Being Upside Down

Legs-up-the-wall pose, also known by its Sanskrit name, viparita karani, is a wonderful relaxation pose for after work or before sleep, or any time a little respite is needed. This pose is said to quiet the mind, relieve tension in the lower back, and offer a welcome break for tired, aching feet.

The pose involves lying on the floor, feet straight up toward the ceiling, heels resting against the wall. The hips might be a few inches away from the wall, the knees might be slightly bent. If the hamstrings are quite tight, let the hips be farther from the wall, bend the knees as much as a 90 degree angle, and rest the feet flat against the wall.

If you prefer the knees bent, you could even use a chair or sofa to support the lower legs. A thick folded towel could also elevate the hips slightly. Find a variation where you can stay comfortably for 5-15 minutes. Then just breathe there deeply and slowly, extending the exhale to make it a little longer than the inhale.This pose is a type of inversion. The mysterious sounding Sanskrit name means simply making yourself upside down: viparita means turned around, reversed, and karani means doing or making. The ancient yogis believed inversions had the power to “destroy old age and death.”

 

While this may have been a slight exaggeration, modern yoga teachers still believe that inversions, in addition to offering a mini-vacation for the circulatory system, have therapeutic applications for a host of ailments from anxiety and depression to headache, high and low blood pressure, arthritis, digestive problems, respiratory ailments and urinary disorders. Some of the better known inversions include shoulder-stand and headstand. But for many yogis, any pose in which the feet or hips are higher than the heart is an inversion.

The challenge of this particular inversion is not so much in the body as it is in the mind. Laying on the floor may be uncomfortable for a few reasons. There may be concerns about the cleanliness of the floor, as it is the place where the feet usually go, and (the thought may occur) feet are not usually so clean, what with all that walking around all day in public places.

 

Even if there were a mat or a towel on the floor, there may be a draft in the room. Some germs or dust might blow onto the face. Or if there is a pet in the house, the pet may take advantage of its owner’s reclined position to offer some extra kisses, which may or may not be welcome.

The underlying challenge with all of the real or imagined discomforts is that being upside down is unusual. All day, every day, the heart is held over the hips. Even when sleeping, the heart is pretty much level with the rest of the body. Having the hips higher than the heart is just unusual.

This simple reversal of the body’s situation with respect to gravity is a radical challenge to the staus quo. In my own experience, inversions feel lighthearted and daring, and offer an opportunity to see things from a whole new perspective. When I think of a problem in my life, any problem that grips my mind on a regular basis, and then turn it upside down, new insights tend to float up. When I turn my body upside down, it helps remind me that I can turn a whole problem upside down too.

I would encourage you to do your own experimentation, perhaps even right now. What are you doing now, anyway, reading a newspaper? I think you probably have a few minutes for an experiment. How does the floor look around you? Is there a blank bit of wall nearby? Are you sitting on a chair? What happens to the mind when you consider turning upside down?

Just notice what happens, just notice. When you begin to notice, you are already practicing yoga. And when you are in that space of noticing, then the door opens on a deeper practice: the practice of being gentle with yourself, and of letting go of the outcome. Now there’s a challenge.

- Carrie Pedersen Hudak