When I was younger it felt like a waste of time.  Why would I want to spend time relaxing in comfortable postures when I could be sweating?  I usually found myself spending those last few moments of class in shavasana (corpse pose, the traditional last posture of yoga class) thinking about what I was going to eat after I left.

In my previous post about yoga, I mentioned that I am more interested in doing less strenuous yoga these days.  I still like my regular yoga practice to include a good sweat and at least a few moments of “yikes!”  But I also have an appreciation for the occasional restorative yoga class.

My neighbor around the corner goes to the same gym as I do and one day we were chatting about our various workouts and the different yoga classes that our gym offers.  He mentioned that sometimes he likes to take this one restorative yoga class that uses lots of bolsters and blankets – it was like having nap time.  I admitted that I have fallen asleep in restorative yoga classes before.  One time I am pretty sure that I was snoring!

Usually restorative yoga classes will move through a few postures in a slow and gentle manner, then transition into an extended shavasana (or, as I seem to think of it, nap time).   Substituting a quick nap for your workout is not the point though.  The ultimate purpose of any style of yoga is to prepare you for meditation.  Restorative yoga just chooses to go about this in a different way than more active, physically strenuous styles.

Props

A restorative yoga class will tend to make extensive use of props such as blocks, bolsters and straps.  As someone who was once young, aggressive and extremely flexible in yoga class, I have only recently developed an appreciation for using these kinds of props.  Using props in various postures as a sort-of bridge to connect your body and to the ground isn’t about making something “easier.”  The connection enables the body to release tension and you can experience a posture more fully, if not more deeply. 

Yin Yoga

One restorative yoga class that I would take from time to time was a yin yoga class.  In yin yoga, you hold each posture for at least two minutes.  Fortunately, the postures are not balances or inversions, but mostly seated and laying-down positions.  It is a really interesting practice because you when you spend so much time in a posture, you really have the opportunity to look into all the dark corners that are easy to ignore when you aren’t holding the position for as long.  I discovered things that I didn’t like about postures that had been my favorites like baddha konasana (aka bound angle pose, or butterfly stretch).  Even holding child’s pose for two minutes can be intense.

When I don’t fall asleep in shavasana, I do still find my mind wandering.  But another advantage to restorative yoga for me is that it doesn’t have to be done on an empty stomach, so I can often coax myself out of obsessing about food for at least a few minutes.

Wisdom, kindness, and love. Namaste.

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Among the many, important reasons to celebrate today, one is that it is my mother in-law’s birthday.  Since she lives on the East Coast, we don’t see each other very often.  When we do, she and l like to drink champagne and eat shellfish, so I think I will try to do that today in her honor.  I might even offer to share with Mr. Man.

I also thought it would be fun to learn something about Saint Valentine because I had a feeling that he wasn’t the Patron Saint of diamond heart necklaces.  I think it is kind-of an interesting story, let me know if you agree.  Based on what I read, here is my version of Saint Valentine’s history.

There is not much known about the dude who would become known as Saint Valentine, the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, and young people.  That’s a lot of things!  It seems like a lot of pressure.

I’m not sure how epilepsy and plague got lumped in with happy marriages and lovers, it kind-of makes me giggle.  Isn’t it wonderful that he is the Patron Saint of bee keepers though?  Bee keepers are important.

It is believed that he was martyred in 269 AD.  Those were the days that Christianity was considered a fringe religion in Rome where he lived.  The story goes that before he was executed, he performed a miracle by restoring the sight of a young girl.  My favorite part of that story is that he wrote her a little note before his execution which he signed, “Your Valentine.”  Aww, cute!

I don’t know how it works, but I can’t help but wonder why he isn’t the Parton Saint of sight?  Then we could celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day by having eye exams or eating carrots or something else to promote ophthalmic health!  But I guess the part of the story that he was secretly marrying Christian couples was more important to the people who get to decide those sorts of things.  Still don’t get what bee keepers have to do with it.

In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I canonized Saint Valentine and the Feast of Saint Valentine was established on February 14.  Among the various sources that I found, there was some mention that the date was intended to usurp the pagan festival of love, Lupercalia.  Other sources say there is no relation, but I love a good usurping story.

Lupercalia was an ancient Roman festival celebrated on February 15.  It was intended to remove evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility for the coming spring.  Rites of the celebration included animal sacrifice, after which members of the Lupercal order would run naked through the streets of Rome holding strips of the sacrificed animal’s skin that they would use to swat people.

Ok, back to Saint Valentine’s Day.  I found several references crediting 14^th century English poet and couturier, Geoffrey Chaucer (author of The Canterbury Tales), with creating the association between the day and the idea of romantic love.  I really don’t know anything about Chaucer.  When checked out his Wikipedia page I didn’t find anything that explained the correlation.  If anyone reading is familiar with Chaucer and can explain this, I would be so interested to hear.

In 1969 the Roman Catholic Church removed St. Valentine from the General Roman Calendar because, so little is known about him.  Regardless, celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day continues to become a bigger and bigger deal every year.  I’m not saying that it has to do with my mother in-law’s birthday, but I’m not saying that it doesn’t.

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