You spent all day yesterday doing heavy lifting around the house or partaking in a pick-up game on a gorgeous weekend day…only to awaken feeling as if you’d been hit by a truck. Ouch. “When you’re under physical stress, your body releases hormones that clog up your lymph vessels in your overused muscles,” explains John Douillard, M.D., director of LifeSpa, an Ayurvedic Panchakarma Retreat Center in Boulder, Colorado, and author of Body, Mind and Sport. “That’s what’s causing the pain.”

Next time you’re pushing your body to the limit, remember to stop and take several deep breaths, says Doiullard. He suggests trying this exercise: On your exhale only, use the Ocean Breath , followed by a full and complete nasal inhale. The nose drives air through the nasal turbinates, which are engineered to get the air down to the lower lobes of the lungs. This breath activates calming nerve receptors only found in those hard to reach lower lobes. Here are two more soothing exercises from Douillard:




Modified Cow-Face Pose (Gomukasana)
This pose helps to protect the body from soreness and the lower back from painful spasms. It releases tightness in your IT band, on the outside of the thigh, which helps protect the low back while opening the pelvis and the chest.

Start by kneeling on both knees. Bring your left leg forward, wrapping it around your right knee toward the right hip as far as it will comfortably go. Then, spread your feet, drawing them forward and as wide apart as far as feels comfortable for you. Slowly sit back, placing your hips between both of your feet. Grab the top of your left knee and gently bring it towards your chest. Sit up and lift your chest open. Take deep breaths, inhaling in and out through the nose. Hold this for about three minutes (or longer if you’re more advanced.) Repeat with the right leg in front.


Sphinx (Bhujangasana II)
For sore muscles that are centered around the low back, one of the best yoga postures to follow Gomukasana is Sphinx. This modified Cobra can be held longer and helps reinstate blood supply to the back, which allows the muscles of the low back to fully relax.


Lie on your stomach with your feet slightly turned in and your elbows on the floor directly under your shoulders. Align your forearms parallel to each other, straight forward from your elbows, your hands palm down, fingers spread. From this ready position begin to lift your chest up by pressing down through the tailbone as you lift your head, then your chest off the floor, keeping your forearms on the floor. (Be sure to use your spinal muscles to pull you up instead of pushing up with your arms.) Breathe deeply, inhaling and exhaling through your nose. Hold this position for about two to three minutes.