My Restorative Practice

by Bryna Parker

“I’m just here the for Savasana” ~T-shirts everywhere

Bryna Parker enjoying Legs up the (Headboard) Wall, a restorative pose you can easily do in bed.

Bryna Parker enjoying Legs up the (Headboard) Wall, a restorative pose you can easily do in bed.

Savasana — you know, that part of a yoga class where you get to find a supportive posture and relax?

I often hear, “This is my favorite part of yoga and it always seems to go by too fast. As soon as I am getting settled and begin to soften into stillness it is always time to come back.” 

We all need more time to settle and soften into our stillness, and that is what a Restorative Yoga Practice provides. Unlike more traditional yoga classes, a Restorative Practice is not about stretching; it is about opening into the stillness and like traditional yoga classes, it can take a little work, but the work happens within while the body is fully supported and still. 

Restorative yoga offers us more time to explore how we are feeling. While we are still we can ask ourselves:  

What is my mind distracted by? 

How do I feel today in my physical body? 

Where am I with my emotions right now? 

Am I fully breathing? 

What is this heaviness or tension in my body connected to energetically?

And through these questions we get to know ourselves more fully.

My Restorative Journey 

Becoming the silent observer of my inner landscapes took practice and time. Learning how to be present and breathe through all the sh*t that bubbles up when we turn inward can be a challenge at first, but this is where we become resilient. Just like Hatha Yoga, Restorative Yoga is a practice that you need to show up for over and over. It wasn’t easy for me to turn off the ruminating thoughts and worry or take a break from my need to accomplish and checking items off a list. I seem to always be creating a bunch of expectations for events that are in the future, or reliving past experiences and wondering how it could have been different. My mind was rarely in the present moment. I was often stuck in the past or asking eagerly what's next? Restorative yoga answered with “How about nothing?” 

With practice, I soon learned how to sit with myself and accept what is real in that moment without judgment. I could acknowledge and allow rather than ignore and avoid. Once I became comfortable observing and being without judgement, I could take the next step of moving closer to meditation. I began having conversations with my body explaining you are allowed to just be. I began thanking my body for all it does and then reassured myself that rest is a healthy healing practice — I don't always have to be preparing for what’s next. It’s ok to take time to just be present and find satisfaction in not doing. I begin to rewire my brain by training my body to unplug from all those sensory inputs so I could pay more attention to what my inner being needed. This practice of connecting to life force energy and listening to my own intuition was when it became so clear that most of the answers I had been searching for were already there inside of me; I was just too busy, distracted or fearful to seek my own inner wisdom. This restorative practice has empowered me to trust myself. Anytime I am unsure, I know I can pause and connect to that source of energy and wisdom that always resides inside of me. It’s there for you, too, I guarantee it. You just have to make your restorative practice a priority. 

Try this…

Your restorative practice could be as simple as taking your legs up the wall (or headboard) first thing in the morning while you are still in bed, breathing in and out intentionally, and observing what is present and honoring where you are today. 

In this way, you can start your day informed and prepared, knowing what you need so you can better support yourself (and others) throughout the day. 

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What a beautiful gift to give yourself!

Join Bryna for Restorative practice on Tuesdays from 6pm-7pm. You can also find her teaching Chair Yoga on Mondays from 11am-12pm as well as occasional restorative popups and workshops on several topics including Yoga for Bigger Bodies, Chair Yoga, and Yoga for Tension Release using Yoga Tune Up balls. Check out our schedule.

Teacher Talk Tuesday: Meet Tiffany Prior

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How did you begin practicing and teaching yoga? 

I began practicing about 16 years ago, when I pressed play on a yoga VHS in my bedroom. At the time, it felt so worldly and exotic, which really appealed to me being from a small town with few cultural outlets. My love for yoga expanded while I was in college in Chicago. I wanted to live at my local Bikram studio, sometimes doing 2 classes a day. I would scrounge up whatever extra money I had to go. When I wasn’t there, I would lay out one of my 3 well-worn copies of Yoga Journal on the floor and piece together a practice. It was shortly after that I discovered a video of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois instructing Ashtanga Primary Series, from 1993; my first foray into the world of Vinyasa. I desperately wanted to get my yoga certification then, and though it wasn’t able to come to fruition, my dream held on. I continued fervently practicing, learning as much as I could, until I moved to St. Louis in 2010. In 2011, after settling in and becoming more familiar with the yoga community, I found a training I was willing to try. I had my first teaching opportunity in October of 2012, at Joy of Yoga. At the time, it was a cute little startup in Midtown. I’m really grateful for that support and belief because it’s brought so many experiences and wonderful relationships.

How has yoga been transformational in your life?

