Yoga for cyclists: Corpse pose by Total Women’s Cycling a Road Cycling video by Total Women’s Cycling

The Corpse Pose is a relaxation pose for when you have finished your Yoga practice and you are ready to unwind and let go.

Although essentially we look like we are doing very little in this pose it is possibly one of the most important poses we can do in our lives to maintain equanimity and balance.

This pose is all about relaxation but that doesnʼt mean falling asleep! The key here is to maintain attention and awareness while allowing the body to completely release. Focussing the attention on the breath is a really simple way to maintain concentration and will help the mind to quieten.

How to do the Corpse pose:

• Firstly make sure you are going to be warm enough and undisturbed for at least 5 minutes
• Lie down on your back, let the legs be a bit wider than hip width, arms relaxing by the sides of the hips, palms facing up
• Make sure the head and neck are in line with the spine, shoulders away from the ears
• Take one deep in breath, filling up the lungs, then exhale through the mouth
• Allow the breath to completely release
• Let the body become still
• Take the attention to the sound or the feeling of the breath
• Keep your attention gently focused on the breath, donʼt make any attempt to change or control the breath, just observe
• Each time you find that your mind has wandered away from the breath gently bring it back
• Stay here for as long as you like but for at least 5 minutes
• When you are ready, bend your knees up over your chest, hug them in with the arms and roll onto your side and push yourself back up to sitting.

Our instructor is Polly Clark; yoga teacher and founder of Mountain Yoga Breaks who offer weekends combining mountain biking and yoga in the beautiful Welsh countryside.