8 Surprising Benefits from This One Easy Restorative Yoga Pose
One of my favorite restorative yoga poses is Supported Child’s Pose! This restorative pose allows you to stay in it for a bit longer than the version without props, and provides all the amazing benefits of the more athletic version without any discomfort.
One of my favorite restorative yoga poses is Supported Child’s Pose!
This restorative pose allows you to stay in it for a bit longer than the version without props, and provides all the amazing benefits of the more athletic version without any discomfort.
Some benefits of Child’s Pose:
Gentle stretching of the hips, thighs, and ankles
Stress and anxiety relief
Relieves fatigue
Regulates the nervous system (To learn more about your nervous system in general, click here.)
Improves mental focus
Supports the belly, heart and head
Relieves back pain
Relaxes the muscles onn the front of the body
Passively and gently stretches the muscles on the back of the body
To get into this pose, follow these steps:
Set up your bolster or stack of blankets on the floor in front of you.
Come onto your knees with your big toes together and knees wide apart behind your bolster.
Straddle your bolster. If this isn’t comfortable on your knees, you can place another blanket or rolled towel in the crease between your calves and thighs. If this is uncomfortable on your ankles, place a rolled towel underneath your ankles so that your feet drape over the towel.
Drape you torso over the bolster and rest your head on one side. The pose should start out completely comfortable so make sure you tuck a towel underneath the side of your head or face if you feel any tension in your neck.
If your shoulders and hips are not in the same plane, add another folded blanket on top of the bolster to add height.
Rest your elbows on the floor. If they don’t rest comfortably, place additional towels or pillows underneath your arms and hands.
Rest in supported Child’s pose for 2-3 minutes and then turn your head to face in the other direction for another 2-3 minutes.
Before you come out of the pose completely, rest your forehead on the bolster in neutral position for a few moments.
Enjoy this pose whenever you feel stressed or need to rest your back.
And while you’re here, grab your FREE “Calm your Stress” audio recording of a gentle exercise to do right before bed so that you fall asleep easily!
Here's How to Up Your Self Care Game with This Simple Pose
Are you feeling tight in your legs, hips or back? Do you feet hurt? Maybe you pushed a bit too hard on that run or sat at your desk longer than usual.
Are you feeling tight in your legs, hips or back? Do you feet hurt?
Maybe you pushed a bit too hard on that run or sat at your desk longer than usual.
In any case, if you’re feeling tight and achy in your legs, seat or back, here’s a simple and classic yoga pose called Viparita Karani (or “Legs up the wall”) to restore your body in 20 minutes.
To learn more about what “self care” really means, and how to tailor some practices for your own life based on what is truly meaningful for you, click here to read “What Is Self Care? How to Prioritize Your Wellbeing in Daily Life.”
To get into this pose, follow these steps:
Sit with your right side against the wall, with bent knees and your feet drawn in toward your hips.
Swing your legs up against the wall as you turn your torso to lie flat on your back.
Place your hips against the wall or slightly away. If your hamstrings are a bit tighter, move away from the wall and allow your knees to bend. You can place a pillow between your knees and the wall so your knees don’t hyperextend.
Place your arms in any comfortable position. (They can be on your belly, or one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly. Or both arms can be on the floor.)
You can use an eye pillow if you like.
Now here's the difficult part: just lie there — maybe listen to music or a podcast — but stay there for at least 15-20 minutes to allow gravity to work and allow your muscles and joints to relax.
To release the pose, gently push yourself away from the wall.
Relax on your back for a few moments.
Draw your knees into your chest and roll onto your right side. Rest for a few moments before slowly moving into an upright position.
Some benefits of the Legs-Up-the-Wall are to:
relax your mind
regulate your nervous system
relieve leg and feet cramps
improve circulation
promote lymph flow
manage varicose veins
relieve headaches or migraines
increase energy
As with any yoga pose, there may be some contraindications. Check with your health care provider if you have hypertension, glaucoma or hernias. You may want to avoid inversions if you are on your menstrual cycle.
And that's it! Do this a few times a week to allow your body to rest and recover. If you’re traveling and doing a lot of walking, do this when you return back to your Airbnb or hotel room, before going out for dinner!
For added relaxation, grab your FREE “Calm your Stress” audio recording here!
How to Relax Your Back and Relieve Stress with Blanket Roll Practice
This is a daily practice to help release all the muscles along your spine, as well as head and neck. It balances working out, sitting at a desk for hours, standing, being stressed and holding tension in neck, shoulders, and lower back.
This is a daily practice to help release all the muscles along your spine, as well as your head and neck, pelvis and legs. It balances working out, sitting at a desk for hours, standing, being stressed and holding tension in neck, shoulders, and lower back.
If you suffer from chronic pain that includes back, neck, shoulders, jaw, pelvis… this simple self care practice is designed to help you! To learn more about how to personalize your own self care practice, click here.
During this practice, I recommend that you give your arms, hands and eyes a rest from scrolling on your phone. Listen to your favorite relaxing podcast or music, or simply clear your mind. Use the time to relax.
Try it each evening for 15 minutes for 3 weeks and see what you notice. You can use this during the day to restore yourself or at home before bed.
Roll a dense blanket up so that it is the length of your head/torso and lay it on the floor perpendicular to a chair or couch. Make certain your entire head and pelvis fit on the roll. (The roll does not have to be large. It is simply a reference point for your spine. Do NOT use a foam roller. A yoga blanket is perfect.)
Place two bed pillows on the floor close to blanket roll for your arms and shoulders.
Lie down on the roll so that your head and tailbone are on the roll. Rest your lower legs (calves) on the couch or a chair. (Your knees should be at a 90 degree angle, parallel to the sofa; your feet are neither lower or higher than your knees.)
Rest your shoulders and arms on the pillows. Push the pillows close to your spine/the blanket roll so that your shoulders are fully supported.
Optional: place a small rolled up wash cloth underneath your neck (not as a pillow, but as a support for your cervical spine only). The towel roll should “kiss” your neck, not lift it— simply touch it so that your neck muscles can relax and feel supported.
Imagine that all the muscles of your entire back body are "draped" over the blanket roll.
When you are ready to come out of this resting pose, roll to the side and remove the blanket roll, then lie flat for a few minutes on the floor and notice the how your back feels on the floor. Do you feel flatter? Wider? Does your back feel as if it’s “spreading” onto the floor?
This is the feeling of relaxed muscles that are not in contraction.
The more you practice this, you will prime your brain. And the more quickly your muscles will release.
Enjoy!