I sometimes hear the question indirectly through another student. I sometimes see the furrowed brow and perplexed look when I suggest a two-hour restorative yoga class to someone I’m meeting at a party. I can even imagine you making this confused expression or eyes glazing over when you read my posts about upcoming classes on social media.

So, if you’ve ever thought, “What the hell do you DO for two hours of restorative yoga?”

This blog is for you.

I get it. When I started doing regular yoga classes 18 years ago, I could barely make my body-mind still during the 5-minute final resting pose (svasana) at the end of a yoga movement (asana) class. I felt plagued by my thoughts flying though my mind like rocket ships. Sure, I could let go of a thought, but three more soon followed. I didn’t usually feel rested, more like a fidgety failure.

In those early days, I was more than willing to take day-long physical workshops or longer classes, but not the seated or resting practices. I would endure those quieter practices only if you made me do them during a longer class, but it took years to really embrace this aspect of yoga.

Here’s what I learned after I finally started embracing the quieter, restorative and meditative practices: The longer class actually helped me settle better than a shorter one. Our nervous systems, overtaxed by way too much stimuli (especially from technology), struggle to settle down because we are in a constant state of vigilance. (To learn more about how modern life taxes our nervous systems, read the book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Amelia and Emily Nagoski or hear them interviewed on Brėnė Brown’s podcast, “Unlocking Us.”)

The way I design restorative classes takes our stress-filled lives into account and uses the time to help you really settle into deep relaxation. And the nice thing about doing these classes on Zoom is that you can always do you. Do what you need to feel comfortable, even if that means getting up to walk around when you think everyone else is resting. (Psst … they might actually be doing the same thing. Their camera is just off.)

So here are the elements I usually include in my restorative yoga classes:

Journaling.

Gentle Movement.

Restorative Poses.

Guided Meditation.

What other questions do you have? Drop me a question in the comments or email me. You may have noticed that I LOVE to talk about yoga.

Want to try restorative yoga? Join me for my next restorative yoga party: Flourishing in the Sun: Summer Solstice Yoga Celebration, June 21, 7-9 p.m. via Zoom. Tiered pricing and pay-as-you-are-able tickets make it financially accessible. Still not ready for two hours? No problem. Try my one-hour weekly restorative yoga class any Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Your first class is always free.