What is Restorative Yoga? How Do We Slow Down?

Interview with Marnie Bounds, a restorative yoga teacher, yoga therapist and a licensed acupuncturist.

I recently sat down with a good friend of mine and a queen of restorative yoga, Marnie Bounds. Marnie is a Restorative yoga teacher, certified yoga therapist and a licensed acupuncturist. But these are only titles, Marnie says. She is all about teaching folks to slow down. I know her well and she was a great teacher on my path. I asked her few more questions about slowing down and tools we can use to slow down.

Marnie, I think you are the queen of restorative yoga (she chuckles). What is restorative yoga and how did you become interested in restorative yoga?

Restorative yoga is techniques of using asanas on the floor with long holds, fully supported by props. It is conscious resting and active relaxation. When we allow the body to relax, then we allow for liver and kidney and other organs to restore, to flush out toxins, but also allowing for the mind to receive. Resting is receiving.

When we sleep, our mind is processing information and problem solving so we are adding all of that together and giving space for people to rest and for those things to happen. Accelerated full night sleep and all the things that happen in a full night sleep happen in restorative yoga practice. Anyone can do it and anytime.  You can do this in the comfort of your own home. You just need some pillows or couch cushions.People don’t give themselves permission to slow down and that is the thing. We have trained ourselves to speed up, but not slow down.

We live in such a “Coca-Cola world” and it is hard to slow down. It takes time for body to relax. Sixty percent of our population doesn’t sleep and that is an epidemic.

What has Restorative Yoga done for you?

I was super type A person, would maybe get 4 or 5 hours of sleep at night, was hyped up on coffee and would have billion projects going. I could never concentrate and I was everywhere… and I had a lot of health issues and have made a lot of bad health choices. When you do things on the fly in the stressed out mode, you don’t make good choices. You make easy choices, ‘in the moment’ choices — but they might not be your wise choices. I wore myself out, had an injury and went to a class.

Warning always comes before destruction. We all receive signals telling us something, so my injury was just that. I decided to go to a restorative yoga class and everything changed from there. I couldn’t do what I wanted to so and I simply fell in love with restorative yoga.

Where are you today?

I am still restoring, peeling off the layers. I am not the calmest person, but a lot more so. Still undoing years and years of stress that I packed on since I was young. I still have ways to go and love exploring many other ways to relax and slow down. I find it fascinating and enjoyable.

So it is a journey?

Yes, it is a journey. I feel that it doesn’t happen overnight but it is a process that you continually work through.

What do you want everyone to know?

You don’t have to manage stress; life can be stress-free and we can all move through the world completely happy, be in state of peace of love all the time. Stress doesn’t have to exist. At least we can recognize that. Managing stress is putting the stress in a pocket and tending to it, but why tend to something we don’t want in our lives at all?

What is the first step on this stress free path?

Tell the truth! Tell yourself you are a stressed junkie:)

So, acceptance?

Yes. Tell the truth to yourself about yourself (I think Iyanla Vanzant said that).  When you recognize that the truth will set you free, you will realize that you don’t have to hold onto these ideas. Often, we create what the world is supposed to be like and that creates stress. If you allow for the world to be as it is, then the stress will automatically start to dissipate.

What are some of the specific techniques for stress-free life?

Breath! You don’t have to do anything but take a deep breath. Our breath is directly linked to our stress system, our parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. The two cannot operate at the same time and every time you breathe deeply, you activate your parasympathetic system, calming system. Whenever you are in the moment of stress, recognize that moment and take some deep breaths. You don’t have to have solution for whatever is going on, you don’t have to make it better; just recognize and acknowledge, and then take some deep breaths.

How do you calm the mind?

Breath! Back to the breath. Talk to your mind, tell yourself affirmative statements and positive statements. Social interactions are also important. Who are you hanging out with, are they positively affecting your life or bringing you down?

10 years from now, what is the dream?

That everyone is relaxed (we both laugh). Everyone is taking a chill pill. Bigger, better, faster and more is not bigger, better, faster and more. Sometimes slowing down and not having all this stuff…there is so much beauty in that. People think that all of the gadgets are adding to life, but coming back to simplicity of life would be nice and we might be forced to do that. It is all about balance and not letting these things run our life. Gadgets have their place, but connection with ourselves and other human beings is way more important than what’s happening behind the computer screen.

I am hearing balance and mindfulness.

Yes, thanks for putting that so beautifully.

Marnie, how can people find you?

They can go to my www.slowandflowyoga.blogspot.com (my weekly posts) or they can email me at marniebounds@yahoo.com.  You can also find me at the Calhoun Beach Club where I teach restorative yoga, yin-yang yoga, and eventually I will be teaching at many other places as well.

See full interview at www.jasnaburza.blogspot.com