Yoga: Meditation, mindfulness and exercise - all at once
Take the edge off with some calming yoga poses.
A simple yoga sequence practised daily can make a big difference to how you feel mentally. Yoga can help you calm down when you’re feeling a bit edgy, and can also give you a boost when you’re feeling down or low on energy.
Yoga works in a different way to a vigorous physical fitness workout because it slows you down, gets you to connect with how you’re feeling and settles your nerves. It helps you to recognise what’s happening with your emotions. It’s as much a mind thing as it is a body thing.
The following poses have a calming effect on your nervous system and also help to boost your immunity and respiratory health. Depending on what has been going on for you and where you’re at, different things can happen when you practice a yoga sequence like this. You might feel chilled out, smooth and settled or you might just notice that you’re agitated, anxious, and thinking a lot. Your mind might feel like a washing machine or it might feel smooth. It’s all good and just because you don’t feel relaxed while you are doing it doesn’t mean it isn’t working.
The first step in calming down is realising when you are not feeling calm. The most important thing is to carefully observe exactly what is happening in your mind and body — how that changes as you practice the sequence but also how it changes day to day as the environment both inside and outside you changes.
Calming Yoga Sequence
Stay in each pose for a few minutes. You can start with shorter times and build up to longer as your body gets used to the shapes.
Make sure you’re warm and comfortable — do some of the poses lying on your bed if the floor is too cold and get creative with what you can use. You can roll up clothing and use your bedding or anything else you have around.
Focus on the physical sensations in your body for each pose and notice your breath.
Bound Angle Pose
(Supta Baddha Konasana)
Lie on your back, knees wide and press your feet together
Put a rolled towel/pillow under your head
Roll up a top or a towel and hook it under your feet and over your thighs to pull the feet in towards you (you can then let go and extend your arms out to the side)
Slow down your breath. Keep feet pressed together, soften the inner thighs and let your knees move towards the floor. Stay in this position for 2–3 minutes, focusing on your breath.
Child’s Pose
(Virasana variation)
Big toes close together, knees wide
Roll up a blanket or towel and put it between your heels and buttocks
Press shins into the floor or bed
Extend forward from the hips so that your back doesn’t curve and lie on top of a folded pillow or blankets
Work the legs and let the torso and arms relax
Slow down your breath and feel the sensation of the breath moving inside your chest and abdomen
Stay in position for about 5 minutes.
Downward Dog Pose
(Supported Adho Mukkha Swanasana)
For this pose, you’ll need to grab onto something sturdy such as a chair or a bedrail. You also need to be able to rest your head on something (e.g. a pillow). Put the chair against the wall or bed if it’s likely to slide
Put a rolled up blanket/towel under your heels so your legs can work better
Press hands into the chair/rail floor and lift chest away from the hands
Draw the shoulder blades into the back
Press feet into floor to work the legs and press front thighs back
Let the head totally rest
Start by holding for 2 minutes, then build up your time.
Backbend off edge of bed/table (5 mins)
Use the edge of your bed or a table/bench
If it’s a hard wooden or metal edge, put a blanket over it
Slide off the edge so it’s pressing into your upper back and your chest feels open
Support your head with your hands if your neck feels uncomfortable.
Legs up the wall
(Viparita Karani)
You can do this on your bed if it’s a lower bunk or if you’ve got room to extend your legs up straight.
Butt and back thighs touching wall
Pull a beanie over your eyes or use something else to cover them
Relax your legs especially the thighs
Slow your breath down
Bend knees into chest and roll sideways to get in and come out of this one
If your hamstrings are really tight and you can’t put your legs straight up the wall then you can lie on the floor with bent legs and the backs of the calves on the chair.
“How does yoga work?
When you experience a stress response (fight or flight), your body releases stress hormones and a burst of energy that prepares us to deal with a threat (to fight or to run away). Often, it’s a not a physical threat that triggers this response — it can be your own thoughts and worries or situations with other people that stress you out.
The relaxation response is the opposite response that returns you to a normal state. When you keep getting stressed without the relaxation response happening it can become chronic stress. This can have a bad effect on your immune system and your mood.
Yoga is something that can cause the relaxation response to happen. It can have an instant effect on your mood but when you do it regularly it really starts to pay off. It becomes a healthy habit that makes you better at dealing with stress. Give it a try — you’ve got nothing to lose. ”