16 Restorative Yoga
As a yoga teacher and practitioner as well as a coach, I have spent years seeing how yoga enhances my recovery and the recovery of athletes I teach and coach. My books The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga and The Athlete’s Pocket Guide to Yoga detail the ways yoga enhances training. But yoga can also be used very specifically as a restorative
practice to directly improve recovery. It must be done carefully, though. The twenty-first-century West offers a multitude of approaches to yoga, from the very gentle to the very intense. Attending a class that is too intense may interfere with your recovery at best and could lead to injury at worst, especially if you are the competitive type. Look for a restorative class or follow the guidelines here for a home practice.
Which Kinds of Yoga Hasten Recovery
To encourage your recovery, choose styles that are breath-focused, relaxing, and slow. They’ll have titles including keywords like “gentle” or “quiet.” Restorative yoga is a fantastic choice. In restorative poses, the focus is not on strengthening or even on stretching but on releasing tension. Restorative poses are held for a long while—10 or 15 minutes or even more—and are supported by props, including bolsters, blankets, sandbags, and the floor. As you release into the props, you’ll relax your body, breath, and mind.
The gentle inversions of restorative yoga, especially the legs-up-thewall pose (viparita karani, in Sanskrit), will help drain edema from the legs. Sometimes this is a very noticeable experience, such as after a long or hard workout, when you can feel the shift of fluids back in toward the center. Sometimes it’s more subtle. Among the other subtle effects are a shift in hormone levels in the body and the dilation of blood vessels in the upper body. These restorative poses will help your entire back settle down, releasing the tension that accumulates during the course of your workout and your day, and they will help broaden your chest, undoing the closing off that happens when your hands are on the handlebars, the keyboard, or the steering wheel, and recreating space for your breath.
In a restorative pose, you’ll have plenty of time to be still and notice your breath. Let it flow freely in and out, expanding your chest, changing the shape of your abdomen on inhalation, and settling in on exhalation. Let your breath be the focus of your awareness. This focus—on relaxation—can be tough, though. Ultrarunner Charlie Engle admits, “When I go into that yoga class, even the relaxing is hard for me, that’s my personality. It takes full concentration to do yoga, while running is mindless for me. It’s actually harder than running.” If your thoughts drift to other subjects, notice, and turn your attention back to your breath. This will elicit the relaxation response (see Chapter 17 for more) as well as improve your ability to focus.
You don’t need to be “doing yoga” for the benefits of a restorative practice
to work. Many athletes arrive at a restorative process spontaneously, by listening to their bodies. Ultrarunner Keith Straw, who holds a 24-hour personal record of 137 miles, has a mantra: “When I run, I run. When I’m not running, I rest.” He says, “I spend hours lying down with my legs draped over a yoga ball watching reruns of Law and Order.” This simple approach to inversion can work wonders. Top-ranked masters road cyclist Evie Edwards has a post-race routine involving yoga inversions: “Back at the hotel room, I have my yoga block. I lie on it on the floor, put it under my hips and focus on my breathing, or talk to folks and give them my race updates with my legs propped up on the wall.”
Runner’s World editor and ultrarunner Jennifer Van Allen testifies to the benefits of yoga: “I feel it’s an integral part of my ability to recover.” She believes yoga keeps her muscles loose and supple and increases their pliability. “I feel yoga is a preventative way to jumpstart the recovery process,” she says.
What You Need
Here are some restorative poses you can do at home. For the full experience, you’ll want to gather props to support yourself. These props include a few blankets or beach towels, a pillow or two, and an eye bag (a lightly weighted pillow to cover your eyes, widely available). Blocks can be handy risers to boost the height of your bolsters. A yoga strap can be useful, too. If you have access to a sandbag (you can buy them online), it can add to your experience of settling in. Handy people can sew their own sandbag by making an envelope about 6 inches by 18 inches and inserting a sealed plastic bag filled with playground sand from the hardware store.
You’ll need quiet space for your yoga practice. Ideally, you’ll be away from electronics, which can beep and distract you, and out of view of your home office, pets, and children.
Finally, you’ll need a timer. A kitchen timer works, but it can have a harsh alarm sound. Various alarms on cell phones might work better. If you can set a chime to ring every five minutes, you’ll be able to count off your time and to change the position of your head in poses where you’re face down. The timer will keep you in the pose for the right amount of time, and it will wake you up should you fall asleep. It may also help you relax, knowing the timer is running and that you don’t need to pay attention to how long you’ve been in a pose. Instead, you’ll focus on just being in the pose, breathing, and letting go.
Poses
The poses described here can be strung together in order to make a full routine. Or choose the ones that feel best for you to create a shorter practice. When you practice the full routine, you’ll take your spine through six planes of motion: forward folding, backward bending, side bending in either direction, and twisting in either direction. When creating a shorter practice, be sure to balance any forward folding with backward bending and to twist or side bend to both sides until you feel even.
