Featured Sequence: Easy Supported Inverted Poses

by Nina

In my post yesterday Depression May Be Caused by Inflammation, I extolled the value of supported inverted poses for reducing stress, especially for people with depression or others who find it difficult to focus internally. I’ve been writing about this special group of poses since the early days of the blog because I’ve found that using supported inverted poses for stress management is one of easiest ways to calm yourself down because all you have to do is set yourself in the pose and stay there for a while. The shape of the pose itself causes the baroreceptors to work their magic (see Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors). I even wrote a post that described all the supported inverted poses (see All About Supported Inverted Poses).

I realized yesterday that it was was about time I provided you with a simple, accessible sequence that warms you up for doing these poses and moves you gradually into a gentle, full inversion. So here it is! This sequence is suitable for almost everyone, but if you have high blood pressure, back problems, eye problems, or are pregnant, please see Cautions for Inversions. 

Easy Supported Inversion Sequence  

1. Reclined Leg Stretch Series (Supta Padangusthasana). This series of reclined stretches opens your hips and stretches the backs of your legs. These are perfect starting poses for just about any practice, but are especially good for preparing you for the partial inversions, which are different types of standing forward bends. See http://yogaforhealthyaging.blogspot.com/2012/01/reclined-leg-stretch-sequence.html for full instructions. Stay in the pose for 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes per side.   

2. Reclined Arms Overhead pose (Supta Urdva Hastasana). This pose is an excellent shoulder opener (see Opening Tight Shoulders http://yogaforhealthyaging.blogspot.com/2013/06/featured-sequence-opening-tight.htmlfor other ideas), preparing you for the Downward-Facing Dog poses that come next.

Start by taking your strap and making a loop that is about the same width as your shoulders and placing a block on the floor next to you. Then lie down on your back, with bent knees and soles of the feet on the floor. Place the strap over your arms just beyond your elbow joints towards your hands. Then press out against the strap as you pick up the block between your hands and firm your hands against the ends of the block. You may have to make the loop bigger or smaller to keep your arms straight as you press on the block. Then, slowly take your arms up and overhead, heading towards the wall behind you. If your thumbs don’t touch the floor without bending your elbows, put a lift of some sort, such as a folded blanket, under your hands. At this point, you can straighten your legs into Mountain pose position, keeping them active and strong. Stay in the pose for 1 to 3 minutes.

To come out of the pose, bend your knees and place the soles of your feet on the floor, and then bring your arms (and the block) back to your starting position.  

3. Half Downward-Facing Dog Pose at the Wall (Arda Adho Mukha Svanasana). This pose continues opening your shoulders, and stretches your arms, backs, hips and legs, preparing you for the full Downward-Facing Dog and standing forward bends to come.

Start by standing about 1 foot away from a wall, facing toward it. Place your hands on the wall so they are at either at shoulder height for less flexible people or anywhere below shoulder height down to elbow height for more flexible people. Then, bend your knees a bit, press your hands firmly into the wall, and slowly walk your feet away from the wall. Keeping your hips positioned over your feet, gradually walk out until your arms are straight and form a long line with your torso and belly. Push your arms strongly towards the wall, while creating an upward lift from your knees to your hips. You can gradually straighten your knees as long as it doesn't cause pain in your lower back. See Half-Dog Pose at the Wall for more info. Stay for about 1 minutes. 

4. Supported Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana). This is a surprisingly soothing pose when you use support for your head. But you must use a prop that is high enough (try a bolster) and be careful to place the prop in the right position (below where your head naturally falls in the pose, and not so you need to move forward—or bend your arms—to rest your forehead on the prop). If your shoulders and/or hamstrings are very tight, this pose can be physically demanding and not quieting. However, it’s still a great warm up pose for other inversions, as it opens your hips, legs, and shoulders while getting you used to being partly upside down.

Before going into the pose, place the prop on your mat several inches behind your hands, not between your hands. Then, when you come into Downward-Facing Dog, allow your head to relax down toward the ground. If your head touches the prop, that’s great. If it doesn’t, move the prop, not your head! And if moving the prop doesn’t work, come out of the pose and find a higher prop (or stack a couple of blocks). When you get set up, if you can rest your forehead on the prop, try to gently tug your forehead skin down toward your eyebrows. Stay for 1 to 3 minutes. 

