Dana Stewart seated cross-legged in a teal linen top, a calm half-smile
About Dana

Dana LouiseStewart

Yoga that takes your body seriously, and helps you actually heal, not just stretch through the pain.

Certified yoga instructor · psoas release, fascia therapy and somatic movement

Dana laughing warmly, looking off camera
The teacher

The physiotherapist who also does yoga

Dana Louise Stewart is a certified yoga instructor specialising in psoas release, fascia therapy and somatic movement. Think of her as the physiotherapist who also does yoga, someone who takes your body seriously and helps you actually heal, not just stretch through the pain.

Release & Restore grew from Bendy1, the warm community Dana built. This is the story underneath it.

Dana by a window with a mug and an open journal, reflective
The why

It did not begin on a good day

The Why Method did not arrive in a bright studio. It came through a deep dedication to her practice at a pivotal and genuinely dark time in Dana's life, when her soul could no longer put up with the way things were.

She was living with severe PTSD. Her body was fried and quietly shutting down. So she dug. She dug so deep that the only thing that could happen was exactly what did. She finally found out why. She found the key to unlocking the trauma and becoming the best version of herself.

Dana standing with a hand on her belly, eyes closed, breathing
Embodied knowledge

Embodied knowledge brings a true strength, like setting your soul on fire.

Dana demonstrating a kneeling hip release on a mat among plants and warm wood
A kneeling hip release, taught slowly and anatomically.
The method

A gift, then a method

As the name gifted to her by her father suggests, it is a Koha, a gift, one that unravelled when she trusted in God's way and never gave up. What she learned was not a set of stretches. It was a way of teaching the body to feel safe, to come out of survival mode, and to remember that a free, open body is its birthright.

She simplified that into a technique anyone can follow, one that teaches you to embody the knowledge rather than just believe it. There is a huge difference between the two, and that difference is the whole practice.

Close-up of Dana's hands resting on teal linen over the abdomen
Why she teaches

Because the relief was too good to keep

Because it worked. Because the relief she found was too good to keep. Release & Restore, and The Why Method within it, is how Dana shares that, gently, anatomically, and with a great deal of warmth.

Dana meditating in an airy studio with soft light and open space
The practice

A free, open body is its birthright. The practice is simply remembering that.

Dana seated, smiling warmly to camera in a bright studio
Start here

Start with the book.

The gentle way in. The same method, in your own time.

Start with the book · NZ$49