Yoga Relaxation Exercises

Yoga is a practice of body awareness that links breath with movement to allow the mind to find stillness. You are able to connect with your breath fully when the body and mind are relaxed. Most yoga classes incorporate relaxation exercises into every practice. Easy Pose and meditation often start a yoga practice to allow students to become centered, and Corpse Pose is the usual ending posture to allow complete rest and relaxation. What happens in between are strength and stamina building exercises, but the yoga relaxation exercises alone will lower blood pressure, ease tension and calm the mind.

Easy Pose

Meditation is a relaxation technique frequent in most yoga classes. An exercise that can be done as part of a yoga sequence or separately, Easy Pose, Sukasana in Sanskrit, is the seated beginner's variation posture for meditation. To sit for a time, the best technique is to provide the body with cushion and support. Use a few blankets, bolster or couch pillow to elevate the sit bones. Come to a seated cross-leg position. Let your hands rest on the knees, or place the right hand on top of the left and let the arms rest down in front of you near the feet. Elevating the hips relieves strain from the back and sets the body up to sit in repose. Elongate the spine and relax the shoulders. Meditation is a balance between relaxation and alertness. It isn't goal oriented, but the object of meditation is to bring your awareness to your breath. Thoughts arise and sometimes become habitual. Instead of placing judgment on your thoughts, simply notice your tendency to drift away from the awareness of your breath, label it "thinking" and return your focus back to your breath. Practice not judging the thoughts that come up. Instead, allow the mind to move past the conditioned mind to the potential mind which aids relaxation. Stay in the pose for five minutes.

Legs Up the Wall

Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose, Viparita Karani in Sanskrit, is a basic inversion that deepens the respiratory rhythm and opens the spine, chest and diaphragm. Inversion yoga exercises slow the heart rate and decrease your blood pressure, which promotes full body relaxation. Place a bolster or stack folded blankets along the wall. Sit on the bolster and scoot your butt as close to the wall as possible. Carefully, lower one shoulder at a time on the floor. Raise your legs and place your heels on the wall (as if you are standing on the ceiling). The bolster should be horizontal under your sacrum, not perpendicular to the spine. Rest your arms overhead and bend the elbows to 90 degrees. Let the body completely sink into the support and floor, close your eyes and stay in the posture for five minutes.

Corpse Pose

Corpse Pose, Savasana in Sanskrit, is sometimes said to be the most difficult pose as it requires the body to relax fully in a reclined position and come to complete stillness. According to the Yoga Journal website, Corpse Pose reduces stress levels, soothes the brain and relaxes the body. Lie on your back. Extend the legs straight, and let the feet turn out naturally. Rest the arms alongside the body with the palms facing up. Allow the shoulder blades and back to release into the ground. Bring the eyes to close. Release any tension held in the face. Let the jaw relax and tongue fall from the top of the mouth. Soften the eyebrows, bridge of the nose and forehead skin. Let your natural breath flow as you breathe in the posture for five minutes.