Bedtime Yoga: The Best Poses & Practices to Help You Catch Some Z’s
Think about your bedtime routine. If you’re like most people these days, you probably end up scrolling through social media, watching videos, or replying to emails in bed instead of allowing yourself to drift off to sleep. We live busy lives, and it can be hard to let ourselves truly relax and unplug at night. What’s more, a lot of us feel like we don’t get enough time to ourselves during the day, leading us to practice what psychologists are now calling, “revenge procrastination” at night. The bottom line is, we aren’t getting very good sleep as a society these days. Fortunately, there are a variety of techniques and habits you can pick up to help transform your midnight scroll sessions into much-needed rest. Today we’re going to be talking about bedtime yoga, what forms it can take, and how you can start incorporating it into your nightly routine.
Why bedtime yoga is so beneficial
When we let ourselves watch too many episodes of our favorite true-crime show on Netflix, or spend hours doom scrolling on the internet, our bodies produce stress hormones that can activate our fight-or-flight response. Then, when we finally lay our heads down, we can’t fall asleep. The good news is, by changing our habits, we can produce relaxation hormones instead.
A short bedtime yoga routine can help us wind down our bodies and brains before we hit the hay, ensuring our bodies naturally enter rest mode. In addition to helping us fall asleep better, practicing yoga before bed can also help improve the quality of our sleep, and can even help us maintain a healthy weight. Rest is a powerful thing, and the more we can get, the better.
Poses and practices to try
Reclined butterfly pose
This is a great pose to start with. You can either try this laying flat down on your bed, or for extra support, you can add a few pillows. This is also a great stretch to do with a partner! Have them gently push your knees to the side and back up, repeating slowly for 1-3 minutes.
Waterfall pose
If you find yourself sitting for most of the day at a desk, this next pose is a great way to relieve tension in your hamstrings and lower body. You can either do this pose without support, or lift your legs up onto your wall or headboard. Practice deep breaths while you relax into this pose, and allow the stress and tension to melt away from your lower body.
Happy baby pose
After 10-15 breaths of waterfall, continue your bedtime yoga routine by relaxing into the happy baby pose. Bring your knees in toward your chest and grab the outsides of your feet. If you want to give your back a little massage, you can gently roll from side to side, or forward to backward.
Corpse pose
Once you’re ready to exit your other poses, corpse pose is a great way to finish out your routine. While in this pose, you can either let your mind drift or try some yoga nidra/guided meditation (more on that in a bit). Either way, this is a great pose to help calm your mind down before you drift off to sleeep.
Try some hand stretches and massages
At any point in your bedtime routine, you can give yourself a short hand massage to relieve pressure. We often don’t realize all the stress we put on our hands, but a quick hand massage with some essential oils can help give our hands the tlc they deserve.
Listen to a yoga nidra meditation
Yoga Nidra—or “yogic sleep”—is an ancient, restorative practice that shares similarities with a guided meditation. Although the word “sleep” is in the title, it isn’t necessarily the goal of yoga nidra (but it can definitely be a great part of a bedtime yoga routine!). It can be done at any time of day, whether you’re feeling scattered, stressed, or low on energy and need a reset—though you certainly don’t need to be feeling “off” to reap the benefits of the practice! Yoga nidra is traditionally practiced laying down, but can be done seated. Mainly you just want to be comfortable and warm. We love our resident yoga nidra expert Alex Moody’s audio casts.