Restless Leg Syndrome

Jeanette from our membership community asks:

Hi Melissa,
I have a yoga student who is suffering from restless leg syndrome are there any yoga poses you would recommend?? She says she has a hard time getting to sleep at night.

Many thanks in advance,
Jeannette xx

ps. I just treasure my membership here and thank you for all that you and Tim do.

Dear Jeanette,

As always, we are not medical doctors and so the first recommendation is always to recommend that they seek medical advice. That will mean making an appointment with her medical doctor, traditional chinese medicine doctor or naturopath. TCMs and naturopaths will help them get to the root problem of the symptom of restless leg syndrome.

Restless leg syndrome is a nervous system disorder causing an irresistible urge to move your legs. People with restless leg syndrome describe it as a creepy/crawly, pins and needles or itchy feeling in their legs. The symptoms are usually worst at night making it difficult to sleep.

Doctors do recommend that lifestyle improvements like avoiding alcohol, improving sleep patterns and having a regular movement routine will help alleviate restless leg syndrome. Since restless leg syndrome is a nervous system disorder, a movement routine like yoga that directly addresses tension in the nervous system would be a great way to spend your movement time in my opinion.

In my journeys I did come across an exercise for restless leg syndrome – you lie on your back on the ground and press your two feet into the wall.

There are some great poses in there to strengthen your legs and all my classes are designed to calm your body and nervous system.

Try our beginner yoga class for strength.