When people think of yoga, they usually think of the energetic Japanese worship and the challenging posture that can make your heart beat faster. But for many reasons, after a busy day, yoga is really great for relaxing and reducing stress levels. The reason is that yoga before going to bed can not only relax your body, but also relax your brain. It focuses on helping you stay in the present, and promoting the practice of deep and quiet breathing, body consciousness and other important things, so as to help you develop good sleep habits. By practicing yoga before going to bed, you can get several benefits and refresh your body, mind and spirit.

Evening yoga benefits

There are six main reasons for practicing asana and pranayama for 15-60 minutes before going to bed. Through specialized routine exercises, you can experience one or more of the following advantages. When you extend and deepen your evening practice, you will see more benefits in your life.

1. Reduce anxiety and worry.
Yoga provides many tools to help you reduce stress, worry and anxiety. Integrating deep breathing and meditation into your night yoga practice will encourage you to relax and let you sleep all night, no matter how nervous your daily life is. There are several calm and soothing yoga breathing exercises that can relax you before going to bed. If you wake up because of paranoia or anxiety, you can practice one or two pranayama in bed to help you fall asleep again.

2. Helps build bedtime routine.
Good sleep hygiene is essential for a good night rest. Sleep hygiene means adopting good habits and routine at night to promote sleep and deep rest. At the end of the day, a period of calm posture and slow deep breathing will signal to your body that it is time to relax at night, which will help you fall asleep more easily. In order to achieve the best results, allow yourself to directly transition from yoga mat to bed.

3. Improves circulation.
Slow deep stretching and conscious breathing before going to bed can improve blood circulation, lower blood pressure, help prevent blood clots and balance your energy level. Healthy circulation can also strengthen the immune system, detoxify the body and promote cell regeneration. Good circulation of Plana, blood and body fluids will have a positive impact on your overall health, thus improving your sleep.

4. Encourages weight loss.
As we know, exercising every day helps to lose weight and maintain a healthy body shape. Strengthening yoga posture will promote your metabolism and encourage you to burn more calories while sleeping. A healthy weight can reduce heartburn and digestive problems, improve heart health and help you sleep better. If you are using more active exercises to lose weight, you’d better end up with longer Shavasana posture and meditation to encourage relaxation before going to bed.

5. soothes sore muscles and joint pain
Slow deep stretching before bedtime can relieve muscle tension, joint pain and night pain. Many people feel pain after a hard day’s work, especially those who often work with their feet or sit at their desks. If your body feels pain and discomfort, it is difficult to fall asleep. Gentle yoga posture is one of the best ways to relieve pain and tension, which can make you sleep well. If you wake up from physical pain, you can even practice one or two postures in bed to help you relieve your discomfort.

6. Reduces insomnia.
Because it emphasizes relaxation and mindfulness, it is easy to see how a routine yoga program will help you build a quiet habit, so that you can sleep regularly and keep sleeping. Deep and quiet sleep, with good circulation and good sleep habits, will improve your health and your overall quality of life. Yoga lifestyle and regular meditation further help to reduce insomnia and improve sleep.

Best Poses Before Bed

Just like there are certain yoga poses that work best to bring your energy up in the morning, there are some that are naturally designed to relax your body and mind, which makes them perfect for yoga before bed. Relaxing postures, such as forward bends, restorative poses, and poses that help you breathe deeply, are best.

Besides increasing your chances of getting the recommended eight hours of sleep, the yoga poses below will help you fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and wake up feeling more rested than ever before.

• Seated Forward Bend
• Child’s pose
• 

Supine Bound Angle
• Legs-Up-The-Wall pose
• Supine Spinal Twist
• 

Corpse pose

As these poses are the most effective asanas to promote calm and deep sleep, they should be held for several minutes with slow deep breathing. Practicing additional poses from our Yoga Poses for Insomnia list is recommended. You can practice other active asanas, just be mindful of minimizing any energizing poses and placing these at the beginning of your sequence.

Playing some soft music and using calming essential oils will further encourage you to relax. Take time to meditate before or after your evening practice, to further promote restful sleep, and peace of mind throughout the night. A regular yoga practice is the best way to reap all of these great benefits of yoga and improve your quality of sleep.

Nighttime yoga drawbacks

There aren’t many concerns for practicing yoga before bed as long as you practice safely and mindfully. If certain yoga poses stimulate your mind or body too much and disturb your sleep quality, then minimize or avoid these asanas altogether, or practice yoga earlier in the evening. Adding additional time for meditation and calming breathing techniques should be helpful to balance out any stimulating effects of your evening yoga practice.

Conclusion

The breathing, stretches, and relaxation yoga at night offers have many wonderful benefits—most importantly, yoga helps you reduce stress and wind down after a long busy day. A few minutes of yoga is one of the best things to help your body and mind prepare for a good night’s rest.