by Nina
Bedroom at Arles by Roy Lichtenstein
Brad and I will be taking a nine-day staycation this year between Christmas and New Years Day. Because of the pandemic, he and I have been working at home since March, so staying home for nine days is even less of a "vacation" than it usually would be and many of the local activities we would normally enjoy on a staycation are either unavailable or unsafe. But Brad's boss told him he wanted Brad to do something during that week that would allow him to return to work in the new year feeling "refreshed." I imagine that many of you might be in a similar situation, needing some way to rest and recharge while also staying safe at home. That reminded me of some ideas I posted a few years about how to take a yoga staycation. And I realized this would be a good time to share them again. You can use them to create a yoga staycation in your own home or you can take them with you if you do leave town to help enhance the vacation-ness of your vacation.1. Explore Savasana
- Align your body
- Remain still
- Use a mental focus
- Maintain your awareness as you come out of the pose
Featured Pose: Relaxation Pose
How to Prepare for and Practice Savasana
Savasana (Corpse Pose) Variations
For a sequence to practice to prepare for Savasana, see: Featured Sequence: Preparing for Savasana.
For inspiration about why and how to practice Savasana, see:
Roger Cole on Savasana: The Mind Coming into Equilibrium and Drawing Inside and Quieting
Tias Little on Savasana: The Practice of Savasana, Part 1 and Part 2
Richard Rosen on Savasana: The Value of Not Doing
2. Practice Restorative Yoga
Although we don’t have all the restorative poses on our site, we do have information on these:
Featured Pose: Child’s Pose for information on the restorative version of Child's pose.
Featured Pose: Reclined Twist for information on the restorative version of Reclined Twist.
Featured Pose: Supported Backbend
Reclined Cobbler’s Pose
Bridge Pose for information on the restorative version of Bridge pose.
3. Practice Supported Inversions
Caution: Not everyone can do supported inverted poses safely. See Friday Q&A: Caution for Inversions for information.
For an overview of supported inverted poses in general (and to see photos of all of them), see All About Supported Inversions. For information on individual poses, see:
- Featured Pose: Legs Up the Wall Pose
- Featured Pose: Standing Forward Bend
- Featured Pose: Wide-Legged Forward Bend
- Featured Pose: Chair Shoulderstand
- Featured Pose: Half Plow Pose
- Featured Pose: Bridge Pose for information on version 4 (with a bolster)
- Featured Pose: Easy Inverted Pose
4. Make Any Practice More Gentle
Crocodile Pose (Makrasana)
Why not treat yourself to a gentle practice now and then? Or maybe even a whole week of gentle practices? If you have a strong home practice, it will be interesting to see what affects a gentle practice has on you. And if you don’t yet have a home practice, a gentle practice is the perfect way to start. Here are some tips for making any existing practice (including the ones on our site—search under “Featured Sequence”) into a gentle practice.- For dynamic poses, do fewer repetitions, for example, do 3 rounds of dynamic Warrior 2 instead of 6.
- For static poses, use shorter holds, for example, hold Warrior 3 pose for 3 breaths instead of 6.
- For restorative poses, extend your time in the poses.
- Leave out the most vigorous pose or poses from the sequence, either just skipping them or replacing them with gentle or restorative poses.
- Between active poses, rest in Relaxation pose or another resting pose.
- Relaxation Pose (Savasana): Especially good between supine poses (on your back).
- Crocodile Pose (Makrasana): Especially good between prone poses (on your belly), such as Locust and Cobra. (See above for photo.)
- Easy Sitting Pose (Sukasana): Especially good between seated poses, such as twists.
- Moutain Pose (Tadasana): Especially good between standing poses.
- Child’s Pose (Balasana): Especially good after inverted poses and prone poses.
5. Focus on Breath Practices
By the way, you don’t have to do these practices sitting up! For your staycation, try them in any restorative pose (Reclined Cobbler’s pose and Child’s pose are good choices) or any gentle inverted pose, such as Legs Up the Wall pose, Easy Inverted Pose, or Bridge pose with straight legs. I personally have found the combination of Legs Up the Wall pose with extending the exhalation to be extremely relaxing.
If you have never practiced simple breath awareness, that’s the best place to start. See A Balm for the Soul: Practicing Simple Breath Awareness.
For calming breath practices, see Calming Breath Practices We Recommend and Pranayama for Everyone: Bhramari Breath.
For balancing breath practices, see Breath Practices for Balance.
6. Guided Relaxation and Meditation
And how about treating yourself to a guided meditation? Jill Satterfield has several wonderful guided meditations of different lengths on her youtube station.
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