In Yoga diaryIn the Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in back issues dating back to 1975. These stories offer a glimpse into how yoga has been interpreted, written about, and practiced over the years. This article first appeared in the December 2003 issue Yoga diary. You can find more of our archives here.
We all need survival strategies to help us maneuver through life’s difficult days with some degree of sanity and grace. When the world threatens to overwhelm us, we need a way to hold ourselves together until the stormy weather passes – or maybe just a way to let everything fall apart without losing ourselves completely. This is my favorite survival strategy: I close the door, tune into my favorite Savasana song, hit the repeat button, slide into Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani), exhale as soulfully as possible, and then invite the stillness of the pose to sink into every cell of my body.
I breathe. I surrender. I’m melting. As my legs deflate, my mind goes blank. I hang here for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, sometimes half an hour or more until the pose has sucked every last drop of fear and excitement from my soul. And when I can bear to pull myself back to reality, I roll over and slowly sit up, renewed. I consistently feel better able to tackle life’s challenges with clarity and balance.
I bet Viparita Karani can do the same for you. This soothing, restorative pose calms the nervous system, relieves muscle fatigue and helps restore soothing breathing. Many yoga instructors offer it as an antidote to exhaustion, illness and weakened immunity. Furthermore, it invites us to delve beneath the surface of life into quieter and more introspective realms.
Legs against the wall Benefits
- Soothes exhausted nerves
- Relieves muscle fatigue
- Restores tired legs and feet
- Provides soothing breathing
- Promotes balanced energy and well-being
Who should avoid legs-to-the-wall?
Everyone with…
- Hiatal hernia
- Glaucoma or a detached retina
- Severe hypertension
- Pregnancy after the first trimester
What Viparita Karani means
Viparita Karani (vi-par-EE-tah kar-AHN-ee)
viparita = inverted or inverted
clerk = do, make, action
How to exercise legs against the wall
The name of the game in Viparita Karani is to finish with the legs resting comfortably against the wall with the feet directly above the hips, the pelvis and lower back fully supported by the blankets or pillow, and the upper body nestled quietly into the floor. However, getting there isn’t necessarily a graceful affair. Some experienced yogis roll forward into the pose, but I wouldn’t recommend this strategy for beginners, especially if you’re hugging your tailbone (or your wall).
Instead, you may want to try a slightly less acrobatic approach. Sit on the support with the left side of your body against the wall and your feet on the floor. Using your hands for support, shift your weight to the outer right hip, then lower your right shoulder to the floor so you can rotate your pelvis and sweep your legs against the wall. Place your back on the floor and align your spine so that an imaginary line from your nose to your navel is perpendicular to the baseboard.
There should be enough room for your shoulder blades to rest comfortably on the floor, and just enough space between your hips and the wall for your tailbone to sink gently toward the floor.
As always with yoga, it’s worth taking some time to study the details of the pose before diving into the depths. You will be rewarded for your care and precision with a deeper and soothing state once you get used to it.
Legs
Let’s start with the legs. Ideally, in Viparita Karani, the legs should be straight, the ankle bones touching and the backs of the thighs resting against the wall, providing gentle support that enhances the restorative benefits of the pose. If the backs of your thighs don’t touch the wall and you feel like you can do so without strain, bend your legs and slide your hips a few inches closer to the wall, resting more of your lower back on the support.
If getting close to the wall makes your hamstrings protest, that’s no problem. Come out of the position, slide the support a few inches away from the baseboard and try again. Experiment with the distance between the support and the wall until you find a position that gently stretches the backs of your legs but doesn’t cause pain. After all, it’s hard to find inner peace when your thighs are screaming in protest.
Hips
Next, think about your hips. Your pelvis should rest comfortably on the support, with your two sitting bones directly opposite the wall and equidistant from it. The blankets should support you from the top of your tailbone to your kidneys (middle of the back) so that the abdomen can sink evenly into the back of the body. To give your abdomen a feeling of space, gently lower the base of the tailbone down into the small groove between the support and the wall. At the same time, stretch the sit bones away from the abdomen, as if magnetically pulled toward the wall.
