the deeper terrains toward which yoga aspires—sacredness in life and a
realistic sense of sacred space and miracles everywhere rather than either
missing or rare, and harmony, grace, and eloquence. Surprisingly, calm practice
is not only very active but also pro-active;
making some real time for those qualities that are generally acknowledged as valuable,
instead of saying there is not enough time. And as this relaxation skill begins to come into everyday
life, it can transform limiting patterns.
Errands and activities can be rethought and some time found, because
this time for balance begins to be experienced as a way to enter the richness
of life for which we should be making time rather than a “medicinal” antidote
for stress.
In calmness, we can go deep. We have the time to see that the sun is not moving across
the sky from east to west as much as the Earth is rotating from west to
east. We can engage the oft-missed
self-reality that we are more than just ourselves, that we are inseparable from
all of our experience, and that we express a universe. For a time at least in restorative-yin
practice, we stand to become fully present. Then, our being-ness is active and our personality takes a
back seat. In turn, this shift
opens a rich opportunity for that which we find meaningful in life to
dramatically expand. We can become
at least a little better at balancing the dimensions of life as they present
themselves while also attending to these aspects that are all around us but
that are overlooked and free for the taking.
