Adding some Relaxation to your Hoildays

This time of year can cause stress and anxiety for some of us, no matter how you celebrate the holidays. Overwhelm can happen to even the most prepared of us, and whether it is over the holidays, or any other time of year, I would like to offer some restorative yoga poses that may help to soothe the holiday (or any other type) of stress.

If you are unfamiliar with Restorative Yoga and it's benefits

you can read my post all about it here

Restorative yoga, in a nut shell, is all about the nervous system coming into balance. In the practice, you may or may not use props to help you hold the poses, which are typically held anywhere from 5-15 minutes.

"But I don't have any props at home"

read my post on what you can use instead here

Scheduling time for ourselves, at any time of the year, is something that many of us put on the back burner, but it is almost impossible to be your best self and be there for others if you are running on empty. See if you can schedule 5-15 minutes for yourself each day over the holiday season to help fill yourself so you are your best self. If you try the poses, I would love to hear about it.

Wishing you and your family a healthy and happy holiday season

Kathy Brown

Legs up a Wall (5-20 minutes)

A great way to soothe tired legs after a long day of preparing Christmas dinner, or running around for all those last minute items. This pose helps to relax the mind, balance your hormones and relieve low back pain and discomfort. It also is said to help with headaches and migraine pain***. I honestly can't think of a better restorative pose for tired sore legs.

How to get into the Pose

1. Sit on the floor with your back up against the wall.

2. Lower your shoulders and your head to the floor so that you are now laying on your side.

3. Roll on to your back and stretch your legs up the wall with your feet hip distance apart (you could use a yoga strap or mens tie around the ankles to hold the legs in place.

4. Close your eyes or soften the gaze and connect to your breath.

Childs Pose (5-15 minutes)

Another amazing restful pose, wherein our awareness can turn inward. This pose is very grounding and is perfect to bring us back to centre if we are feeling overwhelmed. This pose can relax back muscles, relieve tension in the pelvis and help to stimulate digestion***.

How to get into the Pose

1. Come onto your hands and knees.

2. Spread your knees wide and turn your big toes in to touch each other.

3. Lower down and rest your belly on the floor between your thighs.

4. IF POSSIBLE, bring your forehead to the ground as you reach your arms in front of you. (if the forehead doesn't reach the ground, feel free to add a block or pillow or books under your forehead so that you can rest).

5. Close your eyes, connect to your breath and allow your awareness to go inwards.

Easy Pose (unlimited)

This pose, although called "easy pose" (the sanskrit translation), may be more known to you as sitting cross legged. Using this pose to simply close the eyes and connect to the breath can do wonders to begin your day. Once out of bed (and hopefully before the rest of the family is awake), find a quite place to sit and bring your awareness to your breath. This concious awareness will help to quite the mind and set you up for a stress free day - and if the overwhelm or stress returns, simply excuse yourself and reconnect to the breath.

How to get into the Pose

1. Sit on the floor with your legs in front of you, bend and widen your knees

2. Tuck each foot beneath the opposite leg, bringing the heel comfortably close to the opposite hip (there should be a gap between your feet and pelvis)

3. Criss-crossing the legs, allow the feet to relax so that the outer edges rest comfortably on the floor.

4. Keeping the pelvis in a neutral position, try not to tilt forward or back (if you are finding it hard to maintain this position, sit on a block or a stack of books to raise the pelvis).

5. Place your hands on your lap, close your eyes and connect to the breath.

*** Disclaimer - please note that I am not a medical doctor or physical therapist. It is understood that the content in this aricle is the opinions and ideas of the author and is intended to provide you with helpful and useful information on the subject topic. I am not providing any medical, health or any other kind of personal, professional or medical services and the reader should consult a medical or heathcare provider before adapting any of the suggestions contained herein***