Need to Recover? Try This

If you were up late celebrating last night or have been standing on your feet all day. If you feel run down, like you might be getting sick, or need to recover from a race or a night on the town. This is THE pose to do. All you have to do is lay down and lean your legs up against a wall. That’s it. Simple!

This yoga pose is called Viparita Karani in Sanskrit, which means Inverted Lake in English. The idea is that your legs, like rivers, pour back into the lake of your belly. Your belly is to remain calm and relaxed, like water on a clear, still morning. Lactic acid, which is what makes muscles feel sore, drains out of the legs. Gravity brings a fresh supply of blood to the heart and head and nourishes the lymph nodes to help boost immunity. This is also a great yoga posture to practice when you can’t sleep.

Here’s what to do for the simplest form of the pose:

• Lie down on your back on the floor, near a blank wall.
• Swing your heels up against the wall.
• Scoot close enough to the wall that you feel a gentle stretch in your legs, but not so close that your butt comes off the ground.
• Stay in the pose for 5-15 minutes.
• To come out of the pose, bend your knees, roll to your side and pause for a few breaths before sitting up.

If you want the supported version, then take a look at the photo below.