Restorative Yoga: Supported Bound Angle Pose

Do you feel stressed from work or family obligations? Do you feel like you’re being pulled in too many directions and you’re about to crumble physically and emotionally? Then you need a gentle and effective restorative yoga pose to quiet your mind and calm your nerves. Try Supported Bound Angle Pose, also called Reclined Bound Angle Pose, or, in Sanskrit — Supta Baddha Konasana.  This important restorative yoga pose relieves anxiety and stress, soothes menstrual cramps, and benefits those going through menopause.  Supported Bound Angle Pose opens the chest, abdomen and pelvis, and benefits those with high blood pressure and breathing difficulties.  It also helps hemorrhoids and symptoms of indigestion (in case you were wondering what else it could do!).

In her book, Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times, Judith Lasater says, “In The Yoga Sutras, Indian author and sage Patanjali writes about hiranyagarbha, a Sanskrit word which means ‘the great golden womb of the universe.’ Patanjali teaches that the entire universe is held within this golden womb.  As we practice Supported Bound Angle Pose, we are reminded of this primordial place of complete rest and ultimate protection. While lying in this pose, I have experienced being held within this force.  This experience was profoundly comforting and left me with a feeling of equanimity and well-being.”

How to do the pose:

Place a bolster lengthwise behind you and sit in front of it with your knees bent so that your sacrum touches the edge of the bolster.  Place a strap behind your sacrum and drape it forward over your hips and across your shins, and fasten it securely under your feet (see photo).

Lie back and rest comfortably over the bolster so that your legs and buttocks are on the floor.  If you feel any discomfort, place a folded blanket or two over the bolster to add some height.  You can also place a folded blanket under your head for neck support as well.  For optimal support, place a rolled blanket under the top of each thigh, and also under each arm.

Close your eyes and breathe deeply. For an even deeper relaxation experience,  place a soothing lavender eye pillow over your eyes to block out light.  Add tranquil meditation music to soften the effect even more.

To come out of the pose, bring your knees together and remove the strap.  Slowly roll over to one side and use your hands to come up to sitting.  Sit in quiet contemplation for a few minutes before getting back to your normal life.

What is Restorative Yoga?

When I found restorative yoga a few years ago I discovered the very best therapy for relieving stress. Whenever I have a particularly hard day or don’t feel like doing a regular yoga practice, I sink into a restorative yoga pose and just let everything go.  After lying in complete repose for ten or fifteen minutes, such as reclining bound angle pose (shown in photo), I seldom want to come out of it because I’m so deliciously absorbed in my own conscious relaxation that nothing else matters. Together with deep breathing and a sense of grounding, there’s no better antidote to healing both the body and the soul.

What is restorative yoga, anyway?

It’s a therapeutic style of yoga that uses props such as blankets, bolsters, pillows, blocks, sandbags, straps and eye pillows to create a nurturing and supportive environment for total relaxation.  Some people may find that restorative yoga takes too much time to set up, but the therapeutic benefits are enormous and it’s worth the effort, it really is. By using these various props, you can lie back effortlessly into poses that will soothe your nervous system, release tension, quiet the mind, and ease your body into a state of balance.

I invite you to discover the healing qualities of restorative yoga.  Read more about restorative yoga in this article by Yoga Journal.