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

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

By Claudia Cummins

Get a Leg Up
As always in yoga, it's worth spending a few moments attending to the details of the pose before diving into its depths. You'll be rewarded for your care and precision with a more profound and restful state once you've settled in. Let's start with the legs. Ideally in Viparita Karani, the legs should be straight, the anklebones should touch each other, and the backs of the thighs should rest against the wall, offering a gentle support that increases the restorative benefits of the pose. If the backs of your thighs are not touching the wall and you feel like they could without strain, bend your legs and shimmy your hips a few inches closer to the wall, settling more of your lower back onto the support.

If moving close to the wall causes your hamstrings to protest, however, that's OK; come out of the pose, slide the support a few inches away from the baseboard, and try again. Experiment with the distance between the support and the wall until you find a position that gently stretches the backs of your legs but doesn't cause any pain. It's difficult to find inner peace, after all, if your thighs are shrieking in protest.

Next, consider your hips. Your pelvis should rest comfortably on the support, with your two sitting bones squared with the wall and equidistant from it. The blankets should support you from the top of your tailbone all the way to your kidneys (at the midback), allowing the belly to settle evenly into the back body. To lend a sense of spaciousness to your midsection, release the base of the tailbone gently downward into the little gully between the support and the wall. At the same time, extend the sitting bones away from the belly, as if they were being magnetically drawn toward the wall.

Check to see that your upper body is balanced and spacious too. Pick up your left shoulder, slide the shoulder blade down toward the waist, and then release the shoulder back onto the ground. Notice how much space you've created between the shoulder and the ear. Repeat this action on the second side. Rest your hands in a comfortable position, either out to the sides, on top of your floating ribs, or perhaps on the floor beyond your head, arms soft and hands unclenched.

The Inside Line
Once you've nestled comfortably into Viparita Karani, your only remaining task is to gently close your eyes, exhale completely, and surrender to the softness of the pose. Scan your body limb by limb, inviting any residual knots of tension to dissolve completely. Let your brain grow easy and tranquil, relinquishing its grip on any lingering worries or fears. See if you can enjoy the chance to spend time grasping for absolutely nothing.

Then drop inward layer by layer to observe the subtle sensations within. First, shift your focus to the breath and observe how much freedom this pose offers the diaphragm (at the base of the lungs), inviting the midbody to participate wholeheartedly in each of your inhalations and exhalations. Let your belly peacefully ride the waves of the breath.

Invite the breath to deepen, and let every exhalation feel soul-satisfying and complete. As your body softens, you may even discover a delightful pause developing at the very end of each exhalation, a moment or two of total stillness and spaciousness. Feel the tranquility and deep rest of this settled silence.

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