Can I Have Rest Breaks Between Yoga Postures?
The common perception about yoga is that it is a milder form of physical exercise than aerobic routines.
However, a yoga session without breaks can feel strenuous, making you ask if you can have rest breaks between yoga postures.
It is advisable to rest between yoga postures if your body starts to feel drained or if your breath feels labored. Resting when appropriate ensures that your body is at ease and you are focused on your practice rather than pushing yourself beyond your limits.
This article dives deep into why you should take rest breaks between yoga asanas, when you should take them and how.
We then also talk about the benefits of breaks and some things to keep in mind.
Let’s start with the question of when you should have rest breaks between yoga postures.
When should you have rest breaks between yoga postures?
You should have rest breaks between yoga postures in these three scenarios. Your body is giving you signs that it needs a break. You are not able to breathe fully or feel like you are gasping for breath. You are transitioning from one plane of postures to another – for example, from standing to sitting.
Let’s examine each of these scenarios.
1. When your body demands rest
Sutra 2.46 in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is one of the only three sutras out of the 196 that speaks about asana or the physical postures in yoga.
This sutra says sthira-sukham asanam, which translates to ‘posture (asana) should be stable (sthira) and comfortable (sukha).’
Both steadiness and comfort qualities need to come together for a yoga posture to do its intended work.
For this to happen, the body needs to be free of tension and strain.
Therefore, it is vital to be mindful of how the body is feeling while doing yoga postures and take a break when rest is needed.
2. When the breath feels labored
The importance of the breath in yoga cannot be overemphasized.
The breath is our guide in yoga postures as it brings us more in harmony with our body and mind.
Breathing matters in yoga because it helps us move into a posture and create balance.
When the breath is broken or labored, it signals that we are losing the vital energy or prana that yoga is supposed to build.
This is counterproductive to our practice.
Therefore, an excellent time to take a break is when the breath feels disturbed and not in sync with the body, and return to our practice when the breath becomes even, smooth, and steady.
3. When there is a change of planes in postures
A resting posture is introduced when switching from one plane to another, from standing poses to sitting or kneeling, or from lying supine postures to inversions.
This makes sure that the transition is gradual and the body can prepare itself for the change.
A downward-facing dog, which acts as a warming posture and a cooling posture, is often practiced when transitioning between planes in sun salutations and vinyasa flows.
How do you take rest breaks between yoga postures? Let us look at the best way to do this.
What is the best way to take rest breaks between yoga postures?
The best way to take rest breaks between yoga postures is by coming into a resting or restorative pose. Restorative poses ensure that the flow of your practice is maintained while also inducing appropriate rest. Some such poses are child’s pose, downward-facing dog, and crocodile pose.
Stepping away from the mat is not recommended as a way to take rest breaks between yoga postures.
This is because yoga asana aims to keep the body and mind together, looking inward.
Any distractions that take us away from this focused attention make us lose the awareness that our practice is helping us build.
Resting poses ensure that our attention is still inward and the body, breath, and mind can harmonize.
That said, there are some essential things to keep in mind during your breaks.
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Things to keep in mind during your breaks
You can optimize the breaks between yoga postures and derive the most from them by keeping the following things in mind:
1. The duration of the break should be optimal
The ideal duration of a rest break between yoga postures is about a minute.
Ensure the rest break is neither too long nor too short but just enough for the breath to return to normal.
2. Do not leave your yoga mat
A rest break does not mean that you go on to do other things.
Rest between yoga postures has to be practiced so that the body, breath, and mind are still together.
Stay on your mat and use the time to gather your energy and breath.
3. Use the break to assimilate your practice
Use the time you are in a resting pose to connect with yourself and check in about the progress you have made.
It is also a time to regain lost ground and prepare yourself for the practice that is to come ahead.
Are there benefits to taking rest breaks between yoga postures? Let’s find out.
Benefits of taking rest breaks between yoga postures
There are clear benefits of taking rest breaks between yoga postures. Here are some:
1. The breath is restored
During resting poses, the breath gets a chance to settle down.
This is especially true for inverted poses like downward facing dog and standing forward folds, where the head is positioned below the heart.
In these poses, the mind and body can quickly recover, and the breath gets time to become slower, quieter, and smoother.
As the breath settles, the nervous system becomes quiet, and its relaxation response gets activated.
2. The eyes get to rest
A rest break in yoga is a time where your eyes can be closed, and you can, for those few seconds, enjoy the bliss of nothingness.
This time of shut-eye is not only good for relaxing the eyes, but it also keeps away sensory stimuli, which is great for building focus and keeping attention on your practice.
3. It helps us assimilate the benefits of our practice
When we take a rest break in between yoga postures, we get the time to consolidate all that we have practiced until that point.
The body and mind absorb the benefits of yoga when a pause is introduced, which is why you should never skip savasana or corpse pose at the end of a yoga session.
4. It teaches us to stop
We are always doing something and, despite that, always short of time.
Taking a rest break between yoga postures teaches us to stop amidst all the activity and return to our core.
We can take this to our lives off the mat, teaching ourselves that it is ok to stop when needed and resume with restored energy when we are ready.
Conclusion
Taking rest breaks in between yoga postures will give your body time to strengthen.
It is essential to trust the body and keep in mind at all times that yoga is non-competitive.
What makes our practice our own is how we use it to suit our bodies and our needs, which can sometimes be in the form of taking breaks.
Here is a guide to restorative poses in yoga that you can include in between your practice.