Yoga Poses to Practice Before Bed

Lots of people struggle with falling asleep at night. Raising my hand here too… as I am a VERY light sleeper.

It can be super frustrating. Laying there. Awake. Not able to settle.

What can you do about it?

Well, some people look to yoga! There are quite a few yoga poses you can practice before bed. In fact, yoga can be a great thing to do before bed since the stretches are pretty relaxing.

Yoga Practice to Prepare for Sleep

Here’s a quick sequence you can do before bed. You can follow along with us now. And we’ll break down each of the poses for you below the video.

Table into Cat Cow

The first part of this sequence is my “go-to” yoga move. Part of the reason we have difficulty falling asleep at night is because we’re uncomfortable. Our backs ache from long, hard days at work.

To access table, you want to come to your hands and knees. If this bothers your knees, you can always place a folded blanket, towel, or pillow under the knees. The knees are going to be hip distance apart. You want the palms directly under the shoulders. Imagine, sense, or feel the crown of the head pulling forward as the tail pulls back. Lengthen through the spine and come to a nice, flat back.

From here, you can start to notice your breath. Bring your awareness to your breathing.

As you inhale, drop the belly, lift the chest, squeeze the shoulders together, and lift the head, looking up. Once you notice you begin to exhale, tuck the tail, draw the belly up towards the spine, round through the back, and tuck the chin to the chest. Go back and forth with these moves, linking your movement with your breathing.

Childs Pose

The next stretch we move into is called Childs pose.

Widen your knees wider than hip distance apart. If you’re using a yoga mat, you can widen the knees to the edges of your mat. Bring the big toes towards each other or touching. Drape the belly, chest, and head towards the floor. You want your forehead to come in contact with something. If it doesn’t reach the floor, bring the forehead to a pillow, folded towel, or blanket.

Reach the arms outstretched overhead. Spread the fingers wide and press the palms into the floor. As you reach the fingers forwards, reach the tail back behind you. Lengthen through the spine.

Inhale into your back body. With your exhale, release the belly and chest a bit closer towards the floor. Stay here for 5-7 deep, full breaths.

Cobra or Sphinx Pose

With Childs pose, we can notice a rounding through the low back. With this counter pose (Cobra or Sphinx, just depending how high you go), you will notice an arching through the low back.

Now, in the video above, we only go through Childs and Sphinx once. But, if you have more time and enjoy how they feel, you could consider alternating back and forth between the two poses until you’re satisfied.

For Cobra/Sphinx, you want to lay flat on your belly. Bring the legs tight together and point through the toes. Lift your head slightly off the floor, gazing at the mat. The nose is likely hovering right above the floor.

Pull the crown of the head out first and then up towards the ceiling. You want to lengthen before arching up. You can bring your forearms, with palms pressing into the floor, shoulder width apart. Stay here for 5-7 breaths.

Wind Relieving Pose

Next, come to fully lying on your back. Bend both knees, bringing the feet to the floor. Lift the feet off the floor and hug the arms around the legs.

You can hug the arms around the backs of the thighs or fronts of the shins, wherever you can reach best.

Rock the knees side to side, massaging the upper, middle, and lower back. Roll back and forth gently to a nice slow pace. Take your time enjoying this movement as long as you like.

Spinal Twists

Come back to lying on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor. Press your feet into the floor and lift your tail off the ground.

Scootch onto your right hip. As you make your way onto the right hip, allow both knees to fall to the right side. If your left foot lifts off the floor, that’s fine.

Open your arms flat to the ground at shoulder height. The arms are perpendicular to the upper body. You can gaze to the ceiling, or you can look towards your left hand. Rest in the twist for 5-7 breaths.

Repeat on the left side.

Happy Baby

The final pose we’ll practice before we drift off to sleep is called Happy Baby.

Come back to lying on your back with your knees bent, feet to the floor. Lift the feet off the floor and widen the knees wider than the hips. Bend the knees to a 90-degree angle so that the lower legs are perpendicular to the floor.

Flex your feet so that the soles of the feet are parallel to the ceiling. The knees are generously wide… wider than hip distance apart. And remember, the knees are bent deeply.

Bring the hands to the inner thighs, shins, ankles, or even the inner feet. Wherever you can reach. Then, rock ever so softly on the upper back.

Feel the innocence and playfulness of a child. Perhaps a soft smile dances across the lips.

Fall Asleep with Ease

This sequence should not take very long. In fact, you can make it as short or long as you like. You can do all the poses or even omit a few. You can hold for many breaths or hold for a shorter amount of time.

Honor the body and do what’s best for you.

We hope that this sequence allows you to fall asleep with ease.

And, of course, we’d love to see you in a future class! Check out our yoga schedule and sign up for a future program.

About the Author: Elizabeth Scala MSN/MBA, RN, RYT (200) is a holistic nurse, registered yoga instructor, and reiki master.

Elizabeth received her dual master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. She is a certified coach, nature lover, and avid meditator.

Elizabeth lives in Maryland with her supportive husband and playful pups. She enjoys gardening, jigsaw puzzles, baking, music, and hiking.