Lower back, hips, knees and ankles

Savasana: Legs Up Chair

Legs elevated on a chair provides maximum spinal decompression, taking all load off your lower back and hip flexors: one of the most therapeutic resting positions available.

How to do it

1. 1

   Set a chair on the mat before you get down

   Position it so the seat is where your lower legs will be. Getting on and off the floor is the busiest part of this pose, so make the setup comfortable first.

2. 2

   Lie back and rest your lower legs on the seat

   Shuffle closer to or further from the chair until the hips and the knees are both at about a right angle and the thighs point straight up.

3. 3

   Let the hips and lower back settle towards the floor

   With the legs supported at this angle there is nothing left for the front of the hips to hold. Arms rest away from the sides, palms up, head on a small cushion if you like.

4. 4

   Stay for 5 to 20 minutes

   Come out by sliding the legs off the chair to one side and rolling onto your side before you sit up.

What to watch for

The edge of the seat pressing hard into your calves, which will take over long before the rest of you settles. Add a folded blanket on the chair, and adjust your distance from it until the pressure spreads evenly along the lower legs.

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Savasana: Seated Chair

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits.

• Savasana: Classic
• Savasana: Seated Chair
• Savasana: Seated Chair Short
• Savasana: Short

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.