In today’s chaotic, tech-driven, work-obsessed world, we could all use a little help de-stressing from time to time. And while a healthy diet, hydration, and a good night’s sleep are all obviously important, there’s one tool that can take you from anxious to calm in mere minutes: yoga. The beauty of yoga is that you can practice it anytime, anywhere. Whenever you need a calm and quiet mind, simply moving through a relaxing yoga pose and taking time to breathe can get you there.
That said, when it comes to feeling inspired and motivated in your practice, there’s no substitute for going to a yoga class or receiving personalized instruction. And let’s be honest: Yoga is so much more fun when you do it in an incredible setting, with wellness specialists as your guides. Join your fellow yogis under the guidance of a knowledgeable instructor at Castle Hot Springs. We also offer a variety of private yoga sessions to suit guests’ body conditions, including Vinyasa, restorative, slow flow, Hatha, and more. Prepare to feel relaxed, refreshed, and ready to take on the world. All in the beautiful and powerful surroundings of the Sonoran Desert.
For your home yoga routine, feel instantly calmer and more relaxed when you move through each of the following poses:
Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Grounding hip opening postures such as balasana allow delving deep inside the caverns of the sacrum where the opening occurs with focused deep abdominal breathing and mindful visualization. A good guide will help one explore the region and prompt the release of long-stored tension.
To practice Child’s Pose, gently come to your knees in a kneeling position and extend your arms out in front of you. Let your torso relax down onto your thighs. Allow your big toes to touch, with your knees positioned together or apart depending on how tight your hips are. Take at least ten deep, cleansing breaths; This is a restful-yet-challenging pose that centers on creating a moment of peace.
Cow Pose (Bitilasana)
Simple and effective, Cow Pose is often used at the beginning of a vinyasa class to warm up your spine, stimulate your organs, and introduce movement to the body. It’s also a wonderful relaxing yoga pose for alleviating stress and calming the mind.
Like so many things postures require a proper foundation and plum lines. Cow pose is a primary asana for setting a foundation on which many postures will rest. In this way, the practice cow pose and the movement of the scapula allow one to feel the stress in the shoulders melt away while simultaneously connecting deeper to a solid base noticeable in life on and off the mat.
Start in Tabletop Position: Move onto your hands and knees, with your wrists directly under your shoulders (palms on the floor) and your knees under your hips. Keep your back straight and your spine in a neutral position. From here, inhale as you simultaneously drop your belly toward the floor. Lift your chin and chest and relax your shoulders away from your ears as you look straight ahead.
Cat Pose (Marjaryasana)
Cat Pose is often paired with Cow Pose for a gentle, warming flow that brings flexibility to the spine and quiets the mind. When you combine the two, you’re essentially moving your spine from a rounded position (Cow) to an arched one (Cat).
The enlivening stretch extending from the tailbone to the crown in the cat pose derives from awakening a deep energetic vessel responsible for the flow of vibrant yang energy in the body. Just a few moments in this posture may create gentle warming sensations resulting from the flow of this yang energy (prana) and the release of tension.
From Tabletop Position, exhale and pull your stomach toward your spine, rounding your back toward the ceiling. Drop the crown of your head and your tailbone. Go back and forth between Cat and Cow on each inhale and exhale, matching breath to movement. Ahhh.
Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
One of the most well-known yoga poses, Downward Facing Dog is great for strengthening and stretching the body—but the mental benefits of this relaxing yoga pose may even outweigh the physical ones.
Start on all fours. While keeping your hands on the floor, curl your toes under and lift your hips back, so much so that your legs straighten. Push your heels back and slightly down (they don’t have to touch the ground). Let your head hang long and loose so that there’s no pressure on your neck.
Once one has logged enough repetitions of a downward-facing dog, they will find the restorative freedom it offers by clearing adhesions in multiple body areas. The art of this pose is in proper alignment that encourages bent knees until the back flattens and the transfer of the dominant weight from the hands to the feet. This posture unlocks more than just the physical structure under a trained eye- the energetic body also expands, and awareness folds inward.
Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)
Standing Forward Fold offers a wonderful stretch for the entire body. It stimulates the organs, keeps the spine flexible and strong, and gently stretches the hamstrings, calves, and hips. It’s no surprise, then, that this relaxing yoga pose is fantastic for combatting stress, anxiety, and fatigue.
The reversal of gravity on the spine ushers in one of the most significant anti-aging benefits of uttanasana. Each day that we sit and stand with the pressures downward on the vertebra compounds the rate of natural entropy. Taking to this deep power forward fold not only releases the pressure on the spine and clears congestion of a primary water element energy line (meridian) responsible for keeping us clear-headed and mentally relaxed similar to the sensation of a good soak our hot springs.
From standing, slowly begin to bend your knees and fold your torso over your legs, hinging from the hips. Release the muscles in your neck and shoulders. You can keep your hands next to your feet or on the ground in front of you, or interlace your fingers behind the body and straighten out your arms and elbows (talk about a juicy shoulder-opener). Don’t forget to breathe.
Supine Spinal Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)
Is there anything more relaxing than a gentle supine twist? Supta Matsyendrasana is a powerful way to decompress and soothe your nerves. It can even help improve your breathing, encourage fresh blood flow to your digestive system, and ease neck and back tension.
The mechanics of a supine spinal twist echo the reduction of stored tension in the physical body, yet the essence of a twist is a subtle message to let go and journey deeper into one’s inner sanctum. Often twisting is done as we traverse from one leg of our yogic journey to another as a quiet invitation to relinquish our external grasp and travel further to the infinite world within.
To practice this pose, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Let your arms rest at a T shape. As you exhale, bring your knees into your chest and clasp your hands around them. From here, drape your knees over onto one side, then the other. Turn your head in the opposite direction of your knees for a rejuvenating neck stretch.
