Published July 7, 2026 06:09AM
There’s a lot to love about summer heat: outdoor adventures, balmy evenings, more opportunities to go barefoot. But there are moments when you need to cool down, and quickly. The right yoga practice can help.
The following yoga flow relies on intentional movement, long and relaxed holds, and slow breathing to help you keep your cool—even on the hottest days. Staying low in your mat and focusing on slow, intentional movement (as well as some cooling pranayama or breathwork) helps ensure you’re not building too much heat in your body. The sun’s doing quite enough, thanks.
10-Minute Cool Down Yoga for Hot Days
Feel free to incorporate sitali breath—otherwise known as “cooling breath” in yoga tradition—for extra chill. Simply make a taco shape with your tongue, as if you’re folding it in half lengthwise. Breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose.
Props are optional, but keeping a block (or two!) close by can help you access each pose while keeping your cool and not overstraining yourself.
Child’s Pose
Begin in Child’s Pose. Widen your knees any amount, bring your big toes together to touch, and shift your weight back as you sit on your heels, sending your arms out long and straight in front of you. Release your body toward the mat.
Breathe here for 1 full minute.
Cow Pose
Press up into hands and knees. With your next inhalation, lower your belly, lift your chin and chest, and arch your back in Cow Pose.
Cat Pose
Exhale as you round your back and tuck your chin in Cat Pose.
Repeat these poses 3 times, moving with the pace of your breath.
Thread the Needle
Come back to a neutral spine and step your right leg straight out to the right, your foot in line with your hip, your toes facing forward. Sweep your left arm up toward the sky before sending your left arm beneath your right shoulder and toward your right toes as you thread the needle.
You can bring your right hand farther out to the side, away from your face, and press your palm into the ground. Or you can reach your right arm forward toward the front of the mat or bend your right elbow and bring your right forearm behind your back for a stretch.
Stay here for 5 full cycles of breath.
Release your right hand back to the mat and unwind, coming back through hands and knees. Repeat on the opposite site.
Downward-Facing Dog
When you’re ready, unwind and move through hands and knees before you step back into Downward-Facing Dog.
Feel free to take any movement you like, pedaling out the legs for 3 cycles of breath. Then move toward stillness here as you lengthen through the spine.
Squat
Walk your hands toward your feet and heel-toe your feet about mat-distance apart. Pivot your toes sightly outward and sit low in a Squat or Garland Pose (Malasana). Bring your hands together at heart center. For extra support, feel free to grab your blocks, some books, or a pillow and slide them beneath your sit bones.
Stay here for 5 cycles of breath.
Standing Forward Bend
Remove any props, turn your toes to face forward, and heel-toe your feet back to hip-distance apart. Bring your hands to your mat, send your hips high as you straighten your legs, and fold forward in Standing Forward Bend.
Grab hold of opposite elbows and allow yourself to dangle here, perhaps even swaying gently from side to side. Stay here for 4 cycles of breath.
Downward-Facing Dog
Release your hands to the ground and walk back to Downward-Facing Dog.
Reclining Figure-4
Gently lower your knees to the mat before flipping onto your back body. Lower yourself all the way down to your back with your knees bent and the soles of your feet on the mat.
Reach your right foot toward the sky and flex your foot. Bend your knee and hook your right ankle over the front of your left knee.
Stay here, add a block beneath your left foot, or float your left foot away from the ground, interlacing you hands around your left leg.
Stay here for 5 cycles of breath.
Reclining Twist
If your left foot is lifted, bring it back to the mat. Keep your Figure-4 legs as you take your arms straight out from your shoulders, shift your hips an inch or two toward the right, and let your legs fall toward the left in a Reclining Twist.
Stay here for 5 cycles of breath.
Come back through center and unwind. When you’re ready, straighten your left leg toward the sky and repeat Reclining Figure-4 and Reclining Twist on the opposite side.
Bridge Pose
Gently draw your legs back through center, shifting your hips back to the middle of your mat. Lift your hips for a single Bridge Pose, staying here for 1 breath.
Savasana
Bring your hips back to your mat and lengthen your limbs out for Savasana. Stay here for 1-5 minutes or as long as you’d like, enjoying the chill effects of your cool down.