If it weren’t for vinyasa yoga, I’d still be living my life in a constant state of burnout. Eight years ago I discovered the practice and it’s since equipped me with the tools to manage everyday stress with great ease.
Vinyasa yoga is a dynamic style of yoga that connects breath to movement through creative sequencing. While it’s known for improving strength, flexibility and cardiovascular health, what I’ve grown to love the most are the moments of stillness and mental focus that allow me to regulate my nervous system when life feels overwhelming.
As a yoga teacher, I love sharing these tools for clarity and calm with others. Below are the poses that have made the biggest impact on my mental wellbeing, reducing stress and helping me return to my mat as both a student and teacher.
Most of these poses are great yoga stretches for beginners, but where I've featured a more advanced option I've also suggested an alternative beginner-friendly version.
Eight yoga poses I swear by for stress
Easy pose (sukhasana)
- Sit on the floor with your legs crossed. For extra support, sit on a block, cushion or folded blanket to raise the hips.
- Place your hands on your thighs, palms facing up or down.
- Concentrate on the base of your body, expanding your awareness up your spine to the crown of your head.
Cat-cow (marjaryasana-bitilasana)
- Begin in a tabletop position with your wrists under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
- Inhale to arch your back, lifting your chest and chin, allowing your belly to soften toward the floor.
- Exhale to round your spine, tucking your chin toward your chest and pressing your palms into the floor to create space between the shoulder blades.
Child's pose (balasana)
- From a tabletop position, open your knees out wide.
- Sit your hips back onto your heels, bring the torso toward the ground and extend your arms forward or relax them beside you.
- Place your forehead on the floor or rest it on your hands or a cushion.
- Use a bolster or pillow under your chest for extra support if needed.
Upward facing dog (urdhva mukha svanasana)
- Come into a tabletop position, with your hands underneath your shoulders.
- Keeping your arms straight and torso elevated, bring your hips forward and lower them without letting them touch the ground.
- Relax the muscles in your back and glutes while engaging your lower abs. Keep the knees and tops of your feet resting on the mat.
- Broaden through the chest by pulling your shoulders back and down. Gaze straight ahead, or slightly tilt the chin up towards the ceiling.
- If this feels too intense, you can lower your hips to the ground and keep a slight bend in your elbows to perform cobra (bhujangasana).
Warrior 2 (virabhadrasana II)
- From standing, take a large step back. Turn your back foot out at 90° and keep your front foot facing forward.
- Bend your front knee over your ankle. Avoid leaning too far forward or back.
- Extend both arms to shoulder height, parallel to the floor, palms facing down.
- Gaze over your front hand, press through your back foot and breathe.
Forward fold (uttanasana)
- From standing with your feet together, lift your arms overhead as you inhale, lengthening your spine.
- Exhale and hinge at your hips with a soft bend in your knees and flat back, letting your arms hang toward your feet without forcing a stretch.
- Relax your head and neck as you gaze downward.
- Keep the arms heavy like a ragdoll, hold opposite elbows or rest your hands on your thighs, shins or ankles.
Tree pose (vrksasana)
- From standing, with feet close together, shift your weight into one leg and connect to your whole foot for balance. Avoid locking the knee.
- Place the sole of your opposite foot on your inner calf or thigh. Maintain a forward-facing pelvis.
- Bring the palms of your hands together into a prayer position in front of the chest or stretch the arms up if you feel balanced.
- Maintain breath awareness on your inhalation and exhalation.
Supported headstand (salmba sirshasana)
- Come to a tabletop position and interlace your fingers with your forearms on the floor. Ensure the elbows are shoulder-width apart.
- Place the crown of your head into the palms of your hands. Press through your forearms to protect the neck, engage your core, and lift your hips. Bend your knees if needed.
- Walk your feet toward your body and come onto your toes. Lift one leg up at a time with control and draw your inner thighs together.
- Exit the pose by slowly lowering one leg at a time.
If a supported headstand is not accessible, try another inversion, such as legs-up-the-wall (viparita karani).
- Sit with your knees bent and right hip touching the wall.
- Bring your legs up against the wall as you rest your back and shoulders on the floor.
- Place your arms in any comfortable position.
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A soft, supportive mat will make your practice more comfortable. All of the below options come from our round-up of the best yoga mats.
