Do you need to really rest?

I'm just home from a morning at the studio. First a short strength practice myself, followed by two busy strength sessions and then a very chilled somatics and yoga. Sometimes it feels wild to ride the polarity between the energy of the different sessions on a Saturday. The strength sessions have a purposeful and determined air to them. People are there to challenge themselves, and have a chat along the way. Then the feeling changes as somatics starts. People are there to relax and drop inward. To be with the ease in their body rather than the effort. Yet somehow the contrast feels right. There are times in our life to challenge ourselves. There are times to chill out. Rather than them feeling opposing, they should feel supportive. Strength isn't actually built when we are lifting weights, but in the recovery time between our sessions. We all probably know the feeling of needing to rest and chill out and then getting the craving for getting out and being active again. The question is which do you need now? I find peoples default is to say they need to do more all the time. But if we are always doing more, we get exhausted and don't have the time to recover and get stronger, fitter, more creative, whatever it is that we need to be in our lives. Getting clear on what you need and when is a skill and one I encourage everyone to get in touch with. Sometimes we need to experiment and see, if I do movement do I get more or less tired? What kind of movement do I need, chill or strong? Or do I need to truly rest? When it comes to resting, is it easy to take time to rest? Or is there a sense of distraction or a to do list pulling you away? Maybe even guilt? I think of my Restorative Yoga workshops as a space to let all that go. The distractions of life can fall away a little bit more when you know you have carved out 2.5 hrs to be with your body and your breath. We do some gentle somatics to get you ease in your body, and then the deluxe treatment begins! With each restorative posture we use a multitude of blankets and bolsters to support your body so you can fully relax. My job is to help you find as much comfort as possible. One of the people in the workshop once said that it was like flying yoga first class! To be able to have that kind of care, the numbers for the workshops are small. So if that sounds like just what you need the next session is coming up on Saturday Aug. 23rd 2pm4:30. You can book your place here. I hope to see you on the mat soon, Nicole