Be kind to yourself and allow yourself some time to rest in supported child’s pose at the end of each day.

Use whatever props you have available at home, you can improvise. Your aim is to support every part of your physical body and thus allow the mind to be supported and relaxed. Spend 5 to 10 mins just connecting with your breath, do a little body scan to make sure you aren’t holding any tension anywhere.

People sometimes take a lot of persuasion to come to a restorative yoga class because they either feel they aren’t doing ‘enough’ or they find it too challenging to ‘be still’. Yoga is about being enough (wherever, whenever) and giving ourselves permission to be still. The benefits of supported Balasana (child’s pose) are many. Taking firm cushions, pillows or a whole pile of blankets make a bolster and sit astride your bolster with your feet on the ground.

Make sure your legs are comfortable before lying on your belly on the bolster and allow your belly and chest to be fully supported by your bolster and arms to rest either side on the forearms on the floor. Be aware of not holding tension in the upper arms and shoulders by moving the arms slightly forward. As you breathe allow the body to feel long and supported and be aware of the ribs and lungs moving as you inhale and exhale.

Your head should rest to one side or the other on the bolster. There are two areas you can focus the breath. Firstly, the solar plexus region massaging the main organs of the core against the the bolster and secondly, back body breathing. Turn your awareness to the openness of the rib-cage on the back, the shoulder blades, the lower back. If you can rest there with a blanket over your back fro 5-10 mins you’ll be doing you and your nerves a huge favour!