Favorites

Categories

Facebook Likes

Restorative Yoga Teacher Training

Restorative Yoga is a style of yoga that focuses on powerful healing to the nervous system by slowing the body down, and relaxing the body and mind naturally. Through yoga teacher training you will learn how to practice this simple and gentle yoga style which reaches many people no matter their health or fitness abilities. Yoga teachers can instruct students how to safely release muscle tension for a deep relaxation.

During yoga teacher training you will learn many valuable things such as stress and how it has a huge impact on your life and how Restorative Yoga can help make you healthy. You will be guided through an intense introduction to the style of Restorative Yoga and how it benefits you. Making the connection between traditional poses and how to use props to make them more beneficial practicing this style. The most important piece is how to incorporate this style of yoga into your other yoga practices.

Students seek out a Restorative Yoga class session in the hopes that their yoga teacher will guide them through poses and they can let go of the stresses that they came in with. On top of that a student wishes to always behave the right way and is always seeking ways to improve or to achieve something. Yoga teachers need to be able to guide their students in the right direction in order to help them achieve a total relaxation.

Guided Support

Restorative Yoga has a main goal and that is to provide support. By making sure that a guided support is there it will allow for release. While practicing this style of yoga each pose is directed at that same theme: relaxation. The most crucial piece of restorative yoga that is taught in yoga teacher training is the use of props which will support the body to aid in releasing muscle tension. Second of all and nearly as important is the teacher’s ability to create an atmosphere which will encourage their students to release their mental stress.

Teaching Guidelines to Follow

Center yourself before class. When you begin to teach your students in restorative yoga style it will require you to have a different mindset than teaching other styles of yoga. The role of a restorative yoga teacher changes and instead of authority or instructor you become the caregiver and guide. To be able to teach in this role your yoga certification will teach you how to center yourself before beginning each class session. Take time for yourself and practice breathing, meditation or even some gentle stretching before class. Always make sure to let go of your own stress before trying to get your students to shed theirs.

Help provide physical support to your students. Since this style of yoga uses a lot of props to support the body make sure that student are allowed to relax into the shape of their pose without having to use physical effort to comfortably stay in it. Props are there to assist in either prop you up and help the pose or anchor you down to help the release.

Keep the stretching neutral. While other styles of yoga tend to push through and deepen the stretch restorative yoga aims at muscular release which happens before you start to feel a deep stretch. You need to be able to help support your students and their bodies in a shape that is comfortable and not a deep stretch.

Give your personal attention to students. Try to focus on helping your student figure out how to adapt the pose to their own needs. Be aware of students that fidget or keep adjusting poses. They may need some assistance.

Leave empty space and allow for silence. Students that are in a deep pose are experiencing the moment differently than a teacher that is not in that same pose. Long silences can be a wonderful relaxing moment for a student.

Creating mindful transitions so that students can mentally prepare for a shift. Some teachers use a calming chime or bell while others may say, “Three more breaths in this pose.” Providing students a time on when to start transitioning out of their current pose allows them to move at their own pace and calmly move into the next without chaos.

Designing a Restorative Yoga Class

Yoga teacher training gives you the power to create a session in this style that will soothe the body and also teach you how to make your mind still. This training will help guide you to design a class session that will create an environment for your students to relax. During restorative sequences a yoga teacher uses a limited amount of poses that are held for a longer period of time. Given the ability to experience the physical release, your body quiets the mind and will go naturally into a meditative state. When thinking of designing a class you must also consider you need more than a list of poses. Yoga certification will also give you the ability to teach your students how to ignore and let go of the mental chatter and be aware of the present moment.