Phase 1 · Somewhere to Put the Day

Part of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Chronic Stress

30 Minute Yoga Sequence for Stress and Coming Down

The first four weeks. Gentle, floor based, and it finishes with a long stillness that is not optional.

The first month is about having somewhere to put the day. Nothing here is demanding, and the last third asks for nothing at all. The one thing worth taking seriously is the ending: in the protocol with the clearest results, every session finished with fifteen minutes lying still. That is the part everybody cuts, and it is the part that was in the study.

30 min · Level 1

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When it helps

For the first four weeks, once or twice a week, and any day that has been too much. Thirty minutes. A blanket, two cushions and a bit of wall. This is for the stress you feel, and that is what the research measures. Persistent low mood, sleeplessness that will not shift, or thoughts of harming yourself are a different matter and belong with a doctor.

Perceived stress

This is the outcome the research is solid about. Across the trials, how stressed people felt came down consistently and by a meaningful amount.

Physical effect

The back, the hips and the backs of the legs, in supported positions that ask very little.

The ending

Fifteen minutes of the thirty are spent doing nothing. That proportion comes straight from the protocol, not from a preference for lying down.

Arrive

Six minutes of very little, which is the right way into a session like this.

Sukhasana

3 min

Easy Pose

Sitting up on a cushion. Nothing to achieve. Notice where the day is sitting in your body before you try to change it.

Three minutes of doing nothing before you start is a different beginning from launching into movement.

Learn more about Sukhasana

Marjaryasana

1 min

Cat Pose

Hands and knees, rounding the back as you breathe out.

The cheapest movement there is, and a good read on where the tension actually is.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Vajrasana

1 min

Thunderbolt Pose

Kneeling, sitting back on the heels, hands on the thighs. A cushion between the heels if it helps.

An upright seat that costs no effort, and a moment to notice the breath has already slowed.

Learn more about Vajrasana

Bitilasana

1 min

Cow Pose

Chest forward on the in breath. Move between this and the rounding, eight rounds.

Movement tied to the breath. The most useful thing in the first third of any session like this.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Open and fold

Four positions, all seated, all long enough to stop being an exercise.

Parsva Sukhasana

1 min each side

Seated Side Bend

Cross legged, one hand down, the other arm reaching over.

The side ribs, which get quietly compressed by a day at a desk and a mood.

Learn more about Parsva Sukhasana

Janu Shirsana

1 min each side

Head-to-Knee Forward Bend

One leg out, one foot in. Forehead resting on a cushion or a stack of books.

A supported forward bend is not a smaller version of an unsupported one. It is a different pose and this is the one that belongs here.

Learn more about Janu Shirsana

Pashimottanasana

2 min

Seated Forward Bend

Both legs out, folding forward onto a bolster or cushions. Sit on a folded blanket.

Two minutes of leaning on something. Longer than it sounds, and the point is to stop holding.

Learn more about Pashimottanasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

1 min, twice

Bridge Pose

On your back, hips lifting a little. Or supported with a block underneath if you would rather rest than lift.

The one moment of effort in the session, and it opens the front of the body after all that folding.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Do nothing, for a long time

Twelve minutes without any instructions worth following. This is the part the research protocol protected.

Supta Kaptasana

1 min each side

Reclining Pigeon Pose

Ankle across the opposite thigh, hands behind the back thigh.

The hips, and the last thing that asks for anything.

Learn more about Supta Kaptasana

Viparita Karani

4 min

Legs Up the Wall

Legs up the wall, arms wherever they fall.

Four minutes here does more than another four of stretching, and almost everyone keeps this one.

Learn more about Viparita Karani

Savasana

8 min

Corpse Pose

Flat, warm, covered. Eight minutes. Set a timer so you do not have to check.

The protocol with the clearest results ended every session with fifteen minutes here. Eight is the compromise for a thirty minute session and it is still long.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 4

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Somewhere to Put the Day, the first phase of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Chronic Stress. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

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Integration

Once or twice a week for the first four weeks. In the one trial that compared once a week against twice, twice was no better, and the once a week group actually turned up more often. Consistency beats frequency here.

The teacher behind this sequence

Gründer & Autor

Manish Rana

Gründer von Asanaverse.de. Manish schreibt über Yoga, Ayurveda und Meditation und verdankt seine tiefe Verbindung zum Yoga seinen indischen Wurzeln. Mit über 1000 Stunden Yoga Alliance Teacher Training gibt er sein Wissen an die Community weiter.

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Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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