5. Supported Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana).  This pose is surprisingly quieting if you find a prop that is high enough so you can do the pose without feeling an uncomfortable stretch in your hamstrings. Very flexible people can rest the crown of the head on a single block set up on its tallest side. Moderately flexible people will have to stack two blocks, one flat and the other on its narrow end. Less flexible people should use a chair (which is actually lower that two blocks stacked end to end, not to mention more stable). Be honest with yourself and use a chair if necessary (or even if it's not). However, if you are very tight and can’t bend your body to 90 degrees in a seated forward bend, you may not be able to get comfortable in this pose, so feel free to skip the pose.

As you come into the forward bend, keep your legs strong and focus on moving from your hip joints, not rounding your back. If you are using a chair, have the chair far enough away from you so you can keep your back as straight as possible and, as you rest your forehead on your folded arms, try gently tugging your forehead skin down toward your eyebrows. Stay in the pose 1 to 3 minutes. 

6. Supported Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana). This pose feels more grounding than quieting to me because it’s so demanding on the hips and legs. But for people whose hips are more open than their hamstrings, this may be more accessible than Standing Forward Bend. Very flexible people who can get the crown of the head to the floor can simply practice this pose as usual. Less flexible people will need to use a block or even a chair to support their heads. As you come into the pose, focus on moving from your hip joints rather than rounding your back. And, as in Supported Downward-Facing Dog, make sure you move the prop to support your head where it naturally falls in the pose (don’t move your head reach the prop). Be honest with yourself and use a chair if necessary (or even if it's not). Stay in the pose 1 to 3 minutes. 

7. Easy Inverted Pose. Because your legs are inverted as well as your heart in this pose, the pose is very quieting. And I’ve never been unable to help a student be comfortable in this pose! If two folded blankets is irritating to your lower back, try just one and make sure your tailbone and buttocks are fully supported by the blanket (and are not tilting into a backbend). Having the support under your pelvis is what makes your heart slightly higher than your head, so see if you can find a way to make it work. See Easy Inverted Pose for information. Stay in the pose 5 to 15 minutes.

By the way, if you are comfortable practicing Headstand, Shoulderstand, and Plow pose, you could at this point, skip Easy Inverted pose and practice Headstand at the wall, Shoulderstand on a Chair, and Plow pose on a Chair. See All About Supported Inverted Poses for info on these poses.

8. Supported Bridge Pose with Straight Legs (Setubandha Sarvangasana). This pose is special because (if this pose is comfortable for you) you can stay in this pose for a very long period of time. People with lower back problems sometimes have a hard time getting comfortable in the pose, but lowering the propping (by using two folded blankets instead of a bolster under your torso) can help.

Before going into the pose, set up a prop up (bolster, folded blankets or blocks) at the base of a wall to support your feet and another second prop (bolster or folded blankets) perpendicular to the wall to support your torso. Make sure the prop at the wall is at least as high as the prop for your torso (you don’t want your feet dropping lower than your hips). You’ll have to estimate based on your height how far the second prop is from the first one. 

Then, as you move from sitting on the second prop to a reclined position with straight legs, make sure that while the tips of your shoulder blades are supported by the prop, both the back of your head AND your shoulders are off the prop and are firmly touching the floor (place a think blanket or mat there for your head if you like). This is very important because you don’t want your shoulders and/or head hanging in mid-air, causing you to back-bend your neck. If this is happening to you, grit your teeth and come out of the pose and move the prop supporting your torso closer to the wall. Stay in the pose at least 5 minutes or as long as you like. 

9. Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani). This pose has a very dramatic quieting effect because your legs are inverted in this pose as well as your head and heart. I notice the relaxation response kicking in after about seven or eight minutes. However, I’ve observed that people with very tight hamstrings have trouble getting comfortable in Legs Up the Wall pose. If you have this problem, experiment by doing the pose slightly further from the wall, with a bolster in a vertical position supporting your legs. See Legs Up the Wall Pose for instructions. Stay in the pose for 5 to 20 minutes.

If you are pressed for time, you could always skip some of the poses, but do the remaining poses in the same order as they are in this sequence. And if you try this sequence at home or teach it to your students, I'd love to hear back from you.

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Featured Sequence: Inverted Heart Health Practice

by Baxter

Last week, I shared with you a dynamic sequence for Cardiovascular Health. This week, I’d like to focus on the inverted yoga poses that can have some beneficial effects on overall heart health. Inverted poses come in different shapes and sizes; some are full inversions, such as supported Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani), while others are partial inversions, such as Downward-Facing Dog pose, in which your body is inverted from your hips to your head but your legs are in their normal relationship to gravity.

