10 Yoga Poses to Improve Your Sleep Quality at Night

Editor: Hetal Bansal on Nov 12,2024

In the modern rush of life, a proper night's rest sometimes seems like a rare commodity. Whether it is stress, anxiety, or just a hectic lifestyle, most people cannot handle all the pressure and find it difficult to sleep. Yoga for sleep, on the other hand, is an all-natural and effective solution. Practicing relaxation yoga for sleep daily but especially before bed helps ease your mind, relaxes your body, and gets you prepared for a good night's sleep. In this blog, we are going to discuss 10 poses that are going to improve the quality of your sleep and guide you through a long sleep-deprived life from insomnia.

1. Child's Pose (Balasana)

The child's pose is one of the most comforting yoga poses. It gently stretches the back, hips, and legs and relaxes. It promotes releasing lower back and shoulder tension, where usually stress throughout the day seems to strain.

How to do it:

• Kneel on the floor, bringing the big toes together and setting the knees apart.
• Sit back on your heels, folding your upper body forward. Place your forehead on the floor.
• Extend your arms out in front of you, or bring them down by your sides.
• Breathe deeply and slowly, letting your body sink further into the mat.

The child's pose is a fine opener for a restful night's yoga session, leading to deep relaxation.

2. Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani)

The restorative posture is just wonderful for the end of a long day. Legs Up the Wall allows gravity to help support draining fluid excesses in the legs and inspires relaxation. It also settles the nervous system, making it a really good sleep pose.

How to do it: 

• Sit with one hip up against a wall. Lie down on your back.
• Straighten your legs up along the wall and place your arms by your sides.
• Close your eyes and breathe deeply, holding that position for up to 10 minutes.

Such a posture encourages the feeling of lightness and deep relaxation, making it one of the best for yoga right before bed.

3. Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)

This beautiful, restorative pose opens the hips and chest, and it is cooling to the mind. It's an excellent exercise for those having difficulty sleeping since it decreases stress and evokes a sense of calm.

How to do it:

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
• Bring the soles of your feet together, and your knees will fall open.
• Lie down in a position by placing your hands on your stomach or by your sides.
• Reflect on deep, slow breathing.

This sleep-enhancing pose is helpful to get rid of physical tension and achieve optimal mental calm.

4. Forward Fold (Uttanasana)

Forward bends calm the nervous system, open up the back and neck, and are very soothing for the mind. It is a good stretch to prepare yourself to really relax.

How to do it: 

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and slowly hinge at hips, folding forward toward the floor. Let your head drop and release your neck.
• Reach down toward the floor or grab your ankles, depending on what is possible for you.
• Hold it for a few breaths then slowly curl back up.

This simple pose helps release held body tension and can be a great method for slowing your mind at bedtime.

5. Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana)

The seated forward bend is one of the most classic poses for a yoga stretch in the spine, hamstrings, and lower back, as well as encouraging a feeling of calm. It helps prepare the body for sleep as it offers both physical and mental release.

How to do it:

• Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you.
• Inhale, lengthening your spine. On exhalation, hinge forward at your hips.
• Reach forward and take hold of the feet or shins, keeping your back long.
• Hold this for several breaths, relaxing into this posture.

This final pose leads to a peaceful body and soothed mind. It's a great pose for winding down at the end of a nighttime yoga practice.

6. Cat-Cow Pose (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana)

Cat-Cow is another more fluid transition between two poses that will stretch and release tension in the spine. It also gives you a mental reset as it helps release the stress you would have accumulated during the day.

How to do it:

• Get down on all fours with wrists under shoulders and knees under hips.
• Inhale as you arch back, dropping your belly down toward the floor (Cow Pose).
• Exhale as you round your spine, tucking the chin to the chest and the tailbone to the floor (Cat Pose).
• Continue flowing back and forth between these two poses for several breaths.

This easy exercise calms the body and prepares you for a good night's sleep.

7. Corpse Pose (Savasana)

Savasana, sometimes referred to as the most important yoga pose, is a restorative pose that allows your body to absorb the fruits of your practice. The pose will help calm the mind, reduce stress, and cause deep relaxation, which are some of the essentials in the treatment of insomnia.

How to do it:

• Let go of everything in your body and release all the tension from head to toe.
• Hold it for at least 5 to 10 minutes so that the body and mind can relax completely.

Savasana is a preparatory pose that grounds you, helping get your body ready for a good night's sleep. This is an excellent final pose to complete your evening yoga practice.

8. Happy Baby Pose (Ananda Balasana)

This pose can be playful and soothing. This pose will stretch the hips, lower back, and thighs and facilitate relaxation. This can help release all the tension in the body while preparing the body for sleep.

How to do it:

• Lie on the back side and bring the legs closer to the chest.
• Grab your feet on the outside with your hands, keeping your knees bent.
• Slowly pull your feet down toward the floor, creating a happy baby-like position of the legs.
• Deep breathing relaxes in pose.

This pose does help to relax the body and also clear out some tension from the day, so is a good yoga before bed.

9. Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)

Pigeon Pose is a profound hip opener that can be soothing for stored tension in the hips and lower back, the areas in which most people hold stress. It can be truly soothed and blissful for those who hold emotional or physical tension in these areas.

How to do it:

• Put one leg in front of your wrist and pull the other forward as you start on all fours.
• Keep your hips down toward the floor, and extend your back leg backwards.
• Lower your torso to the mat, bringing your arms alongside you or up in front of you.
• Hold for a few breaths, then step across to repeat on the opposite side.

This pose opens the hips, releasing deeply ingrained tension in the body, so it relaxes both physical and mental places.

10. Cat-Cow Breathing (with Deep Breaths)

This is a version of the cat-cow asana, but with an emphasis on the breathing pattern to calm the nervous system to prepare it for sleep. Slow, spaced breathing with movements is meant to bring deep relaxation and mental clarity.

How to do it:

• Begin in the posture of all fours like any Cat-Cow pose.
• Inhalation and arch your back while tucking in your chin, like you are in a Cow Pose
• Exhalation, arch your back and keep your chin tucked in as if you are in a Cat Pose.
• Focus your breath on slow, deep breaths during the movement while paying attention to how your body feels with each breath.

This breath and movement practice has a grounding quality that seems to unwind me for sleep.

Conclusion

Practising such relaxing poses at bedtime would help achieve the best antidote to insomnia and ensure sleep. Absolutely no opportunity to remember the criticisms and stresses of the day as practising yoga calms not just the body but also the mind. These simple poses could be altered to suit your skill level as a beginner yogi or an experienced yogi, and they help wake up your evening routine.

Take relaxation yoga for sleep practices in bed to enhance your overall well-being and get a great night's rest. Your body and mind will thank you if you stretch out your mat and enjoy a peaceful evening of yoga.

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