Something I have learned about myself, through yoga, is that movement is essential to my mental and emotional well-being; never mind the physical benefits. I have to move my body every day. Even saying “move my body” seems reductive, it is too perfunctory a descriptor for the actual process taking place. It’s proprioceptive, psychosomatic healing. Where else in our lives are we able to freely express with every ounce of our being and know that what we are feeling is true? No one can negate the experience we have through movement, or the neurogenesis that takes place as a result. It truly is mind, body, and spirit. This practice has been a source of great strength for me. Yoga allowed me to feel strong and graceful simultaneously, to feel like I owned my body, and that I could do just about anything I set my mind to. Through yoga, I believed that I could birth my 2 sons at home, and I did. It allowed me to have the most powerful and transformational experiences I could have ever hoped to have. Everything else in life is relative to that now. Yoga allowed me to recognize the amount of power I have, especially as a woman.

What’s your favorite part about teaching yoga?

My first instinct is to say the creative and emotive aspect is my favorite, which it is. Guiding a room of people through this beautiful process of feeling and experiencing something both individually and together, in entirely unique ways, is incredible. But if I’m honest, I’ve recently had to start believing that people believe in me, and not just the students. I mean, wholly crap… an entire room of people just showed up to my class, and it wasn’t by accident? I don’t know why it’s taken me 8 years to get to this place, but I suppose it’s good that I’ll never take that for granted. So, I’m trying to be more open to the love of it all, and not feeling like a giant imposter. I will forever be a student.

What do you do to prepare for class?

I will usually do a little movement myself, to feel what is happening that day. I think about the people who I know will be there, and how I can best serve them. The students inspire me to be more creative and think outside the box; I never want to let them down. I seldom pre-write a flow and bring it to class. It makes me incredibly nervous and completely stifles my presence. If something isn’t landing, I want to be observing everything that is happening by being in it with them.

Do you have a favorite pose or movement?

Before kids, my answer would have been totally different. Pinchamayarasana (Forearm Balance). But these days, I live for Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold). Parsvottanasana (Pyramid Pose is another go to in my morning movement. My physical practice is simple in this phase of my life.

If you were a yoga pose what would you be and why?

 Funky pyramid or flamingo pose. It’s approachable, yet challenging. Requires focus, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. It has second chakra connection, creativity, and is introverted but expressive.

What’s your favorite type of music to play while practicing? Do you have a playlist you’d like to share?

I am all over the place musically. It completely depends on my mood and the class. In my personal practice I like Bhakti, DJ Drez, Janis Joplin, 60’s kind of stuff, Erykah Badu, and reggae. In class, I can sometimes play the same, but I really like to keep it moody, artsy, and independent. Valerie June is my current love. She is absolutely from another planet and I can’t get enough.

Does your personal practice differ from how you teach?

At the moment, completely. I’m still trying to bring-it-for-the-people in the studio, but at home my practice is 100% in mindfulness with my children and husband. I want to peacefully parent with every ounce of my being and I’m moving my body purely for necessity. I am walking myself through meditation everyday, all-day, focusing on non-reactivity, positive thinking, healing and continuously evolving. Teaching is such a creative and sensitive endeavor for me, always striving to intuit what the students want and need. Teaching gives me the opportunity to get my fiery side out, a retreat from my mommy-space. It has been a wild ride from where I started 8 years ago, through 2 pregnancies, postpartum, and now. I’m grateful for the people who have stuck with me through it all!

Recommended reading (yoga and/or non-yoga)

Non-Violent Communication, by Marshall Rosenberg.

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids, by Dr. Laura Markham. (Get the workbook because we have all been children, have been parented or are parenting, and almost certainly have healing to do.)

How would you describe yourself? What do you want people to know about you?

My students have described me as “a fierce and commanding teacher,” which I suppose shows up in other areas of my life as a projection of confidence. In all actuality, I’m an incredibly sensitive, highly emotional, and deeply feeling person. If you’re familiar with Myers-Briggs, I’m an INFJ - The Advocate, and in the Enneagram I’m a 4w5. Supposedly, I’m this rare type of person, which would make sense considering how awkward I usually feel. People assume I’m extroverted, especially when I’m approached after class, but once I’ve given my offering, I’m ready to rein it back in. I’m enthusiastic about what I’m interested in, want to learn about, or feel comfortable sharing.

Outside of yoga what is your passion/Where can you be found?

Moving my body, I only sit if I have to. I’ll be lifting in the gym, hiking, running, swimming, walking, or just generally busting it. After I had my second son, I felt the weakest I have ever felt; entirely broken. I never want to feel that way again. Aside from that, I spend nearly all of my time with my 2 boys and husband. If we’re lucky enough to be on the occasional date night, we’ll be seeing a show or listening to music and having great food.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself!

I love to travel. Particularly, with my husband, van travel. Prior to having children, we drove all over the country in our giant white passenger van. It had a bed platform in the back, kayaks, bikes, yoga mats, our dog, and whatever else we would need. We would camp anywhere and everywhere, bathe in mountain streams, hike, and be free to explore. It’s the best. It’s allowed me to practice yoga all over the country, go to Wanderlust 2 times, and experience the simple essence of life through being very minimal. It’s a core value of ours that we hope to pass along to our kids.

Anything else?

I teach at Blue Sky because Annie and the students have been so good to me. You all are family and I am grateful to have St. Louis to teach and practice yoga in. We have an amazing community here.