Restorative gets called the easy class. It is the lowest-intensity class on the schedule and it is the class we recommend for recovery days. But the word easy misreads what the class is doing. Restorative asks for a different kind of attention, not less of it.
A vinyasa class moves. You follow the breath, you follow the teacher, you change postures every few breaths. The attention is dynamic. A restorative class holds. You stay in a posture for three to five minutes, fully supported by bolsters and blankets, and the attention is static. The hard part is not the posture. The hard part is staying with the posture once the body has settled into it.
Most new members fidget through the first three postures. They adjust the blanket, they shift a shoulder, they look at the clock. By the fourth posture most of them have stopped. That is the point at which the nervous system has actually registered that it is safe to be still, and the recovery response the class is built around starts to engage.
The other thing to know is that we do not adjust you physically in Restorative. In vinyasa I will move around the room and adjust alignment. In Restorative I set you up at the start of each posture and then I leave you alone. If a prop is in the wrong place, I will fix it. If you are uncomfortable, say so and I will adjust the prop. But I do not move you once you are settled.
If you are considering the class, come to the Friday evening session. It is the quietest of the week and most members end their working week with it. Bring warm clothing — the room is at twenty-two degrees and you are not moving, so it feels cooler than a vinyasa class at the same temperature.