Three Yoga Restoratives That Can Help You Bounce Back Renewed and Refreshed

Find the time to add personal Yoga practice to your schedule today. Maybe you fit it in for 15 minutes here and there, in between scheduled classes, or you could block out larger chunks of time a few times per week. Create a schedule that works for you, and stick with it. Restoratives are yoga poses that help you relax and regain your energy reserves. Often you can rejuvenate with these gentle postures and feel refreshed enough to continue your day. Since many restoratives are reclining yoga poses that last from four to twenty minutes you can include them in your daily activities on your lunch break, at the park, or even shut your office door at work and practice one or two between phone calls.

First let's review Corpse pose (Savanna), a relaxing, restorative pose often used at the end of many yoga classes. In Corpse posture you are simply and effortlessly laying with your back on your mat. Allow yourself to sink into the mat relaxing without effort. When you realize that you have tension such as tightening your leg or hip set your intention to release it. Notice your holding patterns then melt into them. Some days it is easier to relax into it than on other days. A second restorative posture Lying Down Hero (Supta Virasana) can help you lengthen while you renew your energy reserves. Reclining Hero can lengthen your abdominal muscles. If you have concerns about your knees this pose may work for you or not. Test it. Adjust your props. Don't do it if it causes pain. It is your responsibility to trust what yoga poses work best for you and protect yourself.

Leaning back on your elbows may make the pose easier for you to accomplish. Notice how far you can lay back then use bolsters or build bolsters with folded blankets to achieve this pose. The goal is to find a level of comfort to ease into the pose for up to 20 minutes. A third restorative, most often called Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani) is simple. You need a wall. Or, if you don't have a wall you can put your legs up on a chair. This restorative can help take pressure off your legs while redirecting the blood flow to help with varicose veins. Some people like to put a bolster or two parallel to the wall with the short end under their pelvis. Some people don't. Test it and see what's most comfortable for you.

Corpse Pose, Reclining Hero Pose, and Legs Up the Wall are three restorative poses that can help you relax and recover your energy to get you back on track to achieve your daily goals. Being a gymnast is not required to do theses poses. Perhaps, you've naturally been doing legs up the wall throughout your life, not even knowing it was a yoga pose and that you were doing yoga. It just made you feel better. Yoga restoratives really make you feel better. Relax and enjoy while being comforted doing your restoratives.