Ever feel like you’re a hamster locked on the running wheel? I did. After trying too hard to be Supermom in my early thirties—professional career gal, single parent, way too busy at every turn—I discovered Restorative Yoga. I took a deep breath, held it, held it a bit longer, then breathed out slowly. I realized that’s all I had to do to just slow things down a bit.

In the 36 years I’ve been practicing yoga, Restorative Yoga is by far the best antidote I know of to reduce everyday stress and anxiety, ease lower back pain and repetitive strain injuries, and assist in recovery from heart disease, asthma, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and immune disorders like cancer. Anybody not on this list? Even if you’re not on the list, surely you’re not immune to the idea of looking younger. Centuries ago, yogis discovered that raising your legs higher than your heart could actually help you grow younger as you get older. Inverting your body decreases the stress triggers that cause premature aging—this position tricks your body into relaxing. Putting your legs up against a wall and practicing deep breathing is the cornerstone of an ancient practice now rebranded as Restorative Yoga. I like to think of it as “inner-cise.”

Get a Leg Up

Take a break for five minutes by lying on your back and bringing your legs up onto a wall or door. See if you feel recharged with this pose (called Legs-up-the-wall). I do it at the end of a long day or even before entertaining. It’s a great technique for travelers, too: I’ve been known to lie around airport departure lounges with my head on my jacket and my feet up the wall. It’s often the first thing I do at the hotel after getting off a delayed, overbooked plane. In five minutes or less, I’m raring to go.

Take a Breather

Once your legs are comfortably up the wall, think of the noise Darth Vader made while he talked through his mask: the long “aaahhh” sound he made when he exhaled. It’s also an ancient recipe for relaxation. Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth or nose with an “aaahhh” sound “supersizes” relaxation (without adding calories). Inhale deeply into your lungs and then try to double the length of your exhalation (if you can inhale to the count of three, try exhaling to the count of six). Along with instant relaxation, your heart rate decreases along with your blood pressure, and you remove waste from your bloodstream.

See if you can stay in Legs-up-the-wall pose for two minutes, working your way up to five minutes or even more if you’re comfortable. (Note that this pose is not recommended if you suffer from very high or very low blood pressure, hiatus hernia or glaucoma.) Don’t forget to put on your favorite music to set the mood. If you can multitask your pose and your breathing, you’ll relax immediately. For just a few minutes every day, you can hop off that treadmill and start waiting to exhale.

Having lived and studied in India, Nepal and Thailand, Evelyn Neaman is now the Director of Tikkun Yoga Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. Try her upcoming women’s Restorative Yoga retreat on Cortez Island, B.C., or her bestselling North American DVD Restorative Yoga: Healing Through Breath and Stillness (available online at fitnessorganica.com).