In this day and age, monitoring and caring for our nervous system is more important than ever! There are a lot of ways to regulate your nervous system, from doing breathing exercises to resting on a yoga bolster in butterfly for seven minutes.

Sometimes, neither of those options feel accessible. However, I guarantee this option will work, as long as you have a little bit of space against a clear area on a wall.

Viparita Karani

So to reset your nervous system in less than ten minutes, go ahead and find a spot in your home where there isn’t anything hanging low against the wall. You can bring a blanket and pillow, too.

Once you find this spot, you can make your way to the floor and then you can carefully swing your legs up against the wall.

To open your hips up further for this experience, you can place the blanket or pillow underneath your hips. Then use the opposite to rest under your head—no need to add a headache to your levels of stress!

When you’re comfortable, take some deep, slow breaths through your nose and out through your mouth. You can practice box breathing or do an inhale/hold/exhale process for counts of 6, 8, 6.

Why This Works

Viparita Karani offers a reset to your nervous system thanks to the gentle reset of the Vagus Nerve. This helps the process of Rest and Digest start and do its work. If you don’t give your body a chance to indulge in the process of Rest and Digest, even once in a while, then you’re just going to continue being a stressed out noodle!

Also, having your feet up against the wall helps blood flow to your heart, which your meatsuit will undoubtedly appreciate! Every bit of cortisol lowered is an extra second of peace in your life.