Vinys
All movements

Lower back, hips and knees

Viparita Karani: Legs Up Chair

Legs resting on a chair at ninety degrees provides maximum lower back decompression without needing a wall: excellent for soothing tired, compressed spines.

Restorative300 to 900 seconds
Start your first sessionFree · no credit card · your session is built from it

How to do it

  1. 1

    Lie on your back in front of a stable chair

    No wall needed for this one. Check the chair will not slide before you lie down.

  2. 2

    Rest your lower legs on the seat

    Calves on the seat with the hips and knees at roughly right angles, so the legs are fully carried and the muscles have nothing to do.

  3. 3

    Adjust how far you lie from the chair

    Moving further away opens the hips out and folds them less. Choose the distance where the lower back feels easiest.

  4. 4

    Pad the seat if the calves feel pressed

    A folded blanket over the seat spreads the contact.

  5. 5

    Rest the arms and stay five to fifteen minutes

    Slide the legs off to one side to come out.

What to watch for

Lying so close to the chair that the hips fold sharply, or the chair travelling away from you on a smooth floor. Shuffle back a little and check the chair is steady before you settle in.

Ways to adjust it

  • Move slightly further from the chair: less hip and lumbar flexion
  • Sit slightly further from the chair
  • Reduce hip flexion
  • Pad under the calves
  • Adjust the support height

If this one is too much today

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

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Legs Up The Wall versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

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.

Also part of sessions for

Sleep problemsPelvic floor and bladder confidence

Each of those explains what the condition is, what the published guidance recommends, and where this movement fits.

One movement is a start. A session is the thing.

A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.

Start your first session

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.