Best Yoga Poses For Sleep

Yoga and sleep both have so many benefits for your body and mind. Put them together and you have the duo of dreams (pun intended). There are certain yoga poses that work to completely relax your body and ease your mind, making falling asleep a lot easier. Not only that, some yoga poses relieve tension in parts of your body that give many people trouble, such as your lower back or hips.

Releasing tension in your body and clearing your mind is the perfect set up for a restful sleep. And the great thing is, all these poses can be done from the comfort of your bedroom!

If you’re having trouble falling asleep, try these yoga poses before you hop into bed!

1. Seated Forward Bend & Standing Forward Bend

Whether you do this pose standing or seated, the forward bend loosens up your hips, calves and hamstrings to release tension in your lower body. The pose works to calm your mind from clutter, reduce stress and sooth the nerves. Since your head is upright all day, it’s beneficial to do an inversion to reclaim balance.

Just like it sounds, for standing forward bend you start in a standing position and fold your body forward over your legs. You can have a slight bend in your knees if you need to. For seated, you sit with your legs straight out in front of you and bend forward from your hips over your legs.

2. Child’s Pose

One of the most well known and most-loved yoga poses, child’s pose is incredibly relaxing. Just like the forward bend, it relaxes and calms your mind, but also works as a hip-opener and elongates your lower back, which gets compressed when you’re sitting or standing all day. The pose helps relieve stress and anxiety, which are detrimental to sleep.

Start on your hands and knees, spread your knees wide and extend your upper body forward, dropping your torso between your legs. Extend your arms in front of you.

3. Legs Up The Wall

This inverted pose is amazing for so many reasons and will definitely help you get to sleep. Just like it sounds, lie on your back with your legs up against the wall. The pose boosts blood circulation toward the upper body which helps to rebalance your system. And it soothes tired leg muscles that are working all day, whether you’re walking around or sitting down at a desk. The pose stimulates your lymphatic system, which helps boost your immune system, plus it calms the nervous system leading to a very relaxed state of mind.

4. Spinal Twist & Seated Spinal Twist

Twists act to cleanse and refresh your body, stretching your back and relieving backaches. Since the spine is the root of every nerve, the pose is extremely beneficial for your nervous system, creating a strong sense of relaxation.

You can do this pose sitting or lying down, bringing one leg across the other, and creating a twist in the upper body.

5. Corpse Pose

Corpse pose is the simplest yoga pose, but it’s the most beneficial. That’s why almost every class starts and ends with corpse pose. In this pose you let everything go. You’re lying flat on your back, hands to your sides, with closed eyes. What could be more peaceful than that?

Allow your body to feel heavy and melt into the floor, while your mind clears and relaxes. This pose is excellent for stress relief and brings you to a meditative state that’s perfect pre-bedtime.

Have you tried yoga poses to help you sleep? Let us know which ones have worked for you!