Phase 1 · Two Techniques Worth Owning

Part of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Anxiety and Worry

30 Minute Yoga Sequence for Anxiety and Worry

The first four weeks. Slow, floor based, and built around two breathing techniques you will keep.

The point of the first month is not to feel calm during the session. It is to end up with two or three things you can do on your own when the worrying starts. So this sequence is deliberately simple and deliberately repetitive: alternate nostril breathing, humming bee breath, and a set of supported positions that never ask you to hold yourself up. Learn the breathing properly here and the rest of the program has something to build on.

30 min · Level 1

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When it helps

For the first four weeks, three times a week, at whatever time of day the worrying tends to be worst. Thirty minutes. A cushion, a blanket and a bit of wall. This supports self regulation. It is not a treatment for an anxiety disorder and it does not replace therapy: in the largest trial, cognitive behavioural therapy did better than yoga and kept its advantage six months later.

Self regulation

Two breathing techniques, practised long enough to become available under pressure rather than only on a mat.

Physical effect

Shoulders, jaw, hips and the back, which is where a permanently alert nervous system tends to show up.

What to expect

What usually shifts first is how long a worry episode lasts, rather than whether the worrying starts.

The two techniques

Six minutes of breathing first. Both of these are calming rather than stimulating, which is a deliberate choice.

Sukhasana

6 min

Easy Pose

Three minutes of alternate nostril breathing, closing one side at a time with the thumb and ring finger, out breath a little longer than in. Then three minutes of humming bee breath: breathe in through the nose, then hum all the way out.

Humming is the easier of the two to keep, because the long exhale happens by itself. Both are the calming end of the breathing repertoire, not the stimulating end.

Learn more about Sukhasana

Move, slowly

Nothing demanding. The point is that the body gets to move at the speed of the breath.

Marjaryasana

1 min

Cat Pose

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

The cheapest way to link the breathing you just practised to something the body is doing.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

1 min

Cow Pose

Chest forward on the in breath. Eight rounds, slower than feels natural.

Slower than feels natural is the instruction. A quick Cat and Cow is a warm up, a slow one is something else.

Learn more about Bitilasana

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 with no effort in it, and a moment to notice whether anything has changed yet.

Learn more about Vajrasana

Gomukhasana

1 min each side

Cow Face Pose

The arm position only, one arm up and one behind, a strap between the hands. Sit however is comfortable.

The front of the shoulders, which is where a lot of people hold being on alert without ever noticing.

Learn more about Gomukhasana

Bharadvajasana 1

1 min each side

Bharadvaja's Twist

A seated twist, gentle, turning from the ribs.

A twist gives you something to do that requires a small amount of attention, which is often useful with a busy mind.

Learn more about Bharadvajasana 1

Supported, and then still

Ten minutes where nothing is held up by you.

Janu Shirsana

1 min each side

Head-to-Knee Forward Bend

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

Head supported is what makes this restful rather than a stretch. The support is the pose.

Learn more about Janu Shirsana

Supta Kaptasana

1 min each side

Reclining Pigeon Pose

On your back, ankle across the opposite thigh, hands behind the back thigh.

The hips, with the floor holding everything.

Learn more about Supta Kaptasana

Viparita Karani

4 min

Legs Up the Wall

Legs up the wall. Go back to the humming breath for the first minute if it helps.

Four minutes here, and most people find this the part they look forward to by week two.

Learn more about Viparita Karani

Savasana

5 min

Corpse Pose

Flat, warm, covered. Set a timer.

Five minutes. A busy mind will wander constantly and that is expected rather than a problem to fix.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 4

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Two Techniques Worth Owning, the first phase of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Anxiety and Worry. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Three times a week for the first four weeks. Practise the breathing on days when nothing is wrong, because a technique you only ever use in a crisis has not been learned yet.

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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