Inversions can have several immediate and long-term influences on your heart and circulatory system. If an inversion is physically challenging or held for a long time with lots of muscular effort involved, such as a three-minute Downward-Facing Dog pose, this can have a stimulating effect on your heart, increasing the heart’s workload and essentially exercising the heart muscle more than when it is resting. Inversions can also assist in the return of the blood in the veins back to your heart. The veins rely on the back pressure of blood coming out of the capillaries (which may not be particularly strong), the muscle tone in the walls of the veins (which is much less then an arteries), and one-way valves inside the veins that encourage blood to move toward the heart and not backflow towards the gravity-dependent parts of your legs and arms. As we get older, some of those valves fail and stop working properly, which can result in varicose veins. Regular exercises, such as yoga and even walking, help somewhat by contracting and relaxing the skeletal muscles of the extremities to create a kind of pumping action on your veins to keep the blood moving in the right direction. Inversions put your body in a position to take advantage of gravity to assist in venous return to your heart—you flip upside down and gravity pulls the blood back toward your heart and head!

Inversions can also have a quieting effect on your nervous system, encouraging a shift from Fight or Flight mode to Rest and Digest mode. This feeds back to your cardiovascular system, allowing it to quiet and rest by lowering your blood pressure, slowing your heart rate and promoting good variability in your heart rhythm moment by moment. This quieting effect occurs when inversions are done with less effort and held for longer periods of time, such as Legs Up the Wall pose practiced for 5-10 minutes. We have written about the baroreceptors in the neck and heart before, so if you want to bone up on how inversions affect the heart system, check out Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors. As I am pretty sure I have said before, your heart muscle needs both exercise and rest, so a good combination of effort and relaxation in your practice will give your heart a more balanced experience.  

If you have a new diagnosis of high blood pressure, especially if it is not yet under good control, or already have developed some form of heart disease, this practice is likely not for you. Having said that, there are exceptions to this caution, in particular if you are working with an experienced teacher who knows your health history and can guide you into inversions gradually. 

And for additional ideas on supported inversions, check out Nina’s post from a while back: All About Supported Inversions.

Inverted Heart Health Practice:

1. Reclined Leg Stretch 1 (Supta Padangusthasana 1): Although we often think of this pose for opening your hips and hamstrings, it is a partial inversion, so I thought it a good place to start today! We will stick to version 1 only today, as it involves keeping the top leg more vertical. 

Lying on your back, bring your right knee into your chest and place the strap around the arch of your right foot. Extend your leg towards vertical (getting vertical depends on your unique muscle and joint challenges). Push out along the line of your leg bones towards your heels, and pull back towards your hip via the strap. Gradually work your towards 90 seconds in the pose. Repeat on the other side. 

See Featured Pose: Reclined Leg Stretch Sequence for more information.

2. Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana): This pose opens your back buttock muscles and hamstrings, as well as the back calf muscles, but it is also a partial inversion from your hips to your head. From Mountain pose (Tadasana), you might warm up for full Standing Forward Bend by inhaling your arms overhead, exhaling into Standing Forward Bend (maybe keeping your knees a bit bent the first few times), inhaling up to Arms Overhead pose (Urdva Hastanana), and exhaling back to Mountain pose. Then, when you have warmed up a bit, on an exhalation, come into a full forward bend and stay for up to 90 seconds. If you are super tight, keep a slight bend in your knees. If your hands don’t easily come to the floor, place them on blocks or have a chair seat in front of you and rest your forearms on the chair seat. If you have osteoporosis, you may want to skip this inversion. Come up on an inhalation.

3. Widespread Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana): Starting in Mountain Pose, step your feet wide apart, somewhere between 3 and 4 feet, depending on your build. Keeping your feet parallel, bring your hands to your hips, and on an exhalation, tip forward and down from your hip joints. Bring your fingertips to the floor, in line with your shoulders, and lengthen your spine. Then, if you can, bend your elbows and walk your hands back so they are in line with your toes and shoulder-width apart. (If you are very tight in the hips and hamstrings and can’t touch the floor, support your hands on blocks.) Release your head and neck so that, if possible, the crown of your head points down toward the floor or rests lightly on it.

The supported version of this pose, where you rest your head on a chair, a block, or the floor, can be more quieting to the heart and nervous system, so try that if your flexibility allows.

The more support you use, the more quieting the pose, the less support and longer you hold the pose the stimulating the pose: you get to decide how you want to practice each pose in the sequence.If you have osteoporosis, exercise the same caution described above for Standing Forward Bend. 

4. Downward-Facing Dog Pose (Adho Muka Svanasana): Come down to hands and knees, turn your toes under and lift up into Downward-Facing Dog pose. If you are feeling tight, take the first couple of breaths to move into the pose releasing tension and preparing to hold the pose in a quieter way. Once you become more still in the pose, you again will need to decide whether to stay for a shorter or longer period of time. 

