Restorative Yoga Practice – Poses for Depression

The following poses are intended to help you relieve some of your stress and help you feel more energetic.

Supta Baddha Konasana (Supported Bound Angle)

Setup:

1. Place a folded blanket at the base of the spine for support, and lie on your back.
2. Bring your knees and feet together to touch. Place a bolster at the outer thigh of each leg to support thighs and knees. Let your knees splay open and be supported by bolsters.
3. Extend your arms out to your sides, just lower than the heart.
4. Support your neck/head with a blanket.

Key Propping Areas:

• Legs: ensure that your legs are completely relaxed; you should not feel any muscular tension
• Shoulders: tuck your shoulders onto your back
• Neck/Head: support your neck/head with a blanket

Benefits of Supported Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle/Butterfly Pose):

• Nervous system body: balancing and energizing
• Emotional body: opens heart; good anti-depressant pose, also good for menstruation and menopause
• Physical body: relaxes due to leg support;reduces tension in adductors (inner groins) and quadriceps;  lowers blood pressure and heart rate

Contraindications:

• lower back injuries or stiffness
• meniscus or ligament injuries to knee
• spondylolisthesis or spondylolysis
• If you are more than 12 weeks pregnant

Supported Savasana (Corpse Pose)

Setup:

1. Lie on your back.
2. Place a bolster under your knees. If lower back pain is present, place the bolster under your hamstrings.
3. Extend your arms out to your sides, just lower than the heart.
4. Support your neck/head with a blanket.

Key Propping Areas:

• Legs: ensure that your legs are completely relaxed over the bolster; you should not feel any muscular tension
• Shoulders: tuck your shoulders onto your back
• Neck/Head: support your neck/head with a blanket

Benefits of Supported Savasana:

• Nervous system body: balancing and energizing
• Emotional body: opens heart; good anti-depressant pose
• Physical body: relaxes due to leg support; lowers blood pressure and heart rate

Contraindications:

• If you are more than 12 weeks pregnant

Supported Gentle Backbend

Setup:

1. Lie on your back.
2. Place a bolster under your knees. If lower back pain is present, place the bolster under your hamstrings.
3. Place a low blanket fold under the lower shoulder blades, ensuring that the shoulders ground down on the mat. The fold of the blanket should be at armpit level.
4. Extend your arms out to the sides, just lower than the heart. The arms can be placed above the blanket fold or can be tucked under the blanket fold.
5. Support your neck/head with a blanket.

Key Propping Areas:

• Legs: ensure that your legs are completely relaxed over the bolster; you should not feel any muscular tension
• Shoulders: ground your shoulders onto the mat
• Neck/Head: support your neck/head with a blanket

Benefits of Supported Gentle Backbend:

• Nervous system body: balancing and energizing
• Emotional body: opens heart; good anti-depressant pose
• Physical body: relaxes due to leg support; lowers blood pressure and heart rate

Contraindications:

• You are more than 12 weeks pregnant

Supported  Backbend

Setup:

1. Lie on your back.
2. Place a bolster under your knees. If lower back pain is present, place the bolster under your hamstrings.
3. Place a blanket folded lengthwise 3 times under the lower shoulder blades, ensuring that the shoulders ground down on the mat. The fold of the blanket should be at armpit level. Wrap the tails of the blanket around the body.
4. Extend your arms out to the sides, just lower than the heart.
5. Support your neck/head with a blanket.

Key Propping Areas:

• Legs: ensure that your legs are completely relaxed over the bolster; you should not feel any muscular tension
• Shoulders: ground your shoulders onto the mat
• Neck/Head: support your neck/head with a blanket

Benefits of Supported  Backbend:

• Nervous system body: balancing and energizing
• Emotional body: opens heart; good anti-depressant pose
• Physical body: relaxes due to leg support; lowers blood pressure and heart rate

Contraindications:

• You are more than 12 weeks pregnant

Gentle Inversion

Legs Extended Over Two Bolsters

Knees Bent

Setup:

1. Fold a blanket. Lie down on this blanket so that the ridge of the blanket lies along the bottom tips of your shoulders.
2. Legs can either be extended over two bolsters or bent with bolsters weighting the legs.
3. Use a folded blanket to support your neck/head.

Key Propping Areas:

• Lower back: if you feel lower back strain, rest with your knees bent, place your feet hip-width distance apart, place the soles of our feet on the mat, then rest knees together
• Shoulders: if your shoulders are extremely tight, blankets can be used to provide additional neck support
• Neck/Head: a folded blanket can be used to support your neck/head

Benefits of Gentle Inversion:

• Nervous system body: quieting and balancing
• Emotional body: uplifting and balancing
• Physical body: lowers tension in anterior body; lowers blood pressure and drains lymph; can reduce tension headaches

Contraindications:

• You have a detached retina or eye pressure issues
• You have spondylolisthesis or sphondylolysis

Supported Side-Lying Pose

Horizontally Extended Arm Vertically Extended Arm

Setup:

1. Lie on your right side, placing a bolster against your back.
2. Bend you legs. Place a blanket between your thighs to avoid compression of your hips.
3. Extend your bottom arm. Place a blanket under this arm.
4. Place another blanket under your head for neck/head support.
5. Rest a bolster so that the short end of the bolster is touching your belly. Make sure this bolster is parallel to your bottom arm. Extend your top arm over over this bolster.
6. Align your head with your shoulders and body.

Key Propping Areas:

• Top leg: place blankets between your top and bottom legs to support your hips
• Bottom arm: use a folded hand towel to support the wrist on your bottom arm, if necessary
• Top arm: use a bolster and blanket to support your top arm
• Neck/Head: use a folded blanket to support your neck/head

Benefits of Supported Side-Lying Pose:

• Nervous system body: calming to brain and nervous system
• Emotional body: comforting
• Physical body: good for lower back pain; stretches side muscles

Contraindications:

• If you are more than 12 weeks pregnant, do not practice this pose on your right side (you can practice this pose on your left side)
• Discontinue this pose is back pain is present

Viparita Karani (Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose)

Setup:

1. Align the short end of mat against the wall.
2. Place a folded blanket against the wall.
3. Lie down on your back and elevate your legs up the wall, ensuring the folded blanket is underneath your pelvis.
4. Support your neck/head with a blanket.
5. Your hands can be place on top of your belly or extended towards the wall.

Key Propping Areas:

• Pelvis: place a folded blanket under your pelvis, if necessary
• Neck/Head: use a folded blanket to support your neck/head

**Modified Viparita Karani  – practice the modified version of viparita karani if you have lower back pain or your hamstrings are tight

Setup:

1. Lie down on your back.
2. Bend your knees at a 90 degree angle and place calves on top of the bolsters.
3. Support your neck/head with a blanket.

Benefits of Viparita Karani:

• Nervous system body: quieting and relaxing; extremely good for insomnia
• Emotional body: calming and energizing
• Physical body: strong lymph drainage; lowers blood pressure; good for water retention

Contraindications:

• You have a detached retina or eye pressure issues
• You are pregnant