In Uncertain Times, This is Where You Start— Part 5
How to release deep tension, free your breath, and create a foundation for true rest.
Dear friends,
In my last post in this series, I introduced you to Three-Part Breath—a simple, powerful way of breathing that moves air through the lower, middle, and upper parts of your lungs. Building on the diaphragmatic breathing we practised earlier, it helps you take fuller breaths so you can slow your exhalation and calm your nervous system more deeply. I also explained why fuller breathing supports far more than calm: it improves oxygen delivery, boosts energy and mental clarity, strengthens the heart and lungs, and helps clear out stale air that can sap your resilience over time.
Building on that foundation of fuller, more easeful breathing, I want to introduce you to another simple but quietly powerful practice: Constructive Rest. Like Three-Part Breath, it works with your body’s natural mechanics to support nervous system regulation, but it goes even further by helping to release deep, unconscious patterns of tension. It's a practice that asks very little of you—no effort, no stretching, no forcing—yet offers profound support for your spine, your breath, and your overall sense of ease.
The Background
Constructive Rest is a simple but powerful position designed to allow your body to release tension without strain.
It originates from the Alexander Technique, a method developed by the Australian actor Frederick Matthias Alexander in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Alexander created his method after struggling with chronic voice problems and discovering that unconscious patterns of tension and poor postural habits were at the root of his issues. The technique focuses on re-educating the body's movement patterns to reduce unnecessary tension, improve balance, and enhance overall coordination.
Constructive Rest emerged from this work as a kind of "reset position"—a way to undo habitual tension by giving the body time and space to naturally organise itself into a more efficient and relaxed alignment, without force.
Modern research into the effects of Constructive Rest is still relatively small compared to bigger fields like sports science or yoga therapy, but early studies and broader physiological research strongly back up its benefits.
Here’s why it works:
First, by lying in a neutral position with minimal effort required to stay upright, you reduce the work of postural muscles that are often locked in chronic, low-level contraction during daily life. This gives the nervous system a chance to downregulate—meaning it shifts out of a "fight or flight" state and into a more restorative mode.
Second, the position supports the natural curves of the spine, which helps decompress the vertebrae and allows for gentle rehydration of the intervertebral discs. (These discs are like little cushions between your vertebrae that lose a bit of fluid during the day.)
Third, Constructive Rest promotes better breathing mechanics. With the spine and ribs more free to move, the diaphragm can descend and contract more easily, leading to deeper, more natural breaths—which, as you already know, signals safety to the nervous system and improves oxygen exchange.
Finally, one of the quiet but powerful things Constructive Rest does is give your psoas muscle a chance to let go.
The psoas (pronounced soh-az) is a deep core muscle that runs from your lower spine, through the pelvis, and attaches to the top of each thigh bone. It’s a major player in posture, balance, and movement, but it’s also tightly linked to your nervous system. In fact, the psoas is often called the "fight-or-flight muscle" because it responds directly to stress, preparing you to run or brace by shortening and tightening.
When we live under ongoing stress—and sit for long periods—the psoas can stay partially contracted all the time, even when there’s no immediate danger. This chronic tension can pull on the lower back, compress the spine, limit healthy breathing, and subtly keep the body in a state of high alert.
In Constructive Rest, the psoas doesn’t need to work to stabilise you. It can begin to release its habitual grip. Over time, this gentle unwinding can ease lower back discomfort, improve hip mobility, deepen your breathing by freeing the diaphragm, and send a deep signal of safety through the nervous system.
Some measurable benefits people report from Constructive Rest include:
Reduced muscle tension, especially in the lower back, neck, and shoulders
Lowered perceived stress and anxiety levels
Improved posture and balance over time
Enhanced body awareness (what researchers sometimes call interoception—the ability to sense internal body states)
Constructive Rest is often recommended by physiotherapists, somatic therapists and pilates teachers, because it’s so accessible and effective. No fancy equipment. No heroic stretches. Just gravity, a little support, and your own willingness to stop trying so hard.
And it beautifully compliments the practices you’ve learned so far— as well as those yet to come— bringing your body into a greater sense of calm and ease, and opening the rib cage, to facilitate deeper breathing.
How to Practise Constructive Rest
You’ll need a firm surface—a carpeted floor, a yoga mat, or even a folded blanket on the ground. A bed is not supportive enough for this practice.
