Therapeutic Yoga To Calm Your Anxious Thoughts: 3 Poses to Settle the Mind and Soothe the Body

1. Constructive Rest Pose

How it helps:
This pose sends a signal to your body that it’s safe to soften. It gently resets your nervous system and invites everything to slow down.

How to do it:
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet wider than your hips. Let your knees fall together. You can place a blanket under your head and a pillow under your knees if that feels good. Rest your hands on your belly or by your sides. Stay for five to ten minutes and breathe slowly.

This is one of the easiest poses for anxious minds because it asks nothing of you. It simply gives your body permission to rest.

2. Supported Child’s Pose

How it helps:
It gives a deep sense of grounding and emotional safety. It helps your system shift out of stress mode and into rest-and-digest.

How to do it:
Kneel on your mat with your knees wide. Put a bolster or a couple of pillows lengthwise in front of you. Lower your torso onto the support and turn your head to one side. Let your arms relax forward. Breathe into your back and imagine tension moving out of your body each time you exhale. Stay for three to five minutes.

This pose creates a quiet, cocoon-like feeling that lets the body soften and release some of the stress it has been carrying.

3. Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose

How it helps:
It calms racing thoughts, supports sleep, and helps reverse the effects of stress on your body.

How to do it:
Sit beside a wall and swing your legs up as you lower your back to the floor. Use a blanket under your hips or head if that helps you settle. Rest your arms by your sides and close your eyes. Stay for up to ten minutes.

This pose can feel like hitting a reset button. It is simple, grounding, and surprisingly effective.

A Gentle Reminder

These poses are not quick fixes. They are invitations. Invitations to slow down, listen, and offer your body the support it needs so you can move from anxiety toward ease.

If you live with anxious thoughts, you are not alone. You don’t have to push your way through them. With breath, movement, and compassion, you can learn to meet yourself in a softer, steadier way.

If you want more practices like this, I use somatic tools such as therapeutic yoga, breathwork, and mindfulness in my work at Wild Path Therapy. I blend them with evidence-based approaches like CBT and IFS so you can support both your mind and your body.