In each of these, you’re looking for the sensation of comfort and support— not a deep stretch. Just as your active recovery workouts should be very light, so should your restorative yoga poses. If you make it too intense, you are changing from a restorative practice to a flexibility practice, just as working too hard in an active recovery workout changes it to an endurance workout.
Legs up the Wall
For legs up the wall, you’ll need a wall or a closed and locked door. A stack of a few blankets, a roll of towels, or a yoga bolster can enhance the pose.
At its simplest, the pose will take an L shape, with your back against the floor and your legs up the wall. Getting there can be tricky. Sit with one hip against the wall, then swing yourself around so that your spine rests on the floor and your legs are propped on the wall. If your hamstrings allow, scoot your bottom all the way to the wall or baseboard. If you find your hamstrings are tight, you can keep your bottom a few inches from the wall, but to be sure you aren’t hyperextending your knees, keep them in a slight bend. Take your arms to a position that feels comfortable. This could an inverted V, out to a T, in an open Y overhead, or split into a W.Wherever your arms are, roll your palms toward the ceiling to help open your chest and shoulders.
If you have props on hand, you can make this pose into a gentle supported backbend (Figure 16.1). Lay your bolster, pillow, or a rect angular folded blanket so its longer end runs parallel to the wall and a few inches away from it. Sitting on the prop, slide your legs up the wall and let your entire pelvis rest on the cushion. The prop should support your lower back fully while stretching your ribcage. If you feel like you’ve got too strong a curve in your neck, add a rolled blanket under your head. If you have an eye bag, try putting it over your eyes or simply on your forehead. If you have a sandbag, it can rest on top of your feet to settle your legs toward the ground. (You can start with it as you push your legs up the wall, or have a friend add it once you’re in place.)
Stay in this position for a good while—10 minutes or up to 20, if you can. Should your legs fall asleep, simply bend your knees toward your chest for a few breaths and reposition them. If your legs won’t stay together, you can use a yoga strap to tie them together loosely. This is a good place to experiment with economy of form. Use only as much energy as you need to hold your legs up the wall. Try relaxing entirely. Worst-case scenario: Your legs will slide down the wall, and you’ll have to reposition them. Not a problem!
Legs on a Chair
A variation on legs up the wall involves placing your calves on the seat of a chair, on a sofa, or on a coffee table (Figure 16.2). Bending the knees will alleviate strain on the back, so this is a nice option if your lower back or knees don’t do well in a full version of legs up the wall. Depending on the length of your femurs, you may need to add some padding to the support beneath your calves. Make sure your back is resting happily on the ground and improvise with props if you feel they will support your relaxation here. A stay of 10 minutes or more is ideal, and an eye bag is a nice touch.
Supported Child’s Pose
In supported child’s pose, you’ll get a release for your lower back and a gentle stretch for your hamstrings, quadriceps, and ankles. Remember, this should be only the gentlest of stretches; prop yourself up if it feels too intense, especially if the intensity is in your knees.
With a bolster running vertically in front of you and some padding beneath your legs (this could be carpeting, a yoga mat, or a blanket), take your knees wide while keeping your big toes together. Holding your hips over your heels, lean your belly to the support and settle in (Figure 16.3). If you feel too much of a stretch, add a layer or two to the support. You can also add a blanket between your calves and thighs, to alleviate pressure on the knees. If a friend is on hand to help you, have him or her place the sandbag across the back of your pelvis.
Start with one side of your head on the bolster, and after five minutes, turn to the other side. Your timer can help you here, especially if you can set an interim chime. When the timer goes off, turn your head to the second side, and when it goes off again, either stay for another interval or move to another pose.
Supported Prone Twist
The supported prone twist is a lovely pose that wrings tension from the spine while offering a gentle stretch to the outer hip, enhanced by the weight of the body sinking into the pose. To take this shape, sit on one hip, knees bent and touching, with a bolster or stack of blankets running perpendicular to your thighs. Take your hands to either side of the bolster, draw your spine long, and then slowly lower your belly down to the support (Figure 16.4). You might prop yourself up on your elbows, depending on the height of your props, or you could place your arms anywhere that feels comfortable.
As with supported child’s pose, you can choose how to position your head. Facing in the same direction as your legs will give you a more gentle experience. Turning your head away from your legs will give a fuller twist but might feel too intense. Let your body and your breath be your guide. If your chosen position causes any stress or strain or affects your breathing, you’ll need to change and reposition yourself into a more comfortable position. Spending at least five minutes here is good; 10 minutes is better. Repeat the pose on the other side when you are done with the first.
