Some may find dozing off at night though, especially when you have anxieties constantly playing in your head. Even though you may feel tired, these thoughts and troubles may keep you up at night. Yoga has proved to help increase serotonin to boost your mood as well as relax your mind. If you are struggling to snooze at night, practising yoga may do the trick.

Here’s Why You Should Do Yoga Before Bedtime?

Yoga strengthens your body and improves the flexibility of your body muscles. Through this process, it makes you feel relaxed. Practising yoga before going to bed also enhances memory power, improves your mental health, and reduces anxiety. It can also speed up metabolism by burning more calories and fats stored in body cells.

This practice relaxes the mind and improves both memory power and concentration. It also helps promote a feeling of general happiness in the body, slowing down your breathing and heart rate, thereby putting you into a relaxed state.

Can Yoga Help You Sleep Better?

Yoga is a form of exercise that combines meditation with physical postures to help improve overall health. Yoga before bedtime promotes deep relaxation by reducing muscle tension as well as anxiety (from over-thinking). It initiates many phases at once, such as slowing down breathing and heart rates to reach a state of relaxation that is ordinarily hard to achieve through relaxation techniques alone.

This process ultimately encourages healthy sleep rhythms by reducing stress hormones during the latter parts of your day (just before sleep time), so you can sleep more deeply at night.

The breathing rhythms involved in some forms of yoga, such as the slow breathing exercise known as pranayama, can also be used to promote sleep initiation. Yoga combined with conscious relaxation techniques is considered an effective stress-reduction therapy and has been shown to relieve insomnia in clinical studies.

We take a look at the top 5 yoga poses to do before bedtime to slip into a refreshing sleep:

#1. Child’s Pose (Balasana)

Child’s Pose allows for a deep and soothing stretch throughout your back, shoulders, neck, chest, and hips. It helps improve digestion which is crucial for healthy sleep since a working digestive system also guarantees a good slumber.

How to Do Child’s Pose?

Start by sitting on the floor with both legs folded under you. Slowly stretch both arms forward and bring your torso to the ground as your forehead touches the mat. Ensure your back remains straight and parallel to the ground. In this position, breathe deeply and hold for 5 minutes before coming back up.

Depending on what your body requires, you may need to adjust the placement of your arms and legs used for support.

#2. Corpse pose (Shavasana)

Shavasana, also known as the corpse pose, is one of the most relaxing yoga poses you can do before going to bed. It helps relax your mind and body, which allows for easy and uninterrupted sleep.

How to do Shavasana pose?

Lie down on your back with your arms by the sides and palms up. Keep your eyes closed and relax all your muscles. Breathe gently and smoothly as you release the tension from your body. Keep your breathing as natural as possible, and if you notice that your mind has started to wander off, then simply concentrate on breathing. Stay in this pose for 5 minutes or more, depending on how comfortable you feel.

#3. Legs Up The Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)

Viparita Karani is a powerful and effective pose that helps the body feel relaxed and rejuvenated. It promotes circulation to the heart, regulates breathing, and calms the mind with its intense stretch.

How To Do Viparita Karani Pose?

This one’s pretty simple – all you have to do is lie on your back and raise your legs the wall perpendicular to your torso. Keep your arms relaxed at your sides or place them on the ground.

You can do this pose with a bolster or pillow under your hips or with a blanket folded in half so that it supports the upper half of your body while leaving the lower part free.

#4. Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)

If standing is difficult for you before bedtime, try this restful pose instead. Forward bending poses relieve stress and improve sleep by calming the central nervous system. They also clear out the accumulated waste in various organs of your body that might be causing discomfort during sleep.

How to do Uttanasana?

Stand straight with your arms stretched over your head. Then bend forward and stretch out while bringing your palms to rest on the floor. Ensure you bear some weight on your hands as you bend forward instead of simply using them for balance. Let your quadriceps and calf muscles stretch as you fold downwards.

#5. Head to The Knee Pose (Janu Sirsasana)

A variation of the classic yoga pose is a great asana to encourage flexibility and mobility in your hips, legs, ankles, and spine. It improves circulation while improving digestion. This resting pose helps relax your mind and relieves fatigue or stress, so it can aid sleep if practiced before bedtime.

How to do Head to The Knee Pose?

In a sitting position, spread your legs out in front of you. Bend your right knee and bring your foot towards your left upper thigh. Slowly stretch towards the end of your left leg and hold the sole of your left foot with both hands. Bring your forehead towards your left knee to feel the stretch.

How far you can stretch depends on how flexible you are, so do what feels most comfortable to you. Try to lean towards the knee of your left leg, keeping it tight to your torso, and maintain this position for a minute before changing sides.

Good sleep is one of the most important aspects of better health and improved memory. One way to ensure you are getting good sleep is through yoga poses since it reduces stress and anxiety. Notable poses like child’s pose and Shavasana, for instance, are known for their calming effects. In some cases of anxiety and stress, people can develop insomnia due to high levels of cortisol in the bloodstream. One way yoga has been used to help with this issue is through autogenic training, where deep breathing techniques are used to relax the body.