Yoga is a great way to recover after surfing. Photo: Kaylee Garrett/Unsplash
Surfing is tough on the body. Between paddling, wipeouts, and big power turns and maneuvers, surfing puts a lot of demand on your muscles. Yoga is a great resource for restoring sore and overused muscles and helps to prevent injuries. Although all types of yoga can be beneficial, restorative yoga is especially helpful. We caught up with YogaRenew Teacher Training instructor Lindsay Monal to get some inside tips on the benefits of restorative yoga and the best ways to practice.
According to Monal, restorative yoga is a style of yoga that includes holding each posture for a longer period of time to facilitate the space for your body and mind to come back to balance and to help you feel more like you again. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system in your body.
The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for rest, digestion, and slowing down your heart rate. All of these things are needed to ease anxiety. When you’re in an anxious state, your mind and body don’t quite connect the way they need to and it’s even more difficult for your muscles to recover from anything you’ve gone through. Luckily, restorative yoga helps ease anxiety and in turn helps speed up recovery. Here are five of Monal’s favorite restorative yoga poses, how to do them, and what she likes about each.
Child’s Pose
Photo: Courtesy of YogaRenew
How to do it:
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Begin on your hands and knees.
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Sink your hips back towards your heels as you reach your arms forward.
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Relax your belly onto your thighs and rest your head towards the mat.
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Take several long deep breaths here and stay here for up to 3 minutes if comfortable.
Insider Tip: Allow yourself to let go and release tension in your body. As you sink towards the mat and rest here, breathe here for several minutes. With every exhale, feel any stress leaving your body. With every inhale, feel yourself filling up with peace.
Why it’s great: This pose calms down the nervous system of the body and helps in releasing tensions in your neck, shoulders, and back and therefore helps get rid of anxiety.
Supine Twist
Photo: Courtesy of YogaRenew
How to do it:
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Begin by lying down on your back and draw your knees into your chest.
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Allow your knees to softly fall over to your left side and extend your arms out to a ‘T’.
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Option to bring your head to gaze in the opposite direction of your knees.
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Hold for several breaths and switch sides.
Insider Tip: Relax your body and mind with this deep twist and hip opener. As you release into Supine Twist pose, close your eyes and stay here for up to a minute on each side. Allow your mind to be quiet and revel in this moment of peace you have created for yourself.
Extended Hand to Big Toe Pose
Photo: Courtesy of YogaRenew
How to do it:
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Begin by lying down on your back with both legs extended
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Hug your right knee in, interlacing your hands behind your thigh
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Extend your foot up toward the ceiling, while keeping your shoulders supported on the ground
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Hold for several breaths and switch sides.
Insider Tip: If you have tighter hamstrings, you can keep a gentle bend in the extended leg’s knee as you build flexibility. If it still doesn’t feel comfortable, bend your grounded leg’s knee so that your foot can plant firmly into the ground for more stability and support.
Reclined Pigeon Pose
Photo: Courtesy of YogaRenew
How to do it:
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Begin by lying down on your back your knees bent
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Cross one ankle over the opposite thigh, as you open the hip out gently toward the side
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If you want more sensation, pick up the grounded foot and hug the knees toward your chest
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Hold for several breaths and switch sides.
Why it’s great: Like it’s “full pigeon” counterpart, this posture gives you all the hip opening and lower back stretching benefits without as much pressure on the joints.
Butterfly Pose
Photo: Courtesy of YogaRenew
How to do it:
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Begin in a comfortable seat and bring the soles of your feet together, knees out wide
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Sit up tall, and on an exhale, hinge forward at the hips
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Keep the spine long as you continue breathing here and settling in
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Close your eyes, and breathe into the areas where you feel the sensation, hold for several breaths and release gently when you’re ready
Why it’s great: This is a great posture to help combat anxiety and our often sedentary modern lifestyles.
