4 of my favourite yoga poses to do before bed - unwind and relax both body and mind to promote a restful night of sleep.
Whenever I reach bed tired but still wired from the day, I come back to these yoga poses to help me unwind and stretch out. Add in the focus on your breath and you’ll soon have your body switched into its “rest & relax” state (parasympathetic state), leaving you ready to drift off for a refreshing night of sleep!
Child’s pose: I like to take a wide knee variation with arms outstretched. Bring your big toes together, knees to the sides and then relax down with your arms stretched out in front. Place a cushion or pillow under your chest for comfort if you like and then bring focus to your breath. Notice what happens in your body as you inhale. Notice what happens as you exhale. Maybe take a minute here.
Cat/Cow: bring yourself up to a table top position, where your knees are under your hips and your wrists are under your shoulders. Take 4 to 10 rounds of cat/cow - inhaling as you look up into Cow pose, exhaling as you round into Cat pose. Linking the breath to the movement will start to calm a busy mind.
Puppy pose: one of my favourites to release the shoulders, a common place of tension at the end of the day. From your table top position, pad the hands forward, keeping the hips above the knees. You can sink the chest to the mat or a cushion/pillow. Stay here as you bring focus to the breath again for 4-10 rounds of breath.
Supine Butterfly: Bringing yourself to a seated position, draw the soles of the feet together and let the knees rest out wide. You can support the knees with pillows or cushions if you like. This is butterfly pose but I love to take it lying down (or supine) before bed.
Once in your supine variation of butterfly (or simply legs outstretched), start to bring the focus to the exhale. Taking a longer exhale than inhale allows the body to switch to its parasympathetic nervous state (rest & relax state), essential to be able to drift off to sleep. Golden Thread Breath would be a lovely practice to take here (click here to discover more about this breath practice: GOLDEN THREAD BREATH)
I hope this sequence helps you get a night of restful sleep. If you’d like to try a short yoga for sleep class with me, click this link to access: TEN TO ZEN.
Happy snoozing!
Trix
