Yoga for Perimenopause
Perimenopause brings real physical changes — hot flashes, disrupted sleep, joint stiffness, and a nervous system that's quicker to fire. These poses are selected for that season: cooling forward folds to ease heat, restorative shapes to reset the nervous system, and gentle strength work to support the pelvic floor and spine. Practice slowly, stay a little longer than feels necessary, and let the breath do the work.
Legs Up the Wall
Viparita Karani
Legs Up the Wall is the most accessible and most consistently useful restorative pose in the practice. All it requires is a wall and a floor. The effect is immediate: the legs drain, the lower back releases, and the nervous system begins to quiet within the first minute. Sit sideways against the wall, hip touching the baseboard. Swing both legs up the wall as you lie back, scooting the hips as close to the wall as comfortable. Arms rest at the sides or on the belly. Eyes close. The position reverses the venous blood flow in the legs, which is why tired or swollen legs feel so much better afterward. The heart doesn't have to work as hard against gravity to circulate blood from the legs back up. The lower back benefits because the hamstrings, which often pull on the pelvis and create lumbar tension, are in a lengthened position without weight-bearing. The lumbar spine settles toward the floor. If the hamstrings are very tight, the legs will pull away from the wall as they try to straighten. Move the hips farther from the wall until the legs can rest comfortably. The goal is ease, not maximum hip-to-wall proximity. Stay for five to ten minutes. Set a timer so you don't spend the time wondering how long you've been here. This pose is particularly useful during perimenopause for hot flash management, after long runs for leg recovery, during high-stress periods for nervous system regulation, and before sleep for anyone who finds it hard to wind down.
Child's Pose
Balasana
Child's Pose is the most reliable reset in the practice. When things get hard, when the breath shortens, when you need a moment, this is where you go. It's also where you can start a practice if you need to arrive slowly, and where you can return between challenging poses to find your breath again. Come to hands and knees. Bring the big toes together, knees either together or wide. Sink the hips back toward the heels and let the torso fold forward. Arms can extend in front of you or rest alongside the body. The forehead comes to the mat or to stacked fists if the floor feels far away. The wide-knee variation opens the groin and allows the torso to rest between the thighs. The narrow-knee version gives more lower back release. Both are useful; experiment to find which one your body needs on a given day. Child's Pose gently decompresses the lumbar spine, releases the hips and thighs, and quiets the nervous system. The forehead on the mat has a grounding, almost cooling effect. The breath into the back body fills the space between the shoulder blades and helps the upper back let go. It can be held for thirty seconds or thirty minutes. During a restorative practice it becomes a five-minute pose. As a rest between more demanding poses it serves in thirty seconds. There is no performance here. Child's Pose is just rest.
Supported Forward Fold
Supported Forward Fold is the restorative version of Seated Forward Fold. The effort of reaching toward the feet is removed, and the torso simply rests forward onto a bolster or folded blankets that are stacked on the legs. The result is a genuinely passive release of the lower back and hamstrings, which is different from what happens when the muscles have to hold a position actively. Sit with legs extended. Stack a bolster or two or three folded blankets on the thighs, at a height that allows the torso to drape forward onto the support without straining. Fold the torso forward and rest the head on the support. Arms rest at the sides. The support height is the key variable. Too low and the body strains to reach it, which defeats the purpose. Too high and the stretch disappears. Find the height where the lower back and hamstrings feel a gentle but real opening without any effort or discomfort. The head rests completely. If there's any tension in the neck from holding the head up, add more height under the support. Breathe into the back body. Feel the inhale expand the back ribs. The exhale softens everything further. Let each exhale release a little more tension. Hold for three to five minutes. This is long enough for the nervous system to stop guarding the position and allow the deeper release that makes restorative work different from active stretching.
Bound Angle Pose
Baddha Konasana
Bound Angle Pose is one of those poses where the instruction sounds simple and the reality is quite varied. Sit with the soles of the feet together, knees falling open to the sides. Some people's knees are six inches from the floor. Others are at the level of the hips or higher. Both are completely normal. The goal is not to push the knees toward the floor. The goal is to sit with a neutral pelvis, feel the gentle stretch in the inner thighs and groin, and breathe. Pushing the knees down actively tends to create tension rather than release. What often needs adjusting: the pelvis. Most people tip backward at the pelvis when they sit in this position, which rounds the lower back and takes the stretch out of the inner thigh. Sitting on a folded blanket or cushion to elevate the hips corrects this. With the hips elevated, the pelvis can be neutral and the spine can be tall. For a deeper stretch, fold the torso forward over the feet. Hinge from the hips, not the waist, and let the spine stay long rather than rounding sharply. This pose works the inner thighs and adductors gently over time. It is also useful preparation for sitting in meditation and for reducing tension in the pelvic floor, which many people carry unconsciously. Held for two to three minutes, it becomes a different experience than a thirty-second version. The inner groins begin to soften in a way that feels almost like letting go.