Shoulders
Check whether your upper body is also balanced and spacious. Lift your left shoulder, slide the shoulder blade down toward the waist, then drop the shoulder back to the floor. Notice how much space you have created between the shoulder and the ear. Repeat this action on the second side. Rest your hands in a comfortable position, sideways, on top of your floating ribs, or perhaps on the floor beyond your head, with soft arms and relaxing hands.
Classic legs against the wall
To assume the classic pose, sit on two folded blankets or a pillow lengthwise a few inches from the wall, with your left side against the wall. Using your hands for support, move to your outer right hip and place your right shoulder on the floor. Turn your hips to the left, roll onto your upper back and sweep your legs against the wall. Rest the backs of the thighs, calves and heels against the wall with the legs straight and slightly turned inward. Gently release your sit bones toward the baseboard as you rest your arms at your sides, with elbows bent. Close your eyes, breathe calmly and let yourself sink in. Stay in this position for at least 5 minutes and then slide your feet along the wall, bend your knees and slowly roll to your right side to come out.
Legs against the wall Variation 1
This adjustment is especially useful if you have tight hamstrings or a weak body. Rest on your back with your knees slightly bent and your hips 3 to 6 feet from the wall. Lift your right foot, place the heel against the wall and gently straighten the leg. Then repeat this action with the left foot. If this strains your hamstrings, bend the legs, press the feet against the wall and slide the torso a few inches further away from the baseboard. Place the tailbone completely on the floor and gently extend your sit bones toward the wall. Soften the abdomen, close the eyes and breathe comfortably here for at least 5 minutes.
Legs against the wall Variation 2
This version deeply stretches the inner thighs and softens and softens the abdomen. From the classical pose, bend the legs, place the feet against the wall and gently slide the feet to the base of the pelvis, as if in the Bound Corner Pose (Baddha Konasana). Draw the
knees apart, extending outer edges of legs toward wall while pressing feet firmly together. If your legs feel tight, slide the support slightly away from the wall. Close your eyes and rest comfortably for 2 to 5 minutes, stretching and soothing the groin and abdomen. To come out of the pose, pull your knees together and press your feet into the pose
How to experience convenience in Viparita Karani
Your only remaining task is to close your eyes, exhale completely and surrender to the gentleness of the pose. Scan your body, limb by limb, inviting any remaining knots of tension to fully dissolve: allowing your brain to become easy and calm and release its grip on any lingering worries or fears. See if you can take the opportunity to spend time grabbing for absolutely nothing.
Then sink in layer by layer to observe the subtle sensations within. First, shift your focus to the breath and observe how much freedom this pose offers the diaphragm at the base of the lungs and invites the mid-body to participate wholeheartedly in each of your inhalations and exhalations. Let your belly move with the waves of the breath.
Invite the breath to deepen, and let each exhale feel soul-satisfying and complete. As your body softens, you may even discover a wonderful pause at the end of each exhalation, a moment or two of total silence and spaciousness. Feel the peace and deep tranquility of this solid silence.
Now draw your awareness under the breath, to the changing sensations of life pulsing through you. Follow the flow of energy as it travels from your heels through the cascades of your legs, into the warm lake of the belly, over the gentle waves of the ribcage, through the cavern of the heart, and all the way out through the channels of the neck and head before dissolving into the ocean of life outside you. Embrace the feeling of being drained and emptied, and notice how soothing this gentle reversal can be for both the heart and head.
Pause, breathe, and when you’re ready, sink back in. Notice that beneath the body’s surface, beneath the rise and fall of breath, even beneath the flow of inner energy, there lies a calm sea of calm and ease.
Observe how this silence supports you, how even if you let everything you know about yourself disappear, you are still supported by the world. With each gentle exhale, see if you can come a little closer to the silence that lies at the heart of the universe. Let yourself float in this soothing silence for as long as you wish.
When your body signals it’s ready to return to the world of action, slowly slide your legs down the wall and bend your knees close to your chest. Rest here for a few moments before pressing your feet against the wall and sliding your hips along the blankets to the floor.
Don’t rush it: you’ve just emerged from the depths and it may take some time to get used to the world around you.
When you sit up, observe how you feel in your body, your breathing, your mind and your heart. Ask yourself if you feel a little softer and more centered than before you took the pose. You may also feel smoother, quieter, and more at ease. Your journey through Viparita Karani may have even made you feel a little more like the calm, balanced, and gentle being you were always meant to be.
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