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5 Restorative Yoga Poses for Finals Week

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Isabelle Zoeckler
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Clark chapter.

During finals it can be easy to get overwhelmed with your work load. The best thing to do is try to focus on one task at a time. However, if you are having trouble finding your focus, the best thing to do is to take a few minutes to connect your body and breath with 5 easy yoga poses. You can do these when you wake up before you even leave your bed, or you could find a quiet space at the library to practice some mindfulness. Here are 5 restorative poses to re-center and find your focus:

  1. Child’s pose: This is a restorative posture you can accomplish by finding a bend in the knees and allowing your chest to fall forward over your knees. You can take a number of variations with your arms. You can extend them out and keep them active, pressing your palms into the floor. You can also bring your palms together in prayer position over your head. 
  2. Legs up the wall: This pose is exactly what it sounds like. Bring your hips as close as you can to the wall, making a 90-degree angle with your body by walking your feet up the wall, until they are fully extended. If this is too much of a stretch, you can always bend your knees, or find a variation by bringing your feet together for a hip opener.
  3. Reclining bound ankle pose: This pose is also nice for relaxation as you can allow your back to rest on the ground, and bring the bottoms of your feet together, feeling a deep hip opening stretch. You can place a pillow or bolster under your back for extra support.
  4. Modified fish: This pose is achieved by placing a pillow or block under your shoulder blade, and letting your head recline back, and allow your chest to open up.
  5. Staff pose: Root your hips into the floor, and send your legs out long in front of you. Point your toes toward the ceiling and stretch your arms up over head and then exhale them down towards your toes.

Hold these poses for as long as you want, but listen to your body to know when something feels good or if it hurts. Taking moments for self-care makes all the difference when it comes to exam time. If you don’t feel inclined to practice these poses, it is always helpful to just take a few deep breaths to re-center.

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Isabelle is a student at Clark University, who has declared as a Cultural Studies and Communications major and a minor in sociology. She is a yoga instructor at Clark, as well as the manager for the Clark Field Hockey team. She has a deep love for sea turtles, the free people Instagram account, and card making. When she isn’t procrastinating school work she can be found on the sidelines of Clark athletics events, or hanging out with friends and family. Isabelle is really excited to be a contributing member of the Her Campus team.