Having a hard time falling or staying asleep at night? Try these five yoga moves before you hop into bed. If you’ve ever taken a yoga class or practiced at home, you may have noticed how calm and quiet your mind felt after — and there’s a good reason for that. Yoga helps ease that mental chatter and release built-up tension, making it a natural way to transition into rest mode. But don’t just jump into any yoga pose — some can give you an energy boost (hello, downward dog). Instead, yoga expert Brent Laffoon, founder and president of the Association of Yoga Professionals, says you should focus on poses that include reclined twists and passive hip openers to relax your mind and body. This is a pose my yoga instructor recommends, and it’s an excellent start (and end) to any bedtime yoga practice. I often find any time I need to reset, whether it’s during a tough workout or to relieve my lower back and hips from sitting in a chair all day, child’s pose is one of my go-to’s. Start on your hands and knees, with your wrists aligned under your shoulders and your knees under your hips — you can open your knees wider than hip distance if you want a deeper stretch. Slowly sit back on your heels, hands still on the floor, arms straight, and forehead touching the ground. Stretch your arms out in front of you with your palms facing down and let your body melt into the floor. Breathe deeply as you focus on lengthening your spine. To help calm your mind and body at night, start with yoga poses that release the stress of the day and encourage relaxation. Reclined twists and passive hip openers can be especially grounding and Laffoon says they can have a calming effect on the mind. He recommends supta baddha konasana (reclining bound angle pose) and supta kapotasana (reclined pigeon pose) for releasing tension. Gentle, supported inversions like viparita karani (legs up the wall pose) or halasana (plow pose) are also great yoga poses to help you reset your body and mind before bed, he says. Plow pose is one of the more advanced yoga moves on this list, so you may need to stick with legs up the wall until you feel ready to move on to the next level. This pose is also a gentle inversion, but without the support of the wall (and your legs do go over your head — it’s not as crazy as it sounds). Once you’ve mastered legs on the wall, you can use the wall as support while you lift one or both legs off the wall. I do recommend getting help from an experienced yoga instructor when trying a more advanced move like a plow pose to avoid any injuries. When you’re ready, here’s how to get into the pose. Start by lying flat on your back, from your head down to your feet. With your arms and palms pressing down, slowly bend your knees and lift your legs over your head. Unbend your legs as they’re overhead and let the tops of your toes touch the ground. Your arms should still be straight and planted onto the floor. Hold this pose for five breaths, then bend your knees and lift them over your head, slowly lowering your lower back and legs back to the floor.
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Sunday, March 23, 2025