restorative yoga – 2nd Avenue

When was the last time you did nothing?

I taught a deliciously slow and well-propped yin/restorative community class yesterday evening at Hot Yoga Østerbro in Copenhagen. The last-Friday-of-the-month session offers an alternative to Fredagsbar (the Danish end-of-the-work-week evening tradition of drinking with colleagues or fellow students), although I did serve a spicy ginger rooibos tea afterwards.

As we chatted after spending 60 minutes doing a total of four poses* (plus savasana, of course), the idea of rest as distinct from sleeping or downtime like reading a book or watching TV came up.

“When was the last time you did nothing for 15 minutes?” I asked.

Ring in the new year with rest

Teaching my final yoga class of 2025 last week was bittersweet, as I’d expected it would be. The yin practice at Østerbro Hot Yoga was slow and deep, with a candlelit yoga nidra and savasana. My favourite way to end a class and very fitting for the season.

December calls for cosiness (the famous Danish hygge!) and soft lights and finding comfort. More than ever this time of year, I believe in slowing down and stepping out of the frantic pace of life with all its stressors and worries and demands. And, if you’re in the Copenhagen area, I’m offering two special ways to do that in January 2026.

Stay a while, crocodile

My knee situation* continues to make some of my favourite yoga positions less than awesome (I’m looking at you, child’s pose), but thankfully there are plenty of ways to modify — and lots of alternatives.

My current favourite is a restorative version of crocodile, with plenty of support and no scary teeth!

A couch-driven getaway

Bolsters and blocks from teaching ‘Stonehenge’ pose

One of my favourite restorative yoga positions also happens to be one of the easiest to set up. It’s also one of the few restorative poses that’s easier to do at home—and no, it’s not just laying on the couch.

Restorative yoga is, by nature, prop-intensive. We want to provide enough support for our bodies to fully relax and a lot of the shapes call for multiple bolsters, blocks, blankets, straps, and whatnot, stuff most of us don’t have in inventory.

But the pile of bolsters and blocks pictured (not to mention all the blankets we used!) created by doing ‘Instant Mallorca’ (aka ‘Stonehenge’) pose at a yoga studio is totally avoidable at home—using couch cushions!

‘Flat’ is good… and restorative!

My yoga practice has been much flatter since having knee surgery in December. Reclined. Prone. Horizontal. Or maybe up a wall.

The swelling has yet to abate, making more active sessions out of reach. Down dog is a no-go. Butterfly makes me shudder in horror. Even my favourite yin-yoga-style practice with its many very-bent-knee poses (squats, sleeping swan, and happy baby, to name a few) is beyond my current capabilities. And child’s pose, well, that’s inconceivable.

But flatter hasn’t meant unfulfilling.

What does it mean to really rest?

Much of what we think of as ‘resting’ is pretty active. Watching Netflix, reading a book, listening to a podcast, scrolling through Instagram, paying attention to current affairs—all tasks that require our brains to be engaged and alert. It’s rare that we allow ourselves to simply be, letting the mind drift and the body be entirely idle. Even catching some zzzs isn’t the same as conscious, deliberate rest. Our brains work like crazy as we dream and our cells shift into maintenance mode while we sleep—not to mention that we wind up in all kinds of not-so-comfortable positions when we subconsciously shift in bed.

Darkness inspires deep relaxation

This coming Saturday I’m teaching a special extra-long yoga class at Younion Yoga to mark the Winter Solstice. It’s the third year I’ve led this seasonally-driven session and I particularly love using yoga to embrace darkness on this longest night of the year. The inspiration for the practice fits perfectly with my teaching style: deliberately slow, purposely restful, mindfully self-centred, well-supported—and with a bonus literary touch.