Last week I talked about the physiological impact of chronic stress – how it can overstimulate the sympathetic nervous system and trigger a persistent state of fight or flight. And how some yoga poses can help counteract this reaction in the body.
I featured one of my favourite yoga poses that can trigger the opposite, parasympathetic nervous system – often called the rest and digest response.
There are many restorative yoga poses like this. They are gentle passive resting postures. Sometimes you feel a gentle stretch or release of tension, others work to calm the body and nervous system.
This week’s yoga pose is both calming and provides a stretch for the back.
You’ll need a couple of pillows or neatly folded firm blankets.
Caution: If you have spinal injuries either skip this pose or lie on the pillows on your side, with your arm under your head – do not twist.
How to do it:
- Stack the pillows or blankets in a long rectangle.
- Bring your right hip behind the pillows with a little space between the pillows and your hip.
- Use your hands either side of the pillows to gently twist your torso to face the pillows and then bring your belly and chest to lie down on the pillows.
- Your shoulders should not hunch up, so you may need to move your elbows out to the sides or slide your hands forward.
- Turn your head in the same direction as your knees. If you would like a stronger stretch for your neck, turn your head to the other side.
- You may need to experiment with the height of pillows until it’s perfectly comfortable.
- Let your knees and feet move to a place that is comfortable. They don’t have to be stacked on top of each other.
- To change sides, slide your hands in and press your chest and belly off the bolsters. Come to your knees, and then turn your knees to the other side, bring your left hip behind the bolsters and lie down.
- Again, try putting blanket over your body for extra calm.
- Rest about 2-3 minutes each.
