Best Yoga Poses Before Bedtime

At Infinitemoon we are a quest to help get the best sleep ever.  We have many articles on our blog that address different sleep issues.  We are excited to have a guest writer, Amanda Lasater of Mattress Advisor, share her insights into the best yoga poses before bedtime.

Yoga and Sleep

“Yoga offers a wealth of benefits, but none is more remarkable than its ability to improve the quality of your sleep. There are many forms of yoga to consider adopting, and although all forms focus on relaxation, some are geared toward a more intense workout while others are designed to soothe your body and mind. For our purposes, we’ll look at a few of the overall benefits of yoga as well as the best yoga poses for improving your sacred shuteye.

Benefits of Yoga

Increases Flexibility

Because yoga combines relaxation techniques with muscle-toning poses, you reap the extra benefit of working your muscles while they are at their most receptive to healing (when relaxed) and they will allow for an increased range of motion, both during your session and beyond.

Builds Core Strength

Not only do fit stomach muscles look attractive, they also serve a very important purpose by protecting you from back pain and arthritis, both of 1which can interfere with your sleep. Strong core strength also improves balance and helps prevent falling.

Improves Posture

It is no small feat for your spine to support your head, which is actually quite heavy. When you balance it on an erect spine, your back and neck muscles don’t have to work as hard, protecting you from the negative effects of poor posture.

Improves Quality of Sleep

It’s important to be able to quiet your mind and relax in order to achieve better sleep. Yoga addresses the common causes of stress, insomnia, or poor sleep such as anxiety and chronic pain by relieving tension and calming the mind.

With that in mind, here are five yoga poses – or asanas – that are particularly conducive to relaxing and getting an adequate amount of restorative sleep.

Best Yoga Poses Before Bedtime

Child’s Pose

Child’s Pose is one of the most commonly practiced yoga asanas. It stretches your thighs, hips, and ankles while lowering stress and fatigue. This pose benefits sleep, not only because it provides a beneficial stretch, but also because the asana places an intense focus on drawing your attention inward.

Forward Bend

Holding the Forward Bend pose relaxes tension in your neck with the help of gravity, while stretching your calves, hamstrings, and hips.  No need to reach for the floor. This stretch is about allowing your upper body to be suspended against a gravitational force.

Legs Up the Wall

While resting your sit bones on the wall and extending your legs up against the wall, you recirculate blood flow and reduce any inflammation you may have in your feet and ankles. This pose is especially good if you are on your feet much of the day.

Corpse Pose

Corpse Pose is generally the last pose of a yoga session, when you allow your breathing to return to normal and surrender your entire upturned body to complete relaxation. You lie on your back with your legs and arms extended naturally aside your body with your palms facing up. It’s while in Corpse Pose that you integrate your yoga work into the rest of your day.

For all of these poses, hold them for 3 to 5 minutes. Concentrate on deep breathing with all of them except Corpse Pose, which is designed for closing your yoga session and returning your breath back to its normal rate.”

Amanda Lasater – Mattress Advisor