Three soft ticks and a bell when you're done, so you can close your eyes and stop
watching the clock.
How to do it
Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the mat and about as wide as your mat, heels a comfortable distance from your seat.
Let the knees lean in toward one another until they touch, so the legs hold each other up and your muscles do not have to.
Arms wherever they are happy — by your sides, hands on the belly, or wide.
Do nothing else. Let the floor take the whole weight of you and let the breath find its own pace.
Why practice it
Lets the lower back release without being asked to stretch — the knees bent takes the pull of the legs off the pelvis, so the spine settles by itself.
Gives the hip flexors a chance to let go after hours of sitting or a long run, simply by not holding them anywhere.
Slows the breath and the heart before a practice begins, so what follows is met by a body that has already downshifted.
Asks nothing of you. The most useful shape in a practice is often the one with no shape to get right.
Before you go
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Take care
If lying flat is uncomfortable late in pregnancy, come onto your left side instead, or prop the head and chest higher.
A cushion under the head is welcome if the chin lifts toward the ceiling.
Coming in & out
Into the pose
The first shape of a practice, straight from lying down.
From Corpse, by drawing the feet in toward you.
Out of the pose
Extend the legs long into Corpse.
Hug the knees in, then roll to one side to come up.
Common questions
Is Constructive Rest a real pose, or just lying down?
Both, and that is rather the point. It is a deliberate resting position used in somatic work and physiotherapy as well as yoga — the bent knees let the lower back and hip flexors release in a way that lying flat does not. Doing nothing on purpose is different from doing nothing.
How long should I stay?
Two minutes is enough to open a practice. If you are using it on its own after a long day or a hard run, ten or fifteen minutes is lovely.
My lower back still feels tight. What can I change?
Try walking the feet a little closer to your seat, or a little further away — there is usually one distance where the back gives up. A folded blanket under the head can help too.
Constructive Rest is one shape among many. When you'd like to put a whole sequence together into one long, slow practice, pop your email in and I'll send you my free two-hour Yin, restorative and Yoga Nidra retreat. Yours to keep.
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