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 time feeling good i...

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 strengthened. So when you feel ...

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 your voice when you’...

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 muscles and organs. L...

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 thoughts. It is similar to some of th...

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. 
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• 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. This position helps increase blood flow to th...

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 improve memory. This is because this t...

Bhastrika Pranayama (bellows breath)

To do this pose:

Come to a comfortable seated position on your mat. Start inhaling and exhaling deeply through your nose, filling your belly with breath each time. Once comfortable, begin to inhale and exhale forcefully and quickly with each breath, using your abdominal muscles each time and for each action of the breath. Do this when feeling lethargic and feel your whole body awaken. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

•  It’s stimulating. This practice is great first thing in the morning as it performs a “rinse” like action to your whole body. This increases alertness, enhances memory and cognitive action, and even increases metabolism. This can be a great way to wake up when that early alarm goes off before a 12 hour shift. 
• It cleanses your respiratory system. This type of breathing can open up your sinuses and clear out any phlegm or inflammation as well as any toxins within the lungs themselves. Especially during COV...

Kapalabhati Pranayama (breath of fire)

To do this pose:

Come to a comfortable seated position on your mat. Start inhaling and exhaling deeply through your nose, filling your belly with breath each time. Once comfortable, inhale deeply and start to exhale forcefully through the nose while pumping the belly in and out. Your inhale is passive between each breath while the exhale is forceful. Do this for a few rounds to truly wake up your mind.

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It awakens the mind. While the Bellows breath wakes up the body, Breath of Fire can be used to wake up the mind specifically. So when you’re feeling lethargic or you’re having trouble focusing at work, do a few rounds of breath of fire and feel your mind become more alert with every breath 
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• Similarly to Bellows Breath, this practice helps to cleanse the body by clearing the respiratory system, stimulating digestion and strengthening the core muscles.

Mrigasana (deer pose)

To do this pose:

Come to a seated butterfly position on your mat with the soles of your feet together. Swing one leg out and behind you, keeping the knee bent. Your back knee should line up with the sole of your front foot. Take your time to adjust yourself, you should feel a light stretch in your hips and low back. You can stay upright with your hands rested on either side of you, or you can bend forward and rest your elbows on the floor. Hold here and breathe. 

How this pose is especially beneficial for nurses: 

• It opens all sides of the hips. In this pose, your front hip is externally rotated while your back hip is internally rotated. This is one of the few poses that can really open up all sides of your hips. Opening up all sides of the hips helps you release some of those pent up emotions you’ve been holding throughout the day as well! 
• If gently massages your GI tract, stimulating digestion and release of toxins. So, do this pose to release all m...