The supported variation of Downward-Facing Dog pose that Nina shows in her post All About Supported Inverted Poses can be more quieting for your nervous system, and by extension, your heart. But I find you have to be very mindful to rest your head lightly on the support and not push it down like an extra hand. And you will likely need to use a higher prop than Nina.

Our post on Downward-Facing Dog Pose Variations can give you ideas for other versions of this popular modern pose to keep your sequence interesting! After you come down, you might spend a minute or so in Child’s Pose before moving onto the next poses that involve a bit of back bending. 

5. Active and Supported Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha): Come into Constructive Rest position (on your back with knees bent and heels about four inches from your hips), and establish the normal, slightly arched shape of your lumbar spine. Then lift your hips straight up as you push down into your feet, like an elevator going up a few floors, maintaining the neutral arch of the lower back. Once in Bridge pose, bring some focus to your arms. Press the upper back of your upper arms (right where your arms meets your shoulders) firmly down into the floor while actively lifting the lower tip of your breast bone up to the sky. 

In the full, active Bridge Pose, you are essentially inverted from your knees to your head. Stay for 15-30 seconds. To come down, lower your hips straight down, like an elevator returning to the lobby floor. Rest for a moment and consider repeating one more time. Then, come up again and place a block under your hips at the height that feels best for you. Since you will be allowing your pelvis to rest on the block, this version of bridge in much more restorative in quality, so you could easily hang out in for a while, possibly for several minutes. 

Another alternative is one of Nina’s favorites, Supported Bridge pose with Straight Legs. 

Use caution in Bridge pose if you have any neck issues, especially arthritis or disc disease in the neck.

6. Legs Up the Wall (Vipariti Karani): See Featured Pose: Legs Up the Wall Pose for instructions. If your body permits it, try to use one or two blankets under your pelvis, or, even more effective, a bolster. This will support more of your body in the inverted position. If you set yourself up well, this pose is usually easy to hang out in for anywhere from 5-20 minutes.

For those with more advanced practices, you could consider substituting Shoulderstand, either chair version (see Chair Shoulderstand) or full version. 

7. Corpse Pose (Savasana) of your choice: See Corpse Pose Variations for options. I will sometimes end my practice with Legs Up the Wall pose, but there is something to be said for doing the inversion-neutral Corpse Pose, where you are neither upright or upside down. So take 5 to 10 minutes to rest or ready yourself for what follows in your day. I’d recommend bringing your attention to the heart area of your chest as you also keep some of your awareness on the easy flow of your breath. 

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Lowering Your Blood Pressure

by Nina

If you have high blood pressure—or even high blood pressure that is being controlled with medication as Timothy wrote yesterday—there are certain anti-stress poses that you should not be doing. Although inverted poses can lower blood pressure due to the interaction between your baroreceptors and your nervous system (see Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors), going upside down initially raises your blood pressure before feedback from the baroreceptors to the nervous system causes the Relaxation Response to kick in. This initial rise in blood pressure is why the poses are considered dangerous for those whose blood pressure is already high (and perhaps for those whose blood pressure is being controlled with medication as Timothy wrote in Keeping Yoga Safe for People with High Blood Pressure), because there is concern it could cause a stroke.

Timothy didn’t list exactly which inverted poses besides Headstand that people with high or even controlled high blood should be avoiding, so I decided to talk with Baxter about the topic in order to list them out for you. The good news is that Baxter considers three of the most effective stress-reducing inversions to be generally safe. I’ve divided the inverted poses into same three groups I used in my post All About Supported Inversions. So here goes:

Full Inversions: Poses to Avoid

• Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana)
• Forearm Balance (Pincha Mayurasana)
• Scorpion (Vrschikasana)
• Headstand (Sirsasana)
• Shoulderstand (Sarvagasana), including the chair version
• Plow (Halasana), including the chair/bench version

Because you are fully inverted in these poses, the blood quickly rushes toward your head, initially raising your blood pressure. In addition, most of these poses are stressful to perform, especially for beginners, and the stress itself can raise your blood pressure.

Half Inversions: Poses to Evaluate

• Downward-Facing Dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
• Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), with or without support
• Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana)

Poses where your head and torso are inverted but your legs not, such as Standing Forward Bend, are probably safe. But Baxter recommends that you ask your teacher to look at you while you are doing the poses. The same questions about how you look in the pose that Timothy listed yesterday would be helpful for assessing the suitability of these poses for you or, if you’re a teacher, for your student.

