The 5 Poses Yoga Girl Swears By to Stay Zen

Whether you’re a devoted yogi or you just love wearing your “Namaste in Bed” T-shirt 24/7, you’ve probably heard of Rachel Brathen, a.k.a @yoga_girl on Instagram. With more than two million followers, the bendy blonde’s account (filled with tons of photos taken on the beach in Aruba, where she lives) could inspire anyone to at least give savasana a shot.

“I never set out to create a yoga-centered account, I just chose the name @yoga_girl for a very random reason,” says Brathen. “I was just sharing my dogs, my breakfast, and other regular things, and I realized any time I shared anything about yoga, the response was big, people were curious, and they had tons of questions.”

Today, Brathen’s yoga brand has expanded beyond her Instagram account to her website, OneOEight, which features online classes taught by yoga teachers, meditation guides, and healers. “I wanted to create a home, a bridge between social media and the real world,” she says. “Social media isn’t really for instruction or deep guidance, it’s great for inspiration. I launched OneOEight to create a community for healing.”

These days, Brathen (who’s pregnant!) considers her yoga practice a time to get active—but also a time to de-stress and maintain her zen. “Some days you need to feel like you’re moving and sometimes you need to make space and time for yourself and sit in silence,” she says. (Tone up, beat stress, and feel great with Rodale’s new With Yoga DVD.)

Here, she shares her favorite moves for when she needs to relax and unplug—plus, how to modify them for soon-to-be mamas like her.