Before you begin, take a hand towel, fold it in half lengthways, and then fold it in half the other way. Lie on your back and place it under your occipital bone, the jutting-out part of the back of your skull. Check that it provides you with enough cushioning to be comfortable, while keeping your neck straight. If you find that your chin is tucked towards your chest, then it's too high. If your chin is tilted up, then it’s too low. Adjust it as you need, and then place it next to you.
As you follow these instructions, you may notice that the word gently is used repeatedly. It is simply to remind you that this should be a slow and gentle process of settling into a comfortable position for your body to rest. There should be no great effort to any part of the process.
Sit on your yoga mat, with your knees bent, and your feet flat on the floor, about hip distance apart, and a comfortable distance from your buttocks. Aim for both sides of your body to be symmetrical in your sitting position. Grasp your shins just below your knees.
Gently, tilt your pelvis forward, and slowly and gently roll your back down to the mat, vertebra by vertebra. Keep your feet flat on the floor for as long as you can, and then allow them to lift from the floor as you roll onto your back. (You may feel a little like an overturned turtle at this point!) Then, gently release hold of your shins, and place your feet flat on the floor wherever it feels comfortable for you to do so.
Rock your pelvis gently back and forward a few times, so that you can feel the top, and bottom of your sacrum, the long, wedge-shaped bone, that joins your tailbone.
When you feel comfortable, stop rocking, and gently place your sacrum on the mat, allowing your lower back and bottom rib to make a neutral curve, away from the floor. Only the back of your neck, and your lower back will not be touching the mat.
Without changing your position, gently lift your head, and place the folded towel beneath it.
Now inhale, and bring your left knee towards your chest. As you exhale, slowly stretch out your left leg, pushing through the heel, before bending it at the knee again and placing your left foot back, flat on the floor. Inhale, and bring your right knee up to your chest. Exhale, and straighten the right leg, pushing through the heel, before again bending your right knee, and then placing your right foot flat on the floor, about hip distance away from your left foot.
Keeping both feet flat on the floor, if it feels comfortable, let your knees gently fall-in together, supporting each other, and allowing your pelvis and lower back to rest in a comfortable, neutral position. You may also feel more comfortable if you allow the toes of each foot to turn in slightly.
Slowly raise both of your arms, reaching first one hand and then the other towards the ceiling. As you deepen this stretch, you will rock gently from side to side, broadening your back ribs and shoulder blades, away from the spine.
Gently release your elbows down to the floor at shoulder height, and then allow the hands and forearms to softly fall back, onto the floor. Both elbows should be out to the side around shoulder height, with your hands above your head. Make sure your shoulder blades are resting evenly on the floor.
If you’re already familiar with Constructive Rest, you may notice that this version is a little different from how it’s sometimes taught. That’s intentional.
I've designed this sequence to prepare the body more fully for release. By gently stretching and moving your muscles first, you allow areas of habitual tension—especially through the hips, lower back, and ribcage—to soften more readily, without force.
I've also adapted the arm and hand position, so that the ribcage can open and broaden. This small adjustment encourages deeper, freer breathing, which is a crucial part of our overall practice. Every part of this sequence is intended to help your body settle into a more natural, supported alignment, where true rest and recovery can begin.
Going forward, I warmly encourage you to use this position whenever you practise deep breathing. Constructive Rest provides an ideal foundation: it frees the breath, softens the body, and helps the nervous system settle without effort. If you're working with an essential oil to support your practice, just remember to keep it within easy reach before you begin. That way, you can stay fully present, without needing to interrupt the flow once you’re resting.
My next post in the series will share the most potent breathing practice I know. It’s the single most powerful practice I’ve learned — one I can now use to calm and centre myself with a single breath, no matter what’s happening around me, or within me. You won’t want to miss it. So if you’d like to make sure it lands straight in your inbox, I warmly invite you to subscribe.
Until next time.
— Lori
© Lori Corbet Mann, 2025
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. It’s free to all, so if you find it helpful, please share it with friends, colleagues, or anyone who might benefit from it. And if you believe that this work makes a difference, you might like to consider upgrading to a paid subscription — every single one helps make it more sustainable.
Thank you, Lori.
At this point, I need all the help relaxing I can find, and I certainly welcome your valuable suggestions.
Thank you for not using the tactic of delivering part of the process and then suggesting I subscribe in order tho get the rest! 🙏🏼 I am following you and will share this. When my budget allows I will also upgrade. Thank you again.