Consider Yourself This Holiday Season by Nicole Griffin
Do you ever tell yourself you’re “bad” at relaxing?
It’s something I hear all the time. Despite our collective exhaustion, the mind still spins out with judgments: I should be doing something. This is a waste of time. I’ll never catch up if I rest. Everyone else’s needs come first…
When we disregard our need for rest, we end up in collapse. This looks like zoning out, numbing out, or crashing into sleep. Collapse is not the same as restoration. True rest replenishes you and leaves you feeling supported rather than drained.
Yet for many of us, stillness feels impossible. When the norm is urgency, efficiency, and performance, pausing can feel uncomfortable, even threatening. We’ve been taught that our value lies in doing more, producing more, and proving more.
We may turn to power yoga as our way to unwind. The challenge, sweat, and movement can feel like release, and it helps because we are still “doing” something. But while that kind of active practice has benefits, it is not the same as restorative rest. Real restoration happens when the body is fully supported in stillness, when there is nothing to push through or achieve, only the safety to let go.
This is where Restorative Yoga changes everything. Supported postures, held with props and time, teach your body that it is safe to release. As muscles soften, the parasympathetic nervous system—the branch responsible for rest, digestion, and repair—switches on. Breath slows. Heart rate and blood pressure settle. Cortisol levels decrease. Over time, your body learns that stillness is not a threat but a source of nourishment. You no longer collapse, because you’ve learned how to truly restore.
In the Supported series, we take this even deeper. Because the group is limited to just seven people, I can help tailor each pose to your body. You’ll receive extra guidance and hands-on support, something that isn’t possible in a regular group class. You’ll also learn how to set yourself up so you can carry this practice home, building the skill of supporting yourself in daily life. That’s how true nervous system safety and resilience are built—through repeated experiences of being supported, resourced, and restored.
This holiday season, I want to challenge you to consider yourself. Give yourself permission to pause, to receive as much as you give, and to soften into the experience of being held. Supported is your chance to practice that, in an intimate and deeply nourishing container.
The series begins this winter and is limited to seven participants.
Give yourself permission to be supported this holiday season.
If you’d like to start practicing now, I’d love to see you in class:
Sundays: Yin Relaxation, 7:45–9 pm (MLK)
Tuesdays: Restorative Nidra, 7:45–9 pm (MLK)
Thursdays: Restorative Yoga, 7:45–9 pm (TEL)
2nd Fridays: Nervous System Reset, 6:30-8 pm (MLK)
