Customer Reviews

Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times

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This book is all about letting go by doing nothing purposefully. Judith Lasater, a very experienced Iyengar yoga teacher, shows the reader in words and pictures how to use everyday props (e.g., blankets, pillows,walls and floors) to travel the highway to the state of relaxation. I had the opportunity to practice restorative yoga with Ms. Lasater in Montana about two years ago and I can attest to the fact this yoga works to relax both the mental and physical muscles in the body if practiced regularly. Since most people can't go off to Montana to practice yoga, this book is the next best thing to being there.

This book is written by Judith Lasater, renowned yoga instructor and physical therapist, and it centers around restorative yoga, a form of yoga practice aimed specifically and reducing stress through increasing relaxation. Restorative yoga has its basis in the Iyengar tradition, which encourages use of props to allow one to relax more deeply into the yoga postures. In this book, a wide variety of specialty props are used; Lasater helpfully breaks down the props into necessary and optional categories, and she offers suggestions for everyday objects which can be substituted for the traditional yoga equipment.

The book is very well-organized into several general themes. Part One provides an introduction to restorative yoga as well as a description of the most important posture, basic relaxation pose; it also includes both a general restorative practice and a practice for busy days. Part Two focuses on specific issues, including lower back pain, headaches, insomnia, breathing difficulties, and jet lag. The third section is designed specifically for women and offers practices for menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. Finally, Part Four provides additional information such as breath instruction and general stress reduction strategies, and several useful appendices conclude the book.

The instructions for performing each pose are beautiful illustrated with clear black and white photographs, and the accompanying written directions are meticulously detailed, incorporating sections on setting up, being there (relaxing into the pose), coming back (getting out of the pose), benefits, and cautions. For every posture sequence, Lasater offers both a summary of the poses involved and options for doing a shorter or longer practice. The gentleness of the included postures makes this book completely appropriate for beginning yoga practitioners, but more experienced yogis will also benefit from adding a restorative component to their practice.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking to release, let go, and relax.

Judith Lasater's wonderful book on restorative yoga, Relax & Renew, sits near my yoga mat in plain view, reminding me to take time everyday to restore and replenish myself.

Two years ago my already busy life as a mother, yoga teacher, writer and community activist got even busier when I decided to run for public office and serve on our local City Council. Instead of drinking coffee to keep going, I practice the restorative poses taught in Judith Lasater's book. I refer to Relax & Renew regularly to deepen my own understanding of restorative yoga and also to better instruct my students.

For busy people juggling many hats, I recommend this book highly! A must read for politicians and anyone wanting to reduce stress in their life!

As a yoga instructor teaching an active, flowing style of yoga, I would have several students ask me if I could also teach yoga just for relaxation and stress-reduction. Initially, I was a little stumped as to what I could teach that would still provide a tremendous benefit while using very little "exercise" (other than meditation). Then I came across this book. She not only educates her readers about stress, she shows us specific poses to counteract that stress. And she explains clearly what benefit we are receiving from each pose. The "General Restorative Practice" is amazing. You truly do feel relaxed and renewed. She even offers a shorter series for those days when time is too scarce or while traveling. And the series for pregnancy is a God-Send for those expecting! I have just begun using these restorative poses in my classes and my students absolutley love it!

I have read just about every yoga book available and Relax and Renew is one of the best. This book's clear instruction and helpful photographs guide the reader into an experience of truly restorative and healing yoga. It is especially useful for those interested in how to practice yoga for stress reduction and relief of back pain, headaches, insomnia, and jet lag. It also teaches restful yoga postures women can practice to relieve the discomfort of their monthly cycle, pregnancy, and menopause. Moreoever, the depth of Relax and Renew makes this a book you want to return to again and again. Judith Lasater is an inspiring teacher, and her wisdom is abundantly available in this book, which I recommend highly to everyone.

