On days when dragging yourself out of bed is an epic feat, yoga can help you relax and coax your body into a better night’s sleep. These gentle yoga moves will help ease your back and hip pain, too.
This feel-good pose is perfect after a day spent parked at your desk and strengthens the ankles, legs, and core while stretching the shoulders and chest.
Cat-Cow
The Cat-Cow pose is a sequence of movement paired together to provide a strong front-body stretch from chin to pubic bone. When the movements are synchronized with breath, they help relieve stress and calm the mind.
Start in tabletop position on the mat, with shoulders stacked directly over wrists and knees hip-distance apart. Then exhale as you arch your back and lift your tailbone into Cow, and inhale as you round your spine and lower your head into Cat.
This dynamic movement increases coordination and intentional focus, as well as provides an energy boost that helps you feel rejuvenated throughout the day. A sitting form of this posture is also referred to as Chair Cat-Cow and is often practiced in yoga for seniors or those with neck, back or wrist issues.
Bridge Pose
The Bridge Pose strengthens your back muscles and improves posture, while stretching the chest and opening up the lungs for deeper breathing. It also stimulates the abdominal organs and helps reduce fatigue.
This pose is often used as a warm-up before more challenging yoga poses. It also helps prevent lower back pain and relieves tension in the neck and shoulders.
To perform the bridge pose, lie on your back with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees bent. Place your hands down at your sides, palms down on the mat. Inhale and push your hips up toward the ceiling.
Alternatively, you can use a block underneath your lifted hips for support. Avoid bridge pose if you have neck or shoulder injuries. Those with high blood pressure should also be cautious.
Lunge
Leg day can be daunting for some gym-goers, conjuring images of crushing, lower body-crushing weights like squats and deadlifts. But the lunge is one of the best moves for adding movement to your lower body workouts. And, depending on the variation you choose, it can target different muscles for more well-rounded results.
For instance, the curtsy lunge focuses on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius. Stand with your feet staggered, right foot in front of you and left foot behind you, and engage your core as you bend both knees to sink into a lunge (your right thigh should be parallel to the floor). Then, straighten both legs to push off and return to starting position. Repeat for reps or time as desired. You can even try it with a barbell for added challenge.
Child’s Pose
Child’s pose (balasana) is a relaxing and restorative posture that can be practiced in many different yoga styles. This forward-bending pose gently lengthens the spine and stretches the muscles in and around the shoulders, including the trapezius muscles, which help move and support the neck and upper back. This pose also helps to stretch the hip flexors and relaxes the lower abdominal area.
This soothing posture is a great way to release tension and calm the mind, especially after a difficult or strenuous sequence of poses. You can practice this pose as a standalone or use it to reset your body before the next challenging pose. This pose is also a good place to try out different variations of breathing exercises to amplify the benefits.
Happy Baby
Happy Baby Pose, or Ananda Balasana, is a calming hip opening pose that helps to relieve lower back pain and soothes the central nervous system. It also stretches the inner groins and spine, and strengthens the arms and shoulders.
To practice this posture, lie on the floor and bring your knees toward your chest at a 90-degree angle with the soles of the feet facing the ceiling. Grab the outside of each foot with your hands or loop a strap over each foot and shift the knees slightly wider than your armpits, rocking from side-to-side like a happy baby!
Practicing this posture at the beginning of class can help to warm up the back and hips before more intense poses such as Crow. It can also be used as a wind down at the end of class.