Sleep often slips to the bottom of the priority list when life gets busy. It’s hard enough to wake up early, rush to work, battle traffic on the way home, and find something reasonably healthy for dinner. Evenings can fill up quickly, especially during the holidays, leaving your mind too wound up to drift off easily. A powerful HIIT workout earlier in the day can improve sleep, but exercising too close to bedtime may have the opposite effect, according to a 2025 article in Nature Communications. High-intensity exercise within four hours of bedtime can make it harder to fall asleep and may reduce your total sleep time, particularly if you typically train earlier in the day. The Sleep Foundation says that lighter forms of activity before bed may actually help you sleep more soundly. The key is choosing slow movements like yoga that don’t raise your core body temperature too much. As your body prepares for rest, both your temperature and heart rate need to drop to support deep, restorative sleep. Here’s a gentle yoga sequence to practice every night. TikTok and Instagram may be full of people twisting into pretzel poses in exotic settings, but yoga doesn’t have to look like that. You can practice just as easily in your bedroom in your pajamas. Gentle, mind-body practices like yoga help calm the parasympathetic nervous system, making it easier to drift off. A 2023 study in BMC Psychiatry found that yoga reduced nighttime awakenings in people with insomnia. Skip the hot vinyasa or power flows, which are designed to build heat. Instead, focus on restorative, floor-based poses that relax your body, like this wide-legged forward fold. If you have some wall space, roll out your yoga mat nearby. Sit with your hips against the wall, legs comfortably apart, and place pillows under your knees to protect them from hyperextension. You can rest additional pillows or a bolster between your legs for more support. Slowly fold your torso between your legs until you feel a slight stretch. It shouldn’t be to your fullest stretch, but about 50%. Breathe slowly through your nose and stay here for three to five minutes, allowing the tissues in your legs to gradually release.
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