Restorative and Yin yoga

Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical · Judith Hanson Lasater, Paulie Zink, Paul Grilley · 1977

What it is

These are two related but distinct styles of slow, floor-based, prop-supported yoga. Neither is a psychotherapy. They are practices a trained yoga teacher (or a psychotherapist who also holds the relevant yoga training) leads, and which a psychotherapist can recommend, prepare clients for and…

Format

• Practice sessions. Format: restorative classes use only a few fully propped poses per session (published as about four to six) and are kept small so each person can be set up safely; Yin classes in the Grilley and Powers style sequence more floor poses (published as about 18 to 24) and are often…
• Ongoing practice. No published standard course length. Progress is judged by ease of settling, comfort in stillness and the client's own report, not by depth of pose.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• There is no manualised phase model with fixed session counts for either style. The structure below is assembled from what Lasater's training covers, what Clark and Powers describe for a Yin practice, and what TCTSY publishes as themes; the ordering into phases is.
• Restorative: a yoga teacher trained in restorative methods. Lasater's own route is Relax and Renew Level 1: Learning to Teach Restorative Yoga (physiology of relaxation; physical, emotional and spiritual aspects; special poses for menstruation, pregnancy and menopause; sequencing and teaching a class). Certification as a Relax and Renew Level 1 Teacher requires attending every session and submitting a written…
• Yin: trained through school-specific teacher trainings (for example Clark's courses, Powers' trainings and retreats, Grilley's anatomy trainings).

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• How change is said to happen. Restorative: sustained, comfortable support plus quiet, warmth and darkness invite the nervous system out of a stress state; the practitioner learns to rest without effort. Yin: stillness held over time at a moderate "edge" of sensation is said to load connective…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• anticipatory anxiety; a client saying yes to please you.
• discomfort or offence from either religious or secular clients.
• too many transitions spoil rest; one well-supported pose can be a whole session.
• clients minimising pain to keep attending; reluctance to criticise a valued teacher.
• hip or shoulder pressure (more padding), neck tilt. Working: the client can rest without shifting.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.