This health book is a "must" for every woman. Judith Lasater's book has helped me to begin using YOGA in my everyday activities because I enjoy following the process of getting into the pose as well as understanding "why" I'm getting the benefits. Her

Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful TimesThis is the classic text on restorative yoga. How I remember when I received my first copy of Relax & Renew: I thought: this is wimpy yoga and I want a more physical practice. I'm not going to hang out in those easy poses!

The book sat, unused, on my bookshelf for several years. Then I finally got it.

I don't know what happened, or when exactly or why, but suddenly the restorative poses made sense. I think it was a natural outcome of several years of regular asana practice. As students travel deeper along on the yogic path, they begin to realize that the reason to attempt "pretzeldom" is to achieve the state of deep relaxation which is conducive to meditative focus.

AS many before me have said: It's not how twisted into pretzeldom you can go, nor is it whether you can perform 108 sun salutations in a row; it is how fast you can drop into the non-thought space. The blissful space of pure being. This is a roundabout way of saying that this is yoga as it should be practiced by all yogis at least once per week. Let go of your striving to achieve armless head balance and enter the blissful state of an extended supported baddhakonasana!

Relax and Renew - Restful Yoga for Stressful Times, is the definitive guide to restorative yoga and restorative yoga postures. Written by Judith Lasater, a physical therapist with a doctorate in east/west psychology who has been teaching yoga since 1971 and authored several yoga books, Relax and Renew is designed to help you de-stress with supported passive yoga poses.

Those who have an active yoga practice will find the poses featured in Relax and Renew a significant departure from what they are used to. In traditional yoga the focus is on active poses followed a brief restorative pose (savasana). If you find that savasana is your favorite part of your yoga class, Relax and Renew may be just what you are looking for since its entire is restorative yoga based poses.

Lasater credits her restorative yoga based poses to BKS Iyengar, a worldwide yoga authority who experimented with props to modify yoga poses so students could experience their benefits without strain. In Relax and Renew, Lasater expands upon this concept to create yoga based poses and pose sequences designed to evoke the relaxation response and heal the effects of chronic stress. She calls restorative yoga "active relaxation."

The first part of Relax and Renew (Chapters 1 through 3) provides background information about stress and and how restorative yoga works to counter its effects. Chapter 2 takes a question and answer approach to providing information on how to get started practicing restorative yoga with details on where to begin, how to begin, what you should wear, what props you will need, etc.

Chapter 3 is devoted to the topic of props - a significant aspect of a restorative yoga practice. She categorizes props as props you lie over, props you place on your body, and props you rest on or against and includes detailed charts for how to fold blankets for various poses.

The remainder of the book focuses on specific restorative poses, a general restorative yoga practice, restorative yoga poses for busy days, restorative yoga poses for the office, and restorative yoga sequences for various conditions such as low back pain, neck pain, insomnia, difficulty breathing, jet lag, women's cycles, pregnancy, and menopause.

Each pose includes instructions for how to set up your props for the pose, getting into the pose, settling into the pose, how to come out of the pose, benefits of the pose, and any cautions. There are also detailed photographs of each of the poses, which are meant to be held for several minutes.

If you are feeling weak, fatigued, and generally stressed out by life, you may want to consider using Relax and Renew to help you begin a restorative yoga practice.

However, if you are used to moving at quantum speed and have difficulty slowing down, you may find this book and the suggestion to rest in supported poses challenging. It may also take some time to learn how to set up the props to support you properly in the various poses. To get the most out of the poses described in Relax and Renew, you will need props including several blankets, pillows, yoga blocks, yoga straps, a yoga bolster, and a chair.

Highly Recommended

This is a very valuable book because few writers have chosen to write about this facet of yoga. There's plenty of books and videos and classes on yoga, but, wanting to teach a restorative yoga class myself, I could find little to prepare me for that, other than going to a restorative class and copying what that teacher did. I had my own observations but needed a professional's thoughts to assure me I was on the right track, as well as describe the poses and exactly what their benefits are. You simply could not ask for a more thorough perspective on restorative yoga.

I love this book. I use at least one restorative pose in my practice each day.