For this episode, I sat down with Judith Hanson Lasater. Judith has a Ph.D in East-West psychology, she’s a trained, Physical Therapist and has been teaching yoga since 1971. She trains students and teachers throughout the United States as well as abroad. She is the co-founder of Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a founder of the Yoga Journal magazine and is president of the California Yoga Teachers Association. She has written eight books, including her most recent one called: Restore and Rebalance: Yoga for Deep Relaxation.

Listen to the full episode here:

MY 5 BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FROM THIS EPISODE

1. Restorative yoga is remembering to be still every day. When we are still, a silence arises. When silence arises, fear melts away. When fear melts away, there’s space for spontaneous gratitude, joy, compassion, and empathy. From there’s an integration of our being.
2. You can’t force yourself to relax, but you can carve out 20 minutes a day to do nothing. Doing nothing is the best thing you can do for yourself. It’s a radical thing. No music, no talking, no recording. Do it in a place you feel safe and it’s quiet.
3. It will start to notice that your mind is a drunken monkey. Pay attention to the sensations of breaths and you’ll create a radical presence. Becoming aware of sensation is a practice of body-fulness on top of mindfulness.
4. The body is always trying to reach out homeostasis. Stress is the most important disruptor of that state of homeostasis. Worrying is praying for what you don’t want. so let’s focus on what you don’t want. Physiologically, it takes at least 15 min to relax, if you are well-rested.
5. The light is the most stimulating thing to the nervous system.

QUESTIONS SHE ANSWERED DURING THIS EPISODE

• Can you define what is restorative yoga and explain what is special about it or different than other styles of yoga?
• Do you think it’s a more meditative practice compare to other asana practices?
• What are the benefits, or positive effects of this practice?
• How do you take the weight of stress off the body?
• What are the stages of Savasana?

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ABOUT OUR GUEST

Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., PT, C-IAYT, E-RYT-500, YACEP®, has taught yoga around the world since 1971. She is a founder of the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco, CA, as well as the Yoga Journal magazine which is published in a number of countries. Ms. Lasater frequently trains teachers in virtually every state of the union and is often an invited guest at international yoga conventions. She is president emeritus of the California Yoga Teachers; Association as well as the author of numerous articles on yoga and health for nationally recognized magazines. She was featured in Self Magazine in 1998 as one of the outstanding yoga teachers in the U.S. In 2000, she was selected by Yoga Journal Magazine as one of the outstanding yoga teachers shaping yoga practice in America today. She was selected by Natural Health magazine, on the occasion of their 40th anniversary, as one of the five people in the USA who has had the most influence on natural health in America during those 40 years. In 2015, Yoga Journal Magazine selected her the most influential yoga teacher in the USA in the last 40 years.

She is the author of ten books, including Yoga Myths: What You Need to Learn and Unlearn to Stay Safe and Happy on Your Yoga Mat (2020) Restore and Rebalance: Yoga for Deep Relaxation (2017, What We Say Matters: Practicing Nonviolent Communication (2009), YogaBody: Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana (2009), A Year of Living Your Yoga (2006), Yoga Abs (2005), Yoga for Pregnancy: What Every Mom-to-Be Needs to Know (2004), 30 Essential Yoga Poses: for beginning students and their teachers (2003), Living Your Yoga: finding the spiritual in everyday life (2000), and Relax and Renew: restful yoga for stressful times (1995), and Living Your Yoga: finding the spiritual in everyday life (2000).

Her website : judithlasater.comwww.judith.yoga