Cool Your Jets
When things get too hot in class, New York City yoga teacher Sadie Nardini takes it down a notch with cooling postures designed to help the body and mind come back from the brink of burnout. These simple, restful moves will create more space in chronically tight areas and encourage longer breaths, helping you decompress — and turn on your internal air-conditioning.
“I lead my students through these moves whenever I see they’re pushing themselves too hard,” Nardini says. “They provide pockets of rest that allow your body to cool down and your hotheadedness to subside, helping you get back to a place of focused calm.”
Waterfall Pigeon (A)
What it does: Releases tension in the hips and brings movement into the spine and breath into the body, which calms the nervous system. Resting the forehead also quiets and focuses the mind.
Waterfall Pigeon (B)
Exhale and lean forward, leading with your heart and head toward the floor. Repeat, moving like a wave through your spine: Roll up on the inhale, and reverse as you release on the exhale. Do this 5 to 10 times, then rest your head on your thumbs or the backs of your hands (B).
Breathing Goddess (A)
What it does: Stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (which runs the “rest and digest” functions of the body), bringing you into balance.
How to do it: Lie on your back in goddess pose — soles of feet together and knees bent, falling away from each other to form a diamond shape (A)