Supported Supine Twist
The supported supine twist will take you sunny-side-up. While it will affect your hips less than the supported prone twist, it will encourage more openness in your chest. Lie on your back with a bolster or folded blanket on either side of you. Reach one leg long and bend the other, dropping the inner knee of this bent leg to the pillow at your side. You’ll roll all the way to the hip of the straight leg (Figure 16.5).
Check that this position is gentle and relaxing. If it is, reach your arms into a T position, propping one or both of them on blankets if that feels best. As with the previous twist, you can turn your head either way, or simply face up with a neutral neck position for 5 to 10 minutes.
Supported Backbend
If you have time for only one restorative yoga pose in a day, this one makes a good choice. (And if you have time for two, couple this with legs up the wall.)
It’s worth taking the time to carefully set up your supported backbend, so that you can receive maximum benefits from this wonderfully restorative position. It will undo the hunch so many of us carry from our desk jobs and our training, it will create space across the chest and ribcage for freer breathing, and its open-hearted position will be deeply relaxing and affirming.
If you have a block or two on hand, set them into a T position so that they can prop up one end of your bolster. Sit your hips at the other end, and recline against the bolster. Your head will be slightly elevated, but your chin can stay low. Spread your arms out. If they dangle in space, support them on pillows or blankets.
Your legs could rest in a number of different positions here. If your lower back feels tender, keep your knees bent and the soles of your feet on the floor. You could even support them from below, if you have enough props. If your back isn’t complaining, you can stretch your legs long in front of you. Or, for a gentle release of the inner thighs, take the soles of the feet together, knees bent, and drop your knees to either side, ideally onto cushions (Figure 16.6). If you like this leg position (baddha konasana, bound angle pose, often called “cobbler”), but your legs are sliding away from you, you can hold them steady by draping a sand bag across your feet. Alternatively, loosely tie them together by taking your strap behind your back, over your thighs and calves, and under your feet. The strap can connect over one thigh, so you can adjust it tighter or looser with a hand. Stay in this supported backbend for as long as you can, up to 20 minutes.
Supported Side Bend
Taking a very gentle lateral stretch over your bolster will release the musculature around your shoulders and open the intercostal muscles between your ribs, creating more space for breathing.
Rest on one hip with a pile of blankets, or a bolster and a blanket, at your side. Lay the side of your body onto this support as you stretch both arms overhead, like a synchronized swimmer taking a side dive into the water. Your palms can meet, or you can hold the fingers of the top arm with the palm of the bottom arm. Your head relaxes against the inside of your lower arm or against a support, if you prefer (Figure 16.7). Stay here for five or more minutes, practicing relaxed but deep breathing, expanding your ribcage. Then repeat on the second side.
Supported Bridge
Bridge pose is an important pose for athletes, and it is often prescribed in physical therapy. It stretches the hip flexors, engages the hamstrings and gluteal muscles, and strengthens the back muscles. This version, a supported one, requires no muscular energy. It will open the chest in a gentle backbend, giving the hip flexors time to release slowly.
You can do this pose using a yoga block or a pillow. Each will yield a slightly different experience. To use the block, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet close to your sitting bones. Lift your hips and place the block horizontally underneath your pelvis—an inch or two below the natural waist is probably the right place. Start with the block at medium height and lift it higher only if you feel really supported there. You can walk your feet away from you if that feels good. Stay for a few minutes, letting your chest open and your hip flexors release (Figure 16.8). When you are ready to move on, lift your hips, remove the block, and spend a few breaths resting flat on the floor.
To rest on a pillow, lay it vertically along your spine and slide back until your shoulder blades are on the ground and your ribcage is spreading. The pillow should support you from the midback to the pelvis. If your legs won’t stay in a neutral position, you can lay a sandbag over them or strap them together. Rest your arms alongside the pillow, palms up. Stay for a few minutes, and when you are done, slide backward off the pillow and rest on the floor for a few breaths.
Supported Corpse Pose
Corpse pose offers a wonderful position for rest: It is the ultimate do-nothing position. While it is traditionally practiced lying flat on the ground, adding props can make it a more restful experience and will keep you comfortable for longer.
Adding a support beneath your knees or calves (a bolster or a folded or rolled blanket) will help your lower back settle into the ground. Experiment with these two different positions: With the support under your knees, your heels can touch the ground; with the support under your calves, your heels may hang in the air.
A sandbag placed horizontally across the pelvis, a few inches beneath the waist, can provide comforting weight. Lighter weights can help keep the fingers spread as the palms face upward; an eye bag can do the trick. An eye bag on your eyes or spread across your forehead is also a nice touch. Finally, consider a light pillow of a few thicknesses of folded blanket (Figure 16.9).
Once everything is set up, stay here for a good long while. In yoga, we use this rule of thumb: Take 5–10 minutes of corpse pose for every hour of physical practice. This works for training, too. If you’ve finished a threehour session, 30 minutes of restorative yoga, including corpse pose, will help you feel relaxed and balanced.

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