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Any time you’re indoors, you’re pretty much surrounded by the ultimate yoga prop: walls. Practicing poses against a wall, or wall yoga, takes some of the pressure off your body. Rather than relying solely on your muscles and joints for balance and sturdiness, a wall serves as unyielding support, allowing you to feel more deeply into certain poses without fear of falling, strain, or injury.
As with chair yoga, adding a wall to your yoga is an invitation to safely explore what’s possible in your practice. Accessible Yoga founder and yoga teacher Jivana Heyman, who created the following wall yoga sequence, believes that yoga should be a space where everyone feels welcome, safe, and (you guessed it) accessible.
If any of these poses don’t work for you, feel free to adjust them as needed. “It’s your practice, so you can adapt it however you want,” says Heyman. “Find the practice that’s comfortable for you.”
How to Practice Wall Yoga
Try to find a clutter-free area and a (at least relatively) bare wall to ensure your practice is free from all sorts of distraction. Set up for your practice by rolling out your mat so that a short edge is flush against the wall. You’ll need a block and a couple of blankets, as well.
Mountain Pose
Start in standing with your back to the wall. Make sure your heels are a few inches from the wall before leaning back and making contact between the wall and your buttocks, lower back, and back of your head. Keep your knees soft, bring your palms to the wall, and relax into this supported Mountain Pose. Take a few grounding breaths here.
Unsupported Mountain Pose
Turn to face the wall, standing a little further than arm’s length away. Find Mountain Pose again.
Upward Salute
Bring your palms together at heart center. Inhale, extending your arms over your head in an Upward Salute.
Plank Pose
Exhale, hinge at your hips, and bring your hands to the wall at shoulder height in a wall Plank Pose. Inhale here.
Downward-Facing Dog
Exhale and press your tailbone back into wall Downward-Facing Dog.
Low Lunge
Step your right foot forward so your toes touch the wall. Bend your right knee to come into Low Lunge. Press into your hands and lift your head. Inhale here.
Downward-Facing Dog
Exhale back into your wall Downward-Facing Dog.
Chaturanga
Inhale to raise your head, stepping both feet halfway toward the wall. Exhale, lowering your chest to the wall.
Cobra Pose
Inhale and come up onto your toes, lifting your head, neck, and chest in Cobra Pose.
Downward-Facing Dog
Exhale, lower your heels, and step back again to Downward-Facing Dog.
Low Lunge
Step your left foot forward so your toes touch the wall. Bend your left knee to come into Low Lunge. Press into your hands and lift your head. Inhale here.
Downward-Facing Dog
Exhale, stepping back to Downward-Facing Dog.
Upward Salute
Raise your head, press yourself away from the wall, and bring your hands over your head in an Upward Salute. Exhale, bringing your hands to heart center.
Repeat this wall Sun Salutation for a total of three rounds.
Tree Pose
Stand facing away from the wall with your feet hip’s distance apart. If using a block, place it on the lowest height between your feet. Lean back against the wall so that your buttocks, lower back, and shoulders are all in contact.
Shift your weight to your left leg, bending softly into your left knee. Externally rotate the right leg, bringing your foot to your inner ankle, calf, or thigh, or rest your toes on the block. Arrive in a supported Tree Pose.
Lean back against the wall. When you’re ready, use your hands to press your torso away from the wall, balancing here. Keep your palms agains the wall, bring them together at heart center, or raise them overhead
Come back to the wall, bring the right leg down, and repeat on the opposite side.
Locust Pose
Grab your block and hold the thin, long edge against your sternum. Face the wall with feet at hip’s distance, and lean until the block is flush against the wall.
Dynamic Locust Pose
Bring both arms overhead and place your hands against the wall.
Extend your right left behind you, lifting your foot off the floor. At the same time, raise your left arm up and away from the wall. Breathe here before slowly lowering down.
Repeat on the opposite side.
Repeat another set of Dynamic Locust on each side.
Warrior II
Start by standing facing the long edge of your mat, feet shoulder’s distance apart. Your right foot and right arm should be nearest to the wall.
Bring the outer edge of your right foot against the wall, take a wide step, and turn your left foot out so that your toes are pointing to the short edge of your mat. Place your right hand on the wall, extending the left arm out at shoulder height.
Inhale, lengthen your spine. Exhale, bend into your left knee, and take your gaze over your fingers for Warrior II. Press your right hand into the wall. Take a few breaths here.
Repeat on the opposite side.
When your finished, bring your feet together at the center of your mat.
Legs Up the Wall
Start by sitting with one hip against the wall. Lay down in the fetal position, scooting your buttocks closer to the wall. Roll onto your back and lift your legs up, placing your heels against the wall. Breath here in Legs Up the Wall Pose.
Feel free to place a folded blanket beneath your head and to wrap your legs in a second blanket for added support and comfort. Stay here for a few minutes. When you’re ready to come out, bend your knees and roll onto one side.
Seated Meditation
Place one of your folded blankets against the wall. Sit on the blanket so that your back is flush against the wall. Sit cross-legged here or extend your legs for Seated Staff Pose, placing your second blanket beneath your knees for added support.
Stay here for as long as you’d like.
