For Beginners: Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-Wall Pose)

Reset your mind and renew your spirit with this restorative posture.

By Claudia Cummins

We all need survival strategies to help us maneuver through life's difficult days with some measure of sanity and grace. When the world threatens to overwhelm us, we need a way to hold ourselves together until the stormy weather passes—or perhaps simply a way to let everything fall apart without losing our faith completely.

Here's my favorite survival strategy: I close the door, tune in to my favorite track on Savasana by Wah, hit the repeat button, and slide into Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-Wall Pose). I drape a lavender-scented eye bag across my brow, exhale as soulfully as possible, and then invite the posture's quiet softness to sink into every cell of my body.

I breathe. I surrender. I melt. As my legs drain, my mind empties and my belly warms and softens. I linger here for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, sometimes a half an hour or more, until the pose has drawn every last drop of angst and agitation from my soul. And when I can bear to pull myself back to reality, I roll over and slowly sit up, refreshed and renewed. Invariably, I feel better able to manage life's challenges with clarity and balance.

I'd wager that Viparita Karani can do the same for you. This soothing, restorative posture calms the nervous system, eases muscle fatigue, and helps restore healthy, restful breathing. Many yoga instructors offer it as an antidote to exhaustion, illness, and weakened immunity. In addition, it invites us to drop beneath the surface of life into quieter and more introspective realms.

Settling In
To begin, fold two thick blankets lengthwise and stack one neatly atop the other to create a support that is at least six inches thick, about 10 inches wide, and long enough to prop up your hips in their entirety. (A yoga bolster works well too.) Place your support near a wall with the long edge running parallel to the baseboard, leaving a gap of just a few inches between the support and the wall.

The name of the game in Viparita Karani is to end up with the legs resting comfortably against the wall, the pelvis and lower back fully supported by the blankets or bolster, and the upper body nestling quietly into the floor. Getting there, however, is not necessarily a graceful affair. Some advanced yogis do a forward roll into the pose, but I wouldn’t recommend this strategy to beginners, especially if you treasure your tailbone (or your wall).

Instead, you might want to try a slightly less acrobatic approach. Sit on the support with the left side of your body next to the wall and your feet on the floor. Using your hands for support, shift your weight onto the outer right hip, then lower your right shoulder to the ground so that you can pivot your pelvis and sweep your legs up the wall. Settle your back onto the floor, aligning your spine so that an imaginary line drawn from your nose to your navel would be perpendicular to the baseboard. There should be ample room for your shoulder blades to rest comfortably on the ground, and just enough space between your hips and the wall to allow your tailbone to dip gently toward the floor.

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