5 Poses to Help You Decompress

Life can be loud, frantic, busy, and fast. But yoga provides a respite from all of that. In fact, managing stress is one of the many reasons why most of us make it to our mats.

Whether you’re taking a 1-hour studio class or doing a 10-minute practice at home, connecting to your breath and body is a proven means of reducing stress. Yoga triggers your parasympathetic nervous system, lowers cortisol levels, and slows your heart rate, all of which let your body and mind know that it’s safe to relax.

And for those days when your schedule just won’t allow you to squeeze in a flow, practicing even a single, well-chosen pose can shift your vibe from overwhelmed to calm. We humans tend to overcomplicate things. Simply choose from one of the following postures or breathe through them all—no worries, no stress.

Yoga for Stress: 5 Poses for Quick Calm

Your yoga and mindfulness routine should look and feel like you, which means that practicing yoga for stress management can look like a standing pose that requires all your focus or simply sitting cross-legged and quieting your thoughts for awhile. So long as your breath and body come along, it’s always yoga.

1. Easy Pose

Sometimes, taking a comfortable seat is all that’s needed to help you find your center. Easy Pose is a baseline posture for meditation and breathwork, the simple shape encouraging you to ground down and sit tall. Add a block, bolster, or pillow beneath your sit bones to maximize comfort. The goal, after all, is to relax.

2. Reclining Bound Angle Pose

For a yoga pose that feels like a hug from you and to you, try Reclining Bound Angle Pose. There’s something about placing one hand on your heart and the other on your belly while in supine that’s intensely calming. Consider it a reminder that you are here for you. Additionally, this pose releases the hips and shoulders, encouraging held tension to melt away.

3. Child’s Pose

This shape invites you to release stress through self-given grounding. Child’s Pose is a compressive pose, the forward bending pressing joints and body parts together and closer toward the earth. This is innately relaxing, as is pressing your forehead to the ground. If you don’t quite reach the ground, place a folded blanket or a block beneath your forehead.

4. Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend

Another calming forward bend, Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend offers the benefits of a mild inversion, which is a shape that finds your head below your heart, which in turn encourages both circulation and mental chilling. The stable nature of the wider stance ensures there’s no worry about balance. Bring your hands to the floor, your big toes, or any part of your legs and hang here for awhile.

5. Savasana

Nothing says calm like lying flat on your back. Also known as Corpse Pose, Savasana asks that you take the time you need to do nothing. Let everything go, breathe, and just be. Afterward, you might open your eyes to a moment—or maybe even an entire day, week, or lifetime—in which stress no longer makes sense.