Class focus is Passive/Restorative/Meditation
Start as always with 5 sun salutations at a gentle pace. Even when my practice is focused on inner work, I start with sūryanamaskāra to wake the body up.
Restorative/passive poses:
Supported Shoulderstand/Supported Plough/Supported Bridge/Chair Twist/Supported Forward Bend/Supported supta vīrāsana or baddhakoṇāsana
They should be blissfully comfortable for a time.
You should be able to release into the pose so that you are using as little effort as possible to remain. I’d encourage you to find restoratives that work for you. Use soft bolsters. There should be no strain.
Here are some images to inspire you.
I love that last pose supported by wall ropes. Thanks to Donna Read in Montreal.
Eye Pillow
When doing passive poses, put an eye pillow on your face, This can help you to draw deeply inside, away from your senses. This is pratyāhāra one of the eight limbs of Yoga in Patañjali
Mindfulness of breath (ānāpānasati in Pali, the language of Theravadin Buddhism)
Buddhist monks in Scotland taught me this technique. They were followers of Ajahn Chah. Most meditation schools teach this in some form:
“First, follow the sensation of your ordinary breath as it flows in through the nostrils and fills the chest and abdomen. Then try maintaining your attention at one point, either at the diaphragm or — a more refined location — at the nostrils. Breath has a tranquilizing quality, steady and relaxing if you don’t force it; this is helped by an upright posture. Your mind may wander, but keep patiently returning to the breath.
It is not necessary to develop concentration to the point of excluding everything else except the breath. Rather than to create a trance, the purpose here is to allow you to notice the workings of the mind, and to bring a measure of peaceful clarity into it. The entire process — gathering your attention, noticing the breath, noticing that the mind has wandered, and re-establishing your attention — develops mindfulness, patience and insightful understanding. So don’t be put off by apparent ‘failure’ — simply begin again. Continuing in this way allows the mind eventually to calm down.
If you get very restless or agitated, just relax. Practice being at peace with yourself, listening to — without necessarily believing in — the voices of the mind.
If you feel drowsy, then put more care and attention into your body and posture. Refining your attention or pursuing tranquility at such times will only make matters worse!”
(From “Introduction to Insight Meditation” – © Amaravati Publications 1988)
I’ll add two comments
1: If my mind wanders a lot, I add a mantra like “Now I am breathing in – now I am breathing out”
2: before I start, I like to do a sweep of my body and wish good health on parts that are suffering
Book list:
Light on Yoga – BKS Iyengar 1964
Light on Pranayama – BKS Iyengar 1981
Ashtanga Yoga – The Practice Manual – David Swenson (You can buy directly from David)
The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali – Alistair Shearer (This is my favorite translation of Patañjali)