Bhujangasana (cobra pose)

To do this pose:

Come down to your mat on your stomach with your hands underneath your shoulders. On your inhale, press into your hands, lift the head and chest while arching the upper back. Open up through your chest, your collarbones and your chest while engaging your abs to protect your low back. Come up only as high as is comfortable for you without putting any strain on your back. Hold as long as you like or move through inhales and exhales coming up and down with the breath.

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It strengthens the spine and spinal muscles. We’ve talked a lot about lengthening and stretching the spine, but it’s important to also strengthen those muscles to prevent back injuries. Moving back and forth from down and up into cobra is a great exercise for the back. 
• It stretches the chest and shoulders. After hunching over your computer and your patients all day, this pose is a great one to...

Salamba Bhujangasana (sphinx pose)

To do this pose:

Come to lying down on your stomach on your mat with your legs straight out behind you. Rest your elbows on the mat, pointing your fingers to the top of the mat and parallel to each other. Engage your lower abdominals to protect your low back while arching your upper back to open your heart, chest, and collar bones. Keep your chin level with the ground, keeping your spine aligned, no need to force anything. Close your eyes and let yourself breathe here. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It stabilizes the shoulders. A lot of yoga poses are harsh on the shoulders and after a day of lifting patients, they aren’t the best to make you feel better! So try sphinx pose to help realign your shoulders and open your heart 
• It releases the myofascia of the abdomen. Fascia is a netting that basically holds our entire bodies together. It is intricate and delicate so, it also often becomes inflamed...

 Ustrasana (camel pose)

To do this pose:

Come to a kneeling position on your mat. You can tuck or untuck your toes, whichever feels better on your knees. You can also place a blanket or cushion under your knees to prevent any pressure. From here, place your hands on your lower back with your fingers pointing down, as if you were sliding a hand into a back pocket. While engaging through your abs, start to push your hips forward. You can stay here, especially if feeling any pain in your low back. Otherwise, you can reach your hands back down to your feet, blocks, whatever you need so that your whole front body is open. Try not to thrust your head all the way back, just relax your spine and breath. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It opens your entire front body. This means it opens your chest, your heart, your throat, your rib cage, your lungs, your digestive system, your hips, and your legs. This stimulates these systems with...

Virabhadrasana I (warrior one pose)

To do this pose:

Start in downward facing dog. Lift one leg up behind you, high or low, whichever is more comfortable for your hips and step it forward between your two hands on the mat. Ground your back heel, pointing your toes to the 45 degree angle. You may have to bring that foot in a little bit to ground the heel completely. Bend into your front leg slightly, just so your knee stacks over your ankle as you lift your upper body and arms up to standing, arms up over head and reaching high. You can play with your stance here, some people like to line the feet up as if on tight- rope and others prefer to spread them as wide as mat width. Find which stance works best for you.

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It’s energizing! This is another pose that simulates a stance similar to a “superhero” stance. Standing in these positions is energizing and confidence building and PERFECT when you are having a hard...

Virabhadrasana I I (warrior two pose)

To do this pose:

Start in a downward facing dog. As in Warrior I pose, lift one leg up behind you and step it through between your hands, grounding your entire foot. Turn your back foot to a 90 degree angle so that your toes are pointing the long edge of your mat and ground the heel. From here, cartwheel your arms up, bend into your front knee, opening up your chest and hips out towards that long edge as well. Front arm reaching forward and back arm reaching back, palms down. Breath and hold this pose for a few breaths. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It stretches and strengthens your legs, ankles, groin, chest, and shoulders. This pose really stimulates and stretches a lot of different parts of the body making it a full body engagement pose. Your back leg and ankle stretch while your front leg is strengthened. Your hips and chest are stretched and opened while your shoulders and arms are...

Matsyasana (fish pose)

To do this pose:

Come to your mat and lie down flat on your back with your knees bent and feet planted on the floor. Lift your hips up off the floor just slightly to slide your hands underneath with your palms down. From here, you can keep your legs out straight in front of you or cross them in an easy pose or lotus position. Push up onto your forearms to lift your upper body up off the floor. Keeping your chest and shoulders where they are, let your head fall back and rest on the mat. This will either be the back of your head or the crown of your head depending on what’s comfortable for your neck. Keep most of your weight in your forearms to avoid putting too much weight on your head. Hold for 5-10 breaths, breathing deeply into your throat and heart. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It opens your throat. This can be physically and mentally stimulating in that all the muscles of your neck open up and help you find...

Salabhasana (locust pose)

To do this pose:

Come to lie down on your stomach on your mat. Relax your forehead down to the mat with your arms down by your sides. Your arms can stay by your sides or bring them behind your back to interlace your fingers. On your inhale, lift your upper body and legs up off the floor and your arms away from you. Hold at the top of the inhale for a few moments before exhaling and lowering back down to the floor. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It opens the front body while strengthening the back body. This is another pose that really engages every muscle in the body in a different way. It stretches the front of the body including the collar bones, the chest, the heart, the abdominal muscles, and the hip flexors. 
• It opens the heart. Like we discussed above, this pose opens up the entire chest which includes opening your heart after closing it off, especially after a long shift. 
• It stimulates the abdominal...

Janu Sirsasana (one legged seated forward fold pose)

To do this pose:

Come to a seated position on your mat. Extend one leg out and bring the opposite foot to the inside of the extended leg’s thigh. There are multiple options with the pose. For the first, keep your shoulders and hips pointed toward the front, extend your opposite arm up and side bend over the extended leg, reaching for your foot. This gives you a hamstring and a side stretch. You can keep a small bend in your knee if you need to but don’t worry about bending over far or touching your toes, just breath. The other option for this pose is to square your hips and shoulders over your extended leg and drape your body over that leg. Again, don’t worry about touching your toes or keeping your leg straight, just breath. Repeat the same process on the other leg. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It’s calming. This pose has been shown to reduce anxiety and slow the...

Sasangasana (rabbit pose)

To do this pose:

Come to a child’s pose at the back of your mat. Once there, wrap your arms around behind and grab onto your heels. When you have a good grip, start to lift your hips and roll onto the crown of your head. Come up only as high as feels good for you and don’t put too much weight on your head or neck. This gives you a stretch in your upper back and separates your shoulder blades. When you’ve had enough, relax your hips back down to the earth and release your arms. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It opens the shoulders. This pose is one of the few that stretches the upper back and helps you pull your shoulder blades apart. This can really open up your rib cage from a different angle and the back of your heart. This helps you open up from all angles. 
•  
• It helps with sinus problems! As a nurse, having a congested nose is the worst and you feel like you can’t breathe at all....

Bhramari Pranayama (humming bird breath)

To do this pose:

Come to a comfortable seated position on your mat with your hands relaxed on your knees. Close your eyes and start to breathe in and out through your nose. When you feel relaxed and ready, start to hum on the outbreath, keeping your lips lightly sealed, and breathing through the nose only. Continue this pattern of inhaling through the nose, and exhaling through the nose while humming for as long as you feel is comfortable. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It helps to slow the mind and combat anxiety! This breathing technique requires some concentration so forcing your attention on it can help calm the racing thoughts in your mind or when you’re feeling very overwhelmed. Use this practice to help yourself be more mindful or when you’re feeling especially stressed at work to truly quiet your mind. 
• It has also been shown to enhance neurotransmitter activity and...