Restorative Fish Pose
Restorative Fish Pose is a chest and heart opener done passively, with the body supported by a bolster or rolled blanket rather than held up by muscular effort. The front of the body, which is almost always in a closed, forward-facing position during daily life, gets a full and completely effortless opening. Place a bolster or two folded blankets on the mat lengthwise. Sit in front of the support and slowly lie back over it, positioning the support so it lands between the shoulder blades when you're lying down. The head can rest on the floor or on an additional thin support. Legs extend in front of you or soles of the feet together in a reclined bound angle. Arms open to the sides, palms facing up. The support under the thoracic spine creates extension through the mid-back, which opens the chest and front shoulders without any muscular engagement required. The pectoral muscles, front deltoids, and intercostals all release over time. The neck should feel comfortable. If there's any strain in the throat or compression in the back of the neck, add support under the head. Close the eyes. Breathe naturally. Notice the chest rising and falling with each breath, the front ribs expanding as the support encourages them to open. This pose consistently produces a sense of vulnerability as the chest opens. That openness, physical and emotional, is part of what makes restorative chest openers feel so different from active ones.
Supine Twist
Supine Twist is the pose most people want at the end of a long day and the one they're least likely to skip. Lying down takes the effort out of it, the spine gets to release without supporting any weight, and the rotation happens through gravity rather than muscular effort. Lie on your back. Hug both knees to the chest. Extend the arms out to the sides at shoulder height. Let both knees fall to the right, stacking them on top of each other. The left shoulder stays on or near the floor. Gaze can go to the left. The rotation releases the lower back, the outer hip of the top leg, and the IT band. Most people feel it primarily in the lower back and the hip of the upper leg. If the knees are far from the floor, place a folded blanket under them so the body can relax completely. The key to getting the most from this pose: breathe into the left side of the chest. The exhale helps the left shoulder release toward the floor and deepens the rotation gently with each breath. Hold for eight to ten breaths per side at minimum. For tighter bodies or after a long run, two to three minutes per side is not too much. This is also a useful pose for SI joint tension, the area where the sacrum meets the pelvis. The rotation creates movement through the joint that daily upright movement doesn't access.
Happy Baby
Ananda Balasana
Happy Baby is a decompression pose that most adults approach with more self-consciousness than it deserves. The name describes it accurately: you're lying on your back holding your feet while your knees open wide, which is exactly what babies do when they're content on the floor. Lie on your back and bring your knees toward your armpits. Reach up and grab the outer edges of your feet, or your ankles, or behind your knees if that's what's accessible. Open the knees wide, letting them drop toward the armpits. Gently pull the feet down. The lower back presses into the mat. This is the lumbar decompression that makes the pose so satisfying after standing, running, or sitting for long periods. Feel the sacrum and lower back heavy on the floor. Rock gently side to side if it feels good. This motion massages the lower back against the floor and works any residual tension out of the sacroiliac joints. Happy Baby also opens the inner groin and hip flexors. The outer hip of each leg gets a gentle stretch from the external rotation. It's doing several things at once without feeling effortful. Common modification: if the hands don't comfortably reach the feet, use a strap or belt around each foot, or simply hold behind the knees instead. This is a good finishing pose before Savasana. It releases the hips and lower back from whatever the practice has built up, and the supine position is already close to final rest.
Bridge Pose
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Bridge Pose is one of the most accessible and most effective poses in the beginner repertoire. It strengthens the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back in a position that most people never use in daily movement, which is part of why the results are so noticeable. Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the mat hip-width apart. The feet are close enough to the hips that the fingertips can brush the heels when the arms are extended alongside the body. Press into the feet and lift the hips toward the ceiling. The glutes should be the primary driver of the lift. Squeeze them at the top. This distinction matters because many people lift from the lower back instead, which reduces the glute work and can cause lumbar compression. The pose can be held statically for five to eight breaths or done dynamically: lift on the inhale, lower on the exhale, for eight to ten repetitions. Both variations are useful. The dynamic version builds endurance. The static hold develops sustained activation. Interlacing the hands beneath the pelvis and pressing the arms into the mat creates a natural chest opener and helps stabilize the position. Bridge Pose is also a hip flexor stretch. When the hips are lifted, the hip flexors on the front of the thigh are lengthened. For people who sit all day, this reversal of the sitting position feels immediately good. Three sets of ten bridges, done most mornings, will change how your lower back feels within a month.
