Balancing Fire and Calm: Reimagining Your Yoga Routine
When we think about giving our yoga practice a fresh start, it’s easy to picture sweat, movement, and flow. We crave the spark, the vitality that comes from vinyasa and other dynamic sequences. These practices are wonderful vehicles for building strength, raising energy, and shaking loose the weight of stagnation.
But there’s another side to the story. A practice built on fire alone can leave us feeling unbalanced, always moving, never fully arriving. To truly harness the full medicine of yoga, we need both heat and cool, the awakening of the body and the grounding of the nervous system.
The Power of Counterbalance…
Vinyasa lights us up. It stirs the metabolism, strengthens the body, and calls us into presence through rhythm and breath. Yet, just as day flows into night, our practice needs balance. This is where yin and restorative yoga become essential and not as an afterthought, but as a vital companion.
By intentionally weaving cooling, inward-focused poses into our flow, we invite the parasympathetic nervous system to take the lead. This is the body’s healing mode: the state where stress softens, the heart rate steadies, and we can finally exhale into stillness. In this space, the fire of vinyasa doesn’t burn out - it integrates.
Rest as Transformation…
Props like bolsters, blankets, blocks and straps become anchors in this quieter part of practice. They give permission to surrender; not out of passivity, but out of trust. In long, supported shapes, the nervous system unwinds, cortisol levels ease, and the body no longer feels the need to hold onto tension.
This release doesn’t just feel good in the moment. It changes how we move throughout our day. When stress has less hold on us, energy feels lighter, decisions feel clearer, and the body has more room to maintain balance, even with challenges around weight, mood, or fatigue.
Suggested Cooling + Restorative Poses…
When you’re ready to ground after vinyasa or anytime throughout your day - try slowing down with these supported shapes. Use props so your body feels held and supported. Stay in each shape for 3-5 minutes or longer if your nervous system invites it.
Supported Child’s Pose: Rest your torso on a bolster (can prop up with blocks) or blankets and let the back body soften into the shape.
Reclined Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana): Place your bolster along the spine, arms wide, blocks under the thighs, soles of feet together. Open your chest and hips.
Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani) - Love, love, love this pose. Extend your legs up a wall, bum to the wall (can prop yourself up with a bolster, block or blanket). Arms are wide, palms open. Soothe circulation and calm the mind. Extra bonus - tie a strap around your mid thighs for extra support. Supported Forward Fold: Fold over a bolster on your thighs, resting arms and head. Release and soften tension through the back body.
Savasana with Props: Use a bolster under your knees, a blanket under the head, and cozy yourself with a blanket or sweater. Use an eye pillow and / or sandbags for extra TLC. Rest in full support.
Tip: Let these cooling poses feel like an act of devotion, not just “the ending.” They are where integration and the “magic” happens. It’s when your body and mind absorb the gifts of the fire you built in your flow.
Takeaways…
Jump starting your yoga routine is not just moving more - it is when we start to create balance. It’s about learning when to ignite the inner fire and when to lean into rest, softness and when to surrender. By embracing both fire and rest, we move closer to yoga’s true meaning of union.
