Calm Down... Do Some Yoga!

People come to yoga for many different reasons, some to increase energy levels, some for time away from life, some to increase mobility and flexibility, and some for the spiritual effects that a yoga practice can offer.

However, for some, they come to yoga to find calmness, maybe when they’re going through a particularly anxious or stressful time. Allowing ourselves to be present in each moment can really quiet the monkey mind and make people feel lighter and generally happier.

A lot of the time our minds will wonder throughout a yoga practice, so we use the breath to guide us back to each present moment, but also in and out of postures. Breathing fully can calm the nervous system, and in yoga this is encouraged through the practice moving through the asanas/postures on a breath.

If we’re looking to bring even more calmness into our practice, we can incorporate pranayama and meditation, create intentions

For a physically calming practice we can utilise certain asanas/postures that can also create calming energy physically in the body.

Crocodile Pose - This prone posture can be incredibly calming. As the student is lying flat on the belly there isn’t really any opportunity to hold any tension in the front of the body. Resting the forehead onto the hands which are overlapping at the top of the mat, closing the eyes - a time for finding the breath or coming back to it.

Childs Pose - This resting posture can be done in a few different ways and reap different rewards. From a kneeling position, we can have the knees as wide as the mat with the big toes touching, allow the body and forehead to rest down towards and onto the mat, reaching the arms out in front of you. This allows the hips to open, heart space to open, warms the hips, and works into the side body and shoulders. Alternatively, from a kneeling position bring the knees together, allow the upper body to rest over the thighs, forehead to the mat or a block, and arms release and rest behind. This time allowing the shoulders to hang heavy and relax, and area where a lot of tension can be found. 

Reclined Bound Angle Pose - This reclined posture is a wonderful way to gently open the hips without any real load. From a reclined position, place the feet on the mat, then bring the soles of the feet together and allow the knees to fall away from the body. The arms can rest by the side of the body, or hands to the belly for an opportunity to cultivate some breath awareness, or overhead maybe taking hold of opposite elbow, to create some space over the heart space and warm the shoulders. 

Calming Yoga Sequence For You

So, if we were looking to create a calming class and introduce these postures, what other postures would work well here? We’ve started working the hips and the heart space, so some other postures that would work well with those areas and our calming theme would be:

Cat/Cow Pose - flowing with the breath, leaves little time for the mind to wonder.

Sphinx Pose - gentle way to open the heart space a little more and work the back body a little deeper.

Low Lunge Pose - lovey way to continue working the hips and start to move into the quadriceps without much load.

Cactus Arms Pose - can be incorporated into seated, standing or even in those low lunges above to open the heart space again and warm the shoulders.

Thread the Needle Pose - nice for continuing to warm the shoulders.

So, if we were going to put these into a short calming flow, something people could do first thing in the morning we need to sequence them together - here’s some options below.

Option 1 - Crocodile Childs pose Cat/Cow Thread the Needle Tabletop Low Lunge with cactus arms Tabletop Low Lunge with cactus arms  Tabletop Sphinx Childs Pose Reclined Bound Angle 

Option 2 - Reclined Bound Angle Easy seat with cactus arms Cat/Cow Thread the Needle Tabletop Low Lunge Tabletop Low Lunge Tabletop Sphinx Childs Pose Crocodile 

Option 3 - Easy Seat East Seat with cactus arms Childs Pose

Tabletop Low Lunge Tabletop Low Lunge Tabletop Thread the Needle Cat/Cow Sphinx Crocodile Reclined Bound Angle 

Want to know more?

If you’d like to know more about sequencing and postures in general, we have modules within our 200hr and 300hr training courses and the combined 500hr. You can view the full course syllabuses on our website www.yogacourse.com