Easy Seated Pose
Sukhasana
Easy Seated Pose is the default seated position for meditation, breathing exercises, and grounding practices in yoga. It looks straightforward: sit cross-legged with the spine tall. In practice, many adults find it difficult to sit comfortably here for more than a minute or two without the lower back rounding and the spine slumping. The rounding happens because the hip flexors and external rotators are tight enough that the pelvis tips backward when the legs are crossed. The fix is simple: sit on a folded blanket, a meditation cushion, or a yoga block. Elevating the hips changes the angle of the pelvis, allowing the spine to be tall without effort. Hands rest on the knees or in the lap. The jaw and face are relaxed. The shoulders drop away from the ears. Eyes can be closed or softly downcast. There is no one correct position for the legs. Some people have one shin in front of the other. Some people can only do this with significant hip support. None of that matters. The point is a stable base and a long spine. Easy Seated Pose is not passive. Maintaining a tall spine without gripping requires the deep postural muscles to work gently but continuously. Over months of regular sitting, those muscles become stronger and sitting upright becomes genuinely easier, rather than something that has to be maintained by effort.
Cat-Cow
Marjaryasana-Bitilasana
Cat-Cow is one of the most effective and most neglected poses in the practice. It takes two minutes, requires no warm-up, can be done anywhere there's a mat-sized piece of floor, and produces an immediate change in how the spine feels. Most people skip it because it seems too simple. Come to hands and knees, wrists under shoulders, knees under hips. On the inhale, drop the belly toward the floor, lift the chest and the sit bones, and let the lower back arch. This is Cow. On the exhale, press the floor away, round the entire spine from tailbone to crown, and let the head drop. This is Cat. Move between them slowly, one breath per movement. The goal is not big dramatic movement. The goal is feeling each vertebra participate. Start at the tailbone and let the wave of motion travel upward through the lumbar spine, the thoracic spine, the cervical spine, all the way to the crown of the head. Then reverse it from the crown back down. This spinal articulation keeps the discs hydrated, the facet joints mobile, and the muscles around the spine elastic. It's the closest thing yoga has to a prescription for spinal health. Do it in the morning before you get off the floor. Do it between longer holds. Do it when your lower back is stiff from sitting or from a long drive. The five minutes you spend here will consistently change how the rest of your day feels.
Thread the Needle
Thread the Needle is a thoracic rotation pose that targets the area most other poses skip. The thoracic spine, the middle back between the shoulder blades, should rotate significantly in daily movement. In most people it doesn't, because years of sitting and forward-facing activity have reduced its mobility. The neck and lower back then compensate by over-rotating, which is why neck pain and lower back pain often trace back to a stiff thoracic spine. From hands and knees, slide the right arm under the left arm along the floor, palm facing up. The right shoulder and the right temple come to rest on the mat. The left arm can press lightly into the mat to increase the rotation, or extend forward as in Extended Puppy Pose. The rotation happens through the thoracic spine. Feel the stretch between the shoulder blades on the right side. The hips stay stacked over the knees. Breathing into this position helps. On each inhale the spine lengthens. On each exhale the body releases a little further into the rotation. Five to eight breaths per side is a good starting point. People with significant thoracic stiffness, common in people who spend long hours at computers, will feel this intensely even at first. This pose is a good preparation for deeper twists and for any overhead shoulder work, because thoracic extension and rotation are prerequisites for healthy shoulder mechanics.
Savasana
Corpse Pose
Savasana is the hardest pose in yoga for many people. Not physically. Mentally. It asks you to lie completely still, to not be productive, to not plan, to not solve anything. For most adults, five minutes of that is genuinely challenging. Lie flat on your back with your arms slightly away from your body, palms facing up. Legs extend naturally, feet falling open. Close your eyes. That's the external form of the pose. The internal practice is releasing. Starting from the feet and working upward, consciously let each part of the body soften and release contact with the floor. The calves, the backs of the thighs, the buttocks, the lower back, the shoulder blades, the backs of the hands, the jaw, the muscles around the eyes. Most people do a version of Savasana that is mostly rest but not complete rest. The jaw still holds a little tension. The hands curl slightly. The mind plans tomorrow. This is fine. The pose still works. But noticing these small holdouts and releasing them is the actual practice. The physiological purpose is integration. After a practice that has challenged the muscles, heated the body, and asked the nervous system to adapt continuously, Savasana gives the system time to process and absorb what happened. Skipping it to get to the next thing is the equivalent of leaving the oven to cool with the door open. The baking still happened, but the finishing step is incomplete. Five minutes minimum. Ten is better.