International Yoga Day 2026: Celebrity Yoga Trainers Turn To These Yoga Asanas When Stress Strikes

In an age where stress has become a permanent companion, the appeal of yoga lies in its ability to create moments of pause. While the practice has evolved into a global wellness phenomenon, its biggest promise remains remarkably simple: helping us find calm amidst chaos.

On International Yoga Day (June 21), Robb Report India asked some of the country's leading celebrity yoga practitioners to share the one pose they consistently return to when life feels overwhelming. Their answers aren't the gravity-defying postures often associated with yoga seen on social media. Instead, they are accessible, restorative movements that emphasise breath, stillness, and nervous system regulation.

Anshuka Parwani

For celebrity yoga trainer Anshuka Parwani, whose clients include some of Bollywood's biggest names like Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Deepika Padukone, the most powerful pose in yoga is one that's considered low-effort. Her go-to stress-relieving asana is shavasana, or corpse pose, typically practised at the end of a session.

"It may look simple, but it isn't," she says. "It's one of the most transformative poses in yoga because we are constantly rushing and always overstimulated.”

The pose involves lying comfortably on the back with the legs relaxed, arms slightly away from the body, and palms facing upwards. The feet naturally fall outward while the jaw, shoulders, and facial muscles soften. 

For Parwani, shavasana is less about rest and more about conscious relaxation. "It teaches the art of stillness. It teaches you to surrender," she says. "It's a reminder that healing and growth can happen in stillness and moments of pause.”

She points to its ability to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, reduce anxiety and fatigue, lower heart rate, and improve emotional balance. Ten to 15 minutes of quality shavasana, she believes, can work its magic on the body, mind, and spirit.

Gunjan Kamra 

Before emails, meetings and the demands of the day take over, Gunjan Kamra often begins her morning with pigeon pose. The deep hip opener has become a daily ritual; one she returns to whenever she feels physically depleted or mentally overwhelmed. Over the years, the wellness coach, who has worked with celebrities including Ekta Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur and Priyamani, has seen how stress manifests physically in the body. 

"Whenever I feel tired, I get to my mat and ease into it because it helps with relaxation and stress management,” she says. 

For Kamra, the pose is particularly relevant for modern lifestyles marked by prolonged sitting and chronic stress. By opening the hips and encouraging circulation through the lower body and back, it helps release accumulated tension while creating a sense of emotional ease. 

"All the knots and blockages begin to open up when you sit in this posture. Your body feels lighter and calmer," she explains, adding that it also helps with nervous system regulation.

Deepika Mehta

Few people understand the relationship between movement and mindfulness quite like Deepika Mehta. The internationally recognised Ashtanga yoga teacher and wellness entrepreneur, who has spent more than two decades studying under the late Sri K Pattabhi Jois and Sri R Sharath Jois, turns to a deceptively simple inversion when stress begins to build.

"One of my favourite poses for relieving stress is viparita karani, or legs-up-the-wall pose," says Mehta, who has trained Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, and Priyanka Chopra, among others. "It's simple, accessible, and incredibly effective for calming the nervous system.”

The pose involves reclining on the floor with the legs extended vertically against a wall while the arms rest comfortably by the sides. Mehta recommends staying there for five to 10 minutes while taking slow diaphragmatic breaths, allowing the abdomen to rise and fall naturally.

According to Mehta, the combination of gentle inversion and deep breathing helps the body transition from a heightened state of alertness into a more restorative one. "Breathing deeply into the belly helps stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which can lower stress levels, slow the heart rate, and create a greater sense of calm.”

Rupal Sidhpura Faria

For celebrity yoga trainer and somatic healing expert Rupal Sidhpura Faria, stress relief isn't tied to a single pose. Instead, she gravitates towards a combination of heart openers and hip openers—areas of the body she believes hold some of our deepest emotional burdens.

Her preferred sequence includes poses such as cobra, bridge, pigeon, and malasana, often held for at least 30 seconds each. The common thread is their ability to open areas of the body that tend to tighten under stress.

"Heart openers are not just about flexibility," she explains. "When you expand your chest, you literally reverse the physical posture of sorrow.”

According to Faria, opening the chest can improve breathing mechanics, encourage greater oxygen intake, and help release physical tension that mirrors emotional strain. Hip openers, meanwhile, work on the psoas, the core muscle linked to the body's survival response.

For Faria, who works with clients ranging from business leaders to filmmakers like Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap, the combination creates what she describes as a holistic release—one that addresses both the physical and emotional manifestations of stress.