Rest as Revolution

The Gentle Power of Restorative Yoga and Radical Rest

You might not think it, but restorative yoga can be some of the most ‘advanced and challenging yoga’ not because the postures demand strength, flexibility or stamina, because it requires us to do something that is very challenging... Be present. Rest and let go.

In a world that glorifies busy-ness, productivity, and pushing through, choosing rest becomes a radical act. Restorative yoga invites us to do just that, to slow down, soften, and return to ourselves. It’s more than just a gentle practice. It is medicine for our nervous system, an offering of deep support to the parts of us that are weary, overworked, or simply overwhelmed.

At its heart, restorative yoga is about resetting and calming the nervous system. But also about being OK and accepting of our physical bodies our state of mind and emotional fluctuations. Self acceptance is the key even if the there is resistance to rest.

Through longer held, supported postures, the body is gently coaxed into a state of safety and ease. We use props like blankets, bolsters, and cushions to hold the body so that it doesn’t have to hold itself. There is no stretching, no striving, no performance most of it is done with our eyes closed so we don’t even have to know what others are doing.

Just being. Just receiving.

This signals to the nervous system that it’s safe to relax, to shift out of survival mode and into restoration.

Why does this matter?

When the nervous system is constantly activated, when we’re in ‘fight or flight’ for long periods, our health, creativity, relationships, and sense of self suffer. The body’s resources are diverted away from healing, digestion, sleep, and hormonal balance. Over time, this chronic stress state can lead to burnout, anxiety, disconnection, and illness. Restorative yoga offers a path home. A quiet recalibration. A way of whispering to our inner world: you are safe, you are held, you can let go now. We are no strangers to living in a survival mode. Humans are very good at it; probably our survival today has depended on it, but modern living there is no respite from stressors, constant information, and sensory overload.

Many of us, especially women, are used to keeping going. It is not until we are forced to stop by illness that we have to learn to let go.

But beyond individual healing, rest has a cultural and social significance. In societies that value output over well-being, rest can be seen as laziness or indulgence. Yet choosing rest is a way of reclaiming our humanity. It is resistance against systems that treat bodies, especially marginalised bodies, as machines. The practice of radical rest becomes an act of reclamation, of self-worth, of saying I am enough as I am, even in stillness.

Restorative yoga teaches us to listen not to the noise of expectation or comparison, but to the subtle messages of our body and heart. It asks: Can I meet myself here? Can I be with what is present, without fixing or changing it? This is where healing begins. Not with effort, but with acceptance. Not with doing, but with deep, compassionate being.

Through the power of supported stillness, we begin to trust our bodies again. To feel the inner wisdom beneath the surface, within us. To know that rest is not a luxury or distraction but a necessity. That slowing down isn’t weakness, but strength.

Restorative yoga is an invitation to soften, to be held, and to honour our cycles of effort and ease. It is a practice of returning, again and again, to the truth that we are worthy of care. We are worthy of rest and just being happy with who we are today.

For more info about Restorative yoga, feel free to contact me with your questions.

If you are in Pretoria, come try out our new Restorative yoga class every week.