These 9 Restorative Yoga Poses Will Give You the Relief You're Craving

If you prefer fast-paced dynamic workouts such as HIIT, rowing, and power yoga, you may see exercise as an opportunity to break a sweat and bring your heart rate up. And while there’s nothing wrong with those motivations, sometimes your body needs something a bit calmer and gentler to quite literally ground you back down to earth. You may want to consider restorative yoga, a perfect option for balancing out your workout routine while also helping alleviate stress. Read on for some of the best restorative yoga poses to try. 

What Is Restorative Yoga?

When you think of yoga, you might imagine pushing back into Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), flowing through Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskars), or going upside down into a Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana). Unlike these more active postures and sequences, restorative yoga allows you to simply let go and melt into your mat.

“Restorative yoga differs from other types of yoga in that it is completely passive and supported,” says Peloton instructor Anna Greenberg. “There’s no effort from the practitioner at all to hold themselves up in any of the postures.”

Restorative Yoga vs. Yin Yoga: Key Differences

Be careful not to conflate restorative yoga with Yin Yoga. While both of these practices involve slowing down and maintaining longer holds than you’d find in other yoga classes, they’re far from interchangeable. Yin Yoga requires more effort and action—and can feel intense. “In Yin Yoga, you hold deep stretches that work on stretching the connective tissue for long periods of time, which can be very sensational,” Anna says. 

Restorative yoga, on the other hand, facilitates a sense of surrender and release. “In restorative yoga, we’re not looking for intensity or deep stretches,” she says. “We’re looking for total support so that our nervous system can relax and we can tap into our parasympathetic nervous system (the rest-and-digest state).”

Restorative yoga can be the perfect antidote to stress. A 2023 study published in the Journal of Education and Health Promotion found that participants who completed a 45-minute restorative yoga session once a week over a six-week period demonstrated improvements on 13 out of 14 markers of well-being. Of these markers, participants had the most notable increases in feeling more relaxed and thinking more clearly. It’s not a surprise when you consider the roots of restorative yoga. 

“One of the biggest benefits of restorative yoga is that it takes us back to that internal rest-and-digest state where we truly restore ourselves from the inside out,” Anna says. “We’re able to process experiences, to truly relax, and to fill up our own cup.”

9 Restorative Yoga Poses

Before we dive in, note that most—but not all—of the best restorative yoga poses will require props, including:

In many restorative yoga poses, these props can offer greater support and comfort so that you can completely relax and surrender.

1. Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)

Modify this pose by placing a bolster under your hips or using a folded blanket as a pillow for added comfort.

2. Supine Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)

Anna identifies Supine Bound Angle Pose as her all-time favorite restorative yoga posture. “It allows everything to just relax and gently open and to feel the support underneath,” she says. For this variation you’ll need a bolster, two blankets, and two blocks.

Anna offers a few modifications for this pose:

3. Bolster Twists

For this restorative yoga pose, Anna cues it with a bolster and a folded blanket. You can also opt to add a second blanket. 

4. Supported Child’s Pose (Balasana)

“This is another great forward-bending restorative yoga pose,” Anna says. “It’s a great place to breathe into the backplane of your body, widening into the sides and areas that don’t get as much breath, space, and TLC during our daily lives.” She cues it with a bolster and a blanket. You can also add in a second blanket to ease any tension in your ankles.

5. Side Lying Corpse Pose 

Anna loves this restorative yoga pose, which promotes relaxation throughout your nervous system. Here, she cues it with a bolster and one blanket.

6. Supported Supine Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)

You can come into this pose on its own—or, as Anna often loves to do, transition from the previous posture into this one. To do the transition, simply jump to step three.

7. Supported Half Frog Pose (Ardha Bhekasana)

Frog Pose is known as one of the most intense hip-openers in yoga, but the restorative version of it offers a milder, more accessible variation.

8. Stonehenge Pose

This restorative posture possesses some similarities to Corpse Pose (Savasana) and Legs Up the Wall Pose (Viparita Karani), Anna says. She cues Stonehenge Pose with a bolster, two blocks, and one blanket.

If you don’t have any props available, you can do this restorative yoga pose with a chair. Make sure the chair is the right height and structure, Anna says. Your calves should be parallel to the mat when they’re lying on the seat of the chair.

9. Corpse Pose (Savasana)

It’s the ultimate restorative pose in any yoga practice: Savasana.

You can opt to place a bolster beneath your knees and/or cover yourself with a blanket.

How to Add Restorative Yoga Poses to Your Routine 

Due to its grounding and nourishing elements, there’s no bad time to practice restorative yoga poses, Anna says. However, she adds that they can be especially beneficial: 

One of the best parts of restorative yoga is that it can soothe your mind and body. Whether your goal is workout recovery, easing your way into sleep, or calming your nerves, you can take the benefits of the practice with you—even after you walk off your mat. “If you’re feeling run-down, spread too thin, or ungrounded, any of these times are really great opportunities to check in, to nourish yourself, and allow your body and mind to restore themselves,” Anna says.