Time for a Little Restoration

July 14, 2025

As a career educator, I have lived for my summer breaks for over 30 years. Teaching is very demanding of my time and energy by itself and teaching while being a spouse, a parent and a homeowner has meant that I have always juggled many responsibilities. The 8 weeks I get off each summer are often spent doing the things I put off all school year. Both my financial budget and my personal time budget are very constricted from August to the end of May each year. All school year, I yearn for the hot summer days that run together between June and July. When I start to forget what day of the week it is and I must set reminders for myself to go to the dentist, get my hair cut or catch up with a friend or I risk missing appointments or opportunities to connect with others. By nature, I am a planner and a list maker. In the dog days of summer, however, I uncharacteristically manage to forget the goals I set in January or the things I put off for a day when I had no time constraints.

Eat, sleep, exercise, “putter around the house,” repeat. This summer my focus has been on building in more restorative practices each day between my personal yoga and writing time each morning to small trips with friends and family. I have challenged myself to go to the gym to lift weights twice a week, take 45-minute walks at least 6 times a week and schedule at least two social activities with friends each week. The big summer to-do list is very slowly getting done, largely because I hosted an 80^th birthday party for my mother and I wanted to get deep cleaning, yard projects, and touch up painting done before the guests arrived.

This morning, I finally scheduled a restorative yoga class for myself at a local studio where I had won 4 free classes in early May. I rarely go to other people’s yoga classes, and this one was amazing! For almost 90 minutes we did long, slow poses using lots of props all designed to encourage our bodies to rest, relax, and reset. We started with a delicious essential oil blend applied to our hands. We practiced box breathing and gently worked to warm up each major joint system before holding 4 poses for extended time to allow our bodies to settle into deeper relaxation. By the time we got to the extended savasana, I had forgotten the worries I had walked in with and had reached a state of contentment I rarely find.

Now, I am excited to find other classes at this studio, and I intend to also take a few at my gym now that the renovations there are completed. My daily maintenance yoga is great. It keeps me limber and helps me to stay centered in my regular life. However, I can see great value in diving deeper into more restorative yoga and yin yoga as I continue to reset from the past school year and bolster myself for the upcoming one.