This Stretch Is Your New Favorite Fix for Instant Calm

From an outside perspective, my life seems to revolve around yoga. I’ve been practicing for more than 10 years and I’m an editor at Yoga Journal, so friends and acquaintances often assume that I’m rolling out my mat every day—stretching, meditating, and Savasana-ing my way to “inner peace.” But the reality is much more boring, imperfect, and human than that.

There have been days, weeks, even months when I don’t step into a yoga studio or onto my mat at home. Sometimes I barely give myself a minute of down time between meetings and feeding my dog and whatever new task autopopulates at the end of my mental to-do list. As deeply as I know that yoga makes me feel a little lighter and a lot more a part of (*gestures around*) the world, I know that there will always be times when I neglect the tightness in my hamstrings and the aches in my hips and flop onto my bed to zone out to the newest season of Selling Sunset. 

But there are also times when I desperately need to return to myself despite my complete lack of motivation to do so. And when the idea of searching for a 10- or even 5-minute practice seems to discourage me altogether, I’ve learned that there’s one pose that gradually brings my body to stillness and invites my mind to follow. It’s something I can come into without overthinking and with minimal resistance. Once I’m there, I let myself sink deeper into my own experience and I’m always reminded why I do yoga at all.

That pose is Wide-Legged Seated Forward Fold with a bolster.

I sit on the floor and separate my legs into a V-shape. The first reason I love this pose is that it’s easily adjustable. If I’m craving a more intense stretch, I take my legs wider. Otherwise, I’m perfectly content keeping them in a narrow V.

Then I reach for my bolster, which feels a lot like grabbing my pillow before bed with the anticipation of its comfort (a few stacked pillows also works instead of a bolster in this pose). I position the bolster so it’s angled lengthwise in front of me with one end about 12 inches away from my front hips. The stretch in my hamstrings is always a reprieve from whatever the day has demanded of my body.

Lowering my forehead onto the prop is a very simple action that delivers exactly what yoga promises of seated forward folds—my focus on the outside world softens and re-centers on my inner world. It’s as if I’m bowing to myself.

Just as I can tailor the lower body stretch to suit my needs, I can place my hands wherever feels most nourishing. Sometimes it’s on the floor, which makes me feel grounded and solid. Other times it’s on my thighs, which feels like an act of self-love—a reminder that I am here and despite everything that happens around me, I can never be taken from myself.

After pausing for anywhere from 10 seconds to a few minutes, I slowly release the pose and inevitably carry the calm it gives me through the rest of my day. It inspires me to turn away from my computer screen and take a couple breaths or brush my teeth a little bit more slowly. Because what’s the rush?