Jul 06 2008
Yoga in Bed [book]
I have been using my Yoga in Bed book here and there, and thought I might try it as a ’session’ today.
THE AM SECTION
The AM routine took about 45 minutes to do, but I would imagine it would be shorter or longer to do the whole thing depending on how long you held each pose, how slowly/quickly you breathe and move through things, etc.
About half of the poses offered in the book used up the entire bed, so my poor dog had to keep moving around. I imagine sharing a bed with a sleeping human would entail only doing some of these poses.
The only props needed are bed pillows, which worked fine. I had to shove all the blankets off the bed to really be able to get good stretches in. Of course, I could have *made* the bed instead, but I felt lazy.
I thought the yoga poses themselves were super relaxing. Almost too relaxing. I was expecting a few of the energizing poses you can actually DO in bed, like the cobras and down dogs, but the poses offered were honestly just prep poses and stretching. I added a of my own few boats, bows and locusts just to keep things interesting. For the AM routine, this could have been a tad more stimulating.
THE PM SECTION
The PM poses were just what I was hoping for - relaxing, a way to ease out the kinks of the day and release the stress. I found doing the entire routine took about 25 minutes. I particularly like the massaging the Mind and Rub the Slate Clean techniques.
There is a Savasana at the end called the Chill Out Meditation. I like this one - this is rather how I end up doing the meditation part (to be loving and gentle with your puppy-like mind). And if this section results in sleep, that is just fine. This IS a sleepytime routine, after all.
The book finishes with some information on yogic sleeping (lucid dreaming, prophetic dreaming). This part is really just a blurb - there is nothing here to instruct the reader on these techniques. It’s more of an “here are some things you might want to look into” bit.
The last few pages of the book describe how to create a sacred sleep space (how to set the mood, how to make good sleep a priority) to help ease you into restful slumber. A few resources for insomnia/sleep disorders are listed.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Overall I like this book and find it very handy. I like the way the spiral binding folds out flat. I like the thick, smooth pages, and the large, bright, happy pictures.
I also like the soothing text that describes the poses as “sweet” and “delicious,” reminding me just how luxurious yoga is supposed to feel.
I think the AM part is a little underwhelming for experienced beginner yogis and above. I would have liked to see some harder bed poses here. However, absolute yoga novices will not be intimidated to begin yoga right here, with this pleasant little book.
The PM section is appropriate and lovely. I was able to actually do all these poses with DH lying in bed next to me, which was a plus.
I did find that this book was a LIFESAVER for me when I was sick. I recently had a several week illness that really took me out. I was able to use and enjoy this book the entire time to keep up with my yoga practice. There is nothing challenging here and all the poses really are designed to gently stretch and relax the body. I imagine this book would be really very helpful to people on bed rest or with some forms of disability.
Recommended on various levels with the understanding that these are all super easy poses.
Stumble it!