“Does the student appear to have the strength and flexibility to do the pose safely? How is their breathing in the pose? Do they look uncomfortable? Are they able to maintain a healthy curve in the neck? Are their neck veins bulging? How do they say they feel in the pose? It is even possible, if you've got a blood pressure device, to measure the pressure to make sure it isn't spiking in the pose or poses you're concerned about.”

If the pose is difficult or stressful for you, you may want to exclude it from your practice. If you decide to exclude these poses, you can practice Half Downward-Facing Dog pose at the Wall instead.

Gentle Inversions: Poses that are Generally Safe

• Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani)
• Easy Inverted pose (Viparita Karani with bent legs)
• Supported Straight Leg Bridge pose (Setubanda Sarvangasana)

According to Baxter, gentle inversions where your heart is only slightly higher than your head and your body slopes gradually down, such as Legs Up the Wall pose, do not seem to cause an initial rise in blood pressure (he has done some informal testing). Therefore, he feels comfortable in saying they are generally safe. One caveat might be that if your blood pressure is wildly out of control, it might make sense for you to do a different type of practice for stress reduction (see below).

Safe Ways to Lower Blood Pressure

Remember, there is no need for you to do any inverted poses! If you are at all concerned about going upside down, you can choose from several other very effective and safe techniques for lowering your blood pressure. Any yoga or meditation technique that triggers the Relaxation Response (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga) will lower your blood pressure (this was proven in the 70s by Dr. Herbert Bensen and described in his book The Relaxation Response, which I highly recommend). Probably the easiest thing to do is just to sit quietly and observe your breath or recite a mantra. But you can practice any form of mediation, practice Yoga Nidra, any guided Savasana, or any form of Relaxation pose (Savasana) with a mental focus. You could also practice your favorite restorative poses (see Mini Restorative Practice, also with a mental focus. Just be sure to take a non-judgmental attitude toward your practice, give yourself at least 10 to 20 minutes of practice, as it takes a while for the Relaxation Response to kick in, and don’t fall asleep (sleeping is different than conscious relaxation).

All of these options are wonderful for anyone who experiences “situational” high blood pressure (when getting stressed out or angry causes... well, you know!) And practicing conscious relaxation on a regular basis will also enhance your health in the short term (bolstering your immune system) and the long term (helping to prevent heart disease, strokes, and other diseases of aging).

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Keeping Yoga Safe for People with High Blood Pressure

by Timothy

Monterey Cyprus by Melina Meza

I recently taught a course on Yoga for High Blood Pressure on Yoga U Online. During the program I suggested that doing certain inverted poses such as Headstand (Sirsasana) may not be a good idea, even for some people whose blood pressure (BP) is “well controlled” by medications. But one listener had heard during her teacher training that inversions were okay in this situation. Her instructors had consulted a local cardiologist and shown the doctor the poses in question, and he had said he didn't have a problem with them in people whose BP was under control.

The concern is that when you go upside down, the pressure in the head increases, which could at least theoretically increase the risk of a stroke. I say theoretically, because actually no one really knows how large the risk is, though it's likely very, very small. As I've written elsewhere, more than likely yoga greatly decreases the overall risk of a stroke. But that doesn't mean it's a good idea to push your luck.

Interestingly, blood pressure is one area where yoga teachers are sometimes more conservative than doctors. Aadil Pahkivala, the teacher I worked with on the high blood pressure chapter of my book Yoga as Medicine, has found that some people with well-controlled BP nonetheless demonstrate jitteriness when they do some inversions and strong backbends. This nervous system agitation, which can be visible to the teacher and palpable to the student  (at least the ones who have developed their internal awareness though their yoga practices), suggests a potential problem.

In medical school, we were taught to always weigh risks vs. benefits of any test, drug or medical procedure under consideration. In medicine, this comes under the category of “first do no harm.” In yoga, we've got the same idea with the notion of ahimsa, non-harming, which is considered the foundation of any yoga practice. Again, the risk of a stroke when inverting with “well-controlled” high blood pressure is likely very small, but even a tiny risk of something very bad should be factored in when deciding whether or not to do a particular yoga pose. In yoga, a crucial way to assess safety is to study your student—or yourself, if you're the student in question—as they do the practice in question.

So rather than simply saying, “The doctor says it's okay to do Headstand so let's do it,” a more prudent approach is to let that be the beginning of your evaluation. If you're a teacher, consider the following questions: Does the student appear to have the strength and flexibility to do the pose safely? How is their breathing in the pose? Do they look uncomfortable? Are they able to maintain a healthy curve in the neck? Are their neck veins bulging? How do they say they feel in the pose? It is even possible, if you've got a blood pressure device, to measure the pressure to make sure it isn't spiking in the pose or poses you're concerned about. And if you're a student concerned about high blood pressure, ask your teacher to help you do this evaluation.

