Restorative Inversion - Viparita Karani

Viparita Karani translates as 'putting the sun over the moon' - referring to our abdominal fire above our brain. This pose is much safer than headstand or shoulder stand and may easily be held for five minutes to gain the full benefits of inverting!

It's a perfect reset pose for when you're feeling tired, promotes healthy circulation throughout the body (especially the legs and feet), gives the heart a break and increased blood flow to the brain.

Fun fact, it will engage the alpha/theta brainwave which is the frequency our memories of last night's dreams may be accessed. It's a perfect pose to do before savasana (corpse pose).

Do be careful if you have low blood pressure and always consult with a health care professional if you have any doubts about practicing asana yoga.

Transcript

Inversions don't have to be difficult or dangerous. The main point of an inversion qualifier of inversion, I should say, Is that the heart is above the head. So. . . For an inversion to have its maximum effect, Which is a complete reset of the endocrine system, Our hormonal system. It takes five minutes for that to occur. So Viparita Karani, Which I will show here, It's called putting the sun over the moon, Our fire center over our Brain. We do with. A blanket and a bolster. You want it to be firm and high enough to elevate. I'll show the strap as well. But first, The simple version. To bring the bolster under the pelvis. And take the legs up in the air. And that's it. Five minutes completely safe to the neck. You get all of the venous blood that coagulates in the legs from standing and sitting all day to drain out. So you'll avoid getting cankles. Now, If you were to use the strap. . . You want to put it on in advance. So it's going to go. Under the floating ribs. Those are the lowest set of ribs. Then Once you're situated, On your props. You put. The strap around the feet. You're held, Which is very nice. It's also something reassuring about having some light bondage, You could say, Around The back body is like a hug and some boundary. So this way, The legs, There's no holding at all. We're held. We're held. We don't want to have any effort here. Totally relaxing. Perfect pose if you don't have time for a power nap. It's wonderful around four o'clock when you get tired, You can do this for five minutes and reset the system. And classically in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Some translations say, You hold this until you remember your dreams from last night. This way. The Alpha Theta wave. Of the brain. Kicks in and we come back into that frequency where the information of last night's dreams are realm of our subtle body. Becomes apparent. That takes about five minutes if you prefer to time it. To get out of the pose, Just bend the knees. Again, Unhitch. Come down. Take a moment there. Right arm up by the ear and then just roll off to the side. The important thing is when you come up, Don't lift the head first. You want to lift the head last. So that the weight of the skull doesn't shock the rest of the body.