Especially when the risks are uncertain, the more information you can get the better. And after you have all the information, it’s time to practice ahimsa.

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All About Supported Inversions

by Nina

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of supported inverted yoga poses. I starting raving about them in the early days of Yoga for Healthy Aging in my post Just In Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses, going on and on about how these poses are so beneficial for stress management (and also for circulation). Later on, I wrote in detail about why—from a scientific perspective—these posts are so effective at reducing stress in my post Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors.

But if you’re newer to yoga or can’t do the classic inverted poses, Headstand and Shoulderstand (or just can’t get comfortable in them), you might be wondering: how does all this apply to you? Well, I’m here today to assure you that with certain exceptions due to medical conditions (see Cautions for Inversions), everyone can do at least some of the supported inverted yoga poses. That’s because in yoga an inverted pose is any pose where your heart is higher than your head. So in addition to “full” inversions such as Headstand and Shoulderstand, there are several “partial” inversions that are very accessible. And partial inversions are as effective at stress reduction as full inversions (maybe even more so, as some are comfortable enough to stay in for long periods of time). I find the relaxation achieved with these poses more refreshing than that from restorative poses (though obviously some people prefer those).

Today I thought I’d give an overview of the complete set of inverted poses, with their pros and cons, so you could see which ones look most promising to you. I’ve gone ahead and divided them into three categories (can you tell I used to be a technical writer?): Half Inversions, Full Inversions, and Gentle Inversions.

Half Inversions. In a half inversion, your heart and pelvis are above your head, but your feet are below your heart. This category includes: Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), Widespread Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana), Downward-Facing Dog, all with head support.These three poses are very accessible ones because you can use props of any height you need. But because they are standing poses, it is not possible to hold these poses for extended periods of time. Although soothing on their own (especially the Supported Standing Forward Bend), if you just have a couple of minutes they are good warm-ups for full inversions or gentle inversions because they stretch the backs of your legs and open your shoulders and hips.

Downward-Facing Dog is a surprisingly soothing pose when you use support for your head. But you must use a prop that is high enough (try a bolster) and be careful to place the prop in the right position (below where your head naturally falls in the pose, and not so you need to move forward—or bend your arms—to rest your forehead on the prop). If your shoulders and/or hamstrings are very tight, this pose can be physically demanding and not quieting. However, it’s still a great warm up pose for other inversions, as it opens your hips, legs, and shoulders while getting you used to being partly upside down.

Standing Forward Bend is surprisingly quieting if you find a prop that is high enough so you can do the pose without feeling an uncomfortable stretch in your hamstrings. Be honest with yourself and use a chair if necessary (or even if it's not). However, if you are very tight and can’t bend your body to 90 degrees in a seated forward bend, you may not be able to get comfortable in this pose.

Widespread Standing Forward Bend feels more grounding than quieting to me because it’s so demanding on the hips and legs. But for people whose hips are more open than their hamstrings, this may be more accessible than Standing Forward Bend. Be honest with yourself and use a chair if necessary (or even if it's not).

Full Inversions. In a full inversion your heart is higher than your head, and your pelvis, legs and feet are higher that your heart. The full inversions include: Headstand, Shoulderstand and Plow pose, with supported versions of all three. (Technically I suppose you could call most of the arm balances, such as Handstand and Peacock Tail Feather pose, inversions but because they are so strenuous, they don’t really qualify as quieting poses.)

Because these poses are fully inverted, they are rapidly effective. For this reason, I feel it is worth taking the time to learn them (with guidance from an experienced teacher). But these are also the most physically demanding of the inverted poses, so if you’re not comfortable while doing them them, the stress factor in doing them counteracts any calming effects they might have. It’s good to warm up for these poses, either by doing leg stretches and hip and shoulder openers and/or by doing the partial inversions described above.

Headstand is a very grounding pose as the combination of the inversion with the focus it takes to balance helps move you into the present moment. However, Headstand puts a lot of pressure on your neck so if your neck is a problem area for you, it’s best to avoid it. I love Headstand but it is clearly not for everyone.

Shoulderstand is special because you are both supported and fully inverted, so the relaxation response will take effect quite quickly. Your neck is also flexed in the pose, which enhance the relaxation (see More Love for Baroreceptors). And you can use the supported version of Shoulderstand in place of full Shoulderstand in any sequence (or class) that includes full Shoulderstand. However, the pose is tricky to get into and can make beginners feel insecure. And it’s not comfortable for everyone. See Chair Shoulderstand for instructions.

Plow pose is a very quieting pose, but only if you can get comfortable in it. It can be quite physically challenging for stiff people. And if your neck is stiff and can’t bend deeply, this pose might not be for you. Also people with round bodies sometimes find this a difficult—if not impossible—pose to get into. See Supported Plow Pose for instructions.

Gentle Inversions. Gentle inversions are more gradual poses than the straight up and down inversions of heart directly over the head in partial and full inversions. In these poses, although your heart is higher than your head, it is only slightly higher (though even this small differential is enough to trigger the relaxation response). But because these poses are more gradual inversions, they are accessible to almost everyone. In fact, I can almost guarantee you will fall in the love with at least one of them. These poses include: Easy Inverted Pose, Straight Leg Bridge pose (Setubandasana), and Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani), all with support.

You don’t need to warm up for these poses, but for some people, they may be more comfortable if you do. They can come at the end of any practice, either a restorative or inversion practice, or any active practice as well. Or they could be a practice in and of themselves.

The advantage of these poses is that they are very comfortable for most people and you can stay in them for quite a while. I find that after seven or eight minutes, I can actually feel the relaxation response kick in, as a kind of “quiet switch.” Then I stay for a while longer to reap some of the benefits of full conscious relaxation (see Conscious Relaxation vs. Sleep).

Straight Leg Bridge pose is special because (if this pose is comfortable for you) you can stay in this pose for a very long period of time. I once heard Roger Cole, senior teacher and sleep researcher, say that Straight Leg Bridge pose was his go-to relaxation pose and that he’d stay in it up to 45 minutes! People with lower back problems sometimes have a hard time getting comfortable in Straight Leg Bridge pose, but lowering the propping (by using two folded blankets instead of a bolster under the back) can help. And if I just can’t find a way to help the student be comfortable in this pose, I encourage them to set up in Easy Inverted pose instead. Instructions for Straight Leg Bridge pose are coming soon!

Legs Up the Wall pose has a very dramatic quieting effect because your legs are inverted in this pose. I notice the relaxation response kicking in after about seven or eight minutes. However, I’ve observed that people with very tight hamstrings have trouble getting comfortable in Legs Up the Wall pose. It is possible to do the pose slightly further from the wall, with a bolster in a vertical position supporting your legs. But if I just can’t find a way to help the student be comfortable, I encourage them to set up in Easy Inverted pose instead. Most people can stay in this pose for twenty minutes, but after that many people find their legs fall asleep. See Legs Up the Wall Pose for instructions.

Easy Inverted pose is is an amazing pose! Because your legs are inverted as well as your heart, the pose is very quieting. And I’ve never been unable to help a student be comfortable in this pose! If two folded blankets is irritating to your lower back, try just one and make sure your tailbone and buttocks are fully supported by the blanket (and are not tilting into a backbend). Having the support under your pelvis is what makes your heart slightly higher than your head, so see if you can find a way to make it work. See Easy Inverted Pose for information.

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Friday Q&A: Cautions for Inversions

Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)

Q: I’ve heard that some people should not do inversions, but you didn’t mention this in your post on Wednesday about inverted poses. Could address this?

A: Oops! My bad, as Buffy would say. It’s true that for certain medical conditions, inverted poses are, as they say, contraindicated. So I’m sorry I did not mention this earlier in my post Just in Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses.

First off, the poses you may need to be concerned about only include the full inversions and some of the partial inversions that are held for long periods of time.

If you have high blood pressure that is uncontrolled with medication, you should not do inverted poses, because, as I explained in my post (see here) they temporarily raise your blood pressure. And even if your high blood pressure is controlled with medication, talking with your doctor before doing full inverted poses is probably a good idea. People with heart problems should also consult their doctors.

If you are having eye problems, such as glaucoma or detached retina, inversions should also be avoided. Likewise, if you've recently had oral surgery. And those with neck problems should avoid the inversions that put pressure on their necks.

People with back problems will probably find that at least some of these poses may cause back pain, in which case, you should please come out of the pose and find an alternative (I’ve noticed Supported Bridge pose and Legs up the Wall pose can cause difficulties for people with lower back problems).

There are many yoga teachers who do not recommend inverted poses for women who are menstruating. However, as far as I know, there are no scientific studies to back up their concerns. What I recommend is that each of you do your own research on the subject, talking to your teachers, your gynecologist (I did that), and other female practitioners, and make up your own mind based on their advice.

Finally, if you are pregnant and not already experienced doing inverted poses, this is probably not the best time for you to start. 

—Nina

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Just in Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses

by Nina

In my original post about the relaxation response and yoga (see here), I mentioned that inverted yoga poses are one of the many ways you can trigger the relaxation response. Inverted poses are my personal go-to stress busters of choice, and if I could get my hands on Paul Weston (see here), I’d certainly teach him one or more of these amazing poses. So today I’m going to explain what I mean by “inverted poses,” and I’ll also provide some scientific background on them because understanding why these poses work can help you get the most out of them. Okay, here goes:

Any yoga pose where your heart is above your head is considered to be an inversion. Inverted yoga poses include full inversions, such as Headstand and Shoulderstand, where your heart is directly over your head and the rest of your body is also fully inverted. Also included as inverted poses are partial inversions, such as Downward-Facing Dog pose and Standing Forward Bend, where your heart is less directly over your head and your legs are either not fully and not at all inverted.

Standing Forward Bend from Yoga: The Poetry of the Body

The reason these poses trigger the relaxation response turns to be related to the mechanisms that control your heart rate and blood pressure. The nerves that control your heart rate and blood pressure are regulated through pressure sensors called baroreceptors. Your baroreceptors are located in the wall of each internal carotid artery at your carotid sinus (the arteries on each side of your neck that carry blood from your heart to your brain) and in the wall of your aortic arch (just above your heart). These baroreceptors detect any changes in your blood pressure, stretching when blood pressure is high and shrinking when blood pressure is low.

If your baroreceptors detect a fall in your blood pressure, they send signals via your nerves to increase your heart rate, constrict your blood vessels to raise your blood pressure, and switch your nervous system to fight or flight mode. Likewise, if your baroreceptors detect abnormally elevated blood pressure, they send signals to slow your heart rate, relax your blood vessels to lower your blood pressure, and switch your nervous system to relaxation mode.

In an inverted pose, your heart is higher than your head, the opposite of its position when you are upright. With your heart higher than your head, gravity causes more blood to flow in the direction of your head, creating more pressure than usual on your carotid sinus and aortic arch. As the arterial pressure is increased, your baroreceptors are stretched and signals are transmitted to your central nervous system as if your blood pressure was high throughout your body. Feedback signals are then sent back to your body to reduce the arterial pressure, slowing your heart rate, relaxing your blood vessels, and releasing hormones that decrease adrenaline production. This automatically switches your body to relaxation mode.

In addition, inverted or partially inverted poses where your neck is flexed (that is, your chin is pointing toward your chest), as in Shoulderstand, Plow pose, or Bridge pose, puts additional pressure on your carotid sinus (the arteries on each side of your neck that carry blood from your heart to your brain). This added stimulation of your baroreceptors may enhance the calming effects of the inversion.

How simple is that? As long as you are warm, quiet, and comfortable in the inverted pose, all you have to do is let pose work its magic! Naturally, supported versions of the poses (such as Shoulderstand with a chair or Bridge pose on blankets) are more relaxing than straight versions of poses in which you must support yourself, so if you’re practicing inversions for stress reduction, choose the supported versions.

In the coming weeks, I’ll provide details about the various inverted poses, but until then, the following is classic sequence of calming inversions. You can do any or all of these poses, but if you do more than one, I recommend doing them in the order shown below.

1. Downward-Facing Dog pose, with your head resting on a block or folded blankets (1 to 3 minutes)
2. Standing Forward Bend, with your head resting on a block or with folded arms and head resting on a chair seat (1 to 3 minutes)
3. Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottansansa), with your head resting on the ground, a block, or the seat of a chair (1 to 3 minutes)
4. Headstand (3 to 10 minutes)
5. Shoulderstand, with a chair (3 to 10 minutes)
6. Half Plow pose, with your legs supported by a chair seat (1 to 3 minutes)
7. Supported Bridge pose, with your shoulders and head resting on the floor, your torso and legs supported by blankets or bolsters (5 to 15 minutes or longer)
8. Legs up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani) with your pelvis supported with a bolster or blankets (5 to 15 minutes)

I’ve taught this sequence many times, and there are always people in each class who have difficulty with one or more of these poses. So I always teach a non-classic pose as well, Easy Inverted Pose (see here), because this is one pose almost everyone can do. Use this as a substitute for Shoulderstand, Plow pose, Bridge pose, or Legs Up the Wall pose, or just use it on its own.

Caution: Inverted poses may be unsafe for those with certain medical conditions (see here).

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