Yoga is the beautiful art of Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline. This discipline includes meditation, breath control, and the adoption of specific body postures. People use this technique for health and relaxation purposes in everyday life.
I can tell you, from personal experiences, that yoga is very soothing and relaxing and something I recently learned is that yoga is also great for helping me to fall asleep. Combine that with a good mattress and you’ll be lights out in no time. I recently tried some yoga poses that are great for sleep. Here’s 22 of them.
#1 Pascimottanasana
No need to bless me, I did not sneeze, that is the actual name of this yoga pose. It’s a tongue twister, I know.
This has been known to be one of the best yoga poses for sleep. What you want to do for this is sit with your legs out, and bend right over with your hands above out in front of you.
Pascimottanasana brings you closer to yourself, closer to your listening, and closer to your healing.
#2 Rock-A-Bye Roll-Over And Sleep
The rock-a-bye roll is a very easy yoga pose that will help you fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer.
For this pose, all you need to do is lay on your back in bed, hig your knees into your chest, cross your ankles and wrap both aros around your shins. You are then going to inhale and rock your body as if you were going to sit. As you roll backwards, exhale, it’s that simple!
Continue this for one minute, uncurl, and drift off into a peaceful sleep.
#3 30-Minute Bedtime Yoga Sequence Class
If you are looking for something more than just one pose, this 30-minute class is what you are going to want to watch.
The instructor goes through multiple poses within half an hour and teaches you how to relax yourself to help fall asleep quicker.
#4 The Sleeping Pigeon
As strange as it may sound, this is one position that really helps me to relax.
For this pose, you are going to want to start in the plank position. Tighten your abs then bring your right knee toward your right hand and place your right foot as close to your left hand as you can. Keep your back leg extended, hips even, and relax your weight through the middle of your hips.
You are then going to want to slowly lower your chest over your front shin and relax your forehead on the mat with your arms stretched overhead. So, there you have it, the sleeping pigeon.
#5 Sleeping Pigeon Didn’t work? Try The Upavishta Konasana
This yoga pose is ideal for relaxation before bedtime.
This pose is quite technical, so I won’t go into explanation, but it involves stretching your spine and walking your fingers. This is one pose that I cannot successfully do.
If you think that this would help you and would like to try it, check out the instructions for the Upavishta Konasana or in other terms, wide-seated forward fold.
#6 If The Upavishta Konasana Was Too Difficult, Try The Spinal Twist
This is another pose that involves the spine and may be a little easier than the Upavishta Konasana.
This pose works by stretching the back muscles and glutes, massages the back and hips, hydrates the spinal disks, lengthens, relaxes, and realigns the spine, massages the abdominal organs and so much more.
The spinal twist works wonders for relaxation and helps to calm you down before bed for a better night of sleeping.
#7 Half Happy Baby
The half happy baby is a pose meant to look like a baby playing with one of their feet. This is where the name comes from.
It is perceived that a happy baby rolls around while they are holding their feet in the air. Well, this pose mimics half of that.
If you choose, you can also do this pose in full. Either way, you will find yourself sleeping peacefully after the relaxing effects of the half happy baby.
#8 Uttanasana For Insomnia
The pose is not as difficult as it is to pronounce.
All you need to do is stand on the floor straight with your hand beside you. Exhale and bend downwards from the hips while keeping your knees straight. Next, you are going to put your hands beside your feet and press your palms against the floor firmly. You will then place your elbows outside of your calf muscles and relax.
This is a very simple pose for those who may be suffering from insomnia. If you find yourself in need of sleep, do the Uttanasana.
#9 Plow Pose
The plow pose, or Halasana in Sanskrit, is another spine stretching yoga pose that works wonders for sleeping issues.
This pose involves bringing your legs over your head while laying down flat. This is another pose that I cannot master, mostly because I just can’t stretch like that anymore.
The Halasana helps to soothe and revitalize your body and helps to renew the mind and spirit. All of these put together will help your body prepare itself for sleep.
#10 Upside-Down Relaxation
You may remember doing this as a child. I know, as a child, I did this all of the time. Back then, I was unaware that it was an actual relaxation pose.
The upside-down relaxation involves the extension of your legs up against a wall, it’s really that simple and it really works for relaxation to prepare for sleep.
Sit facing a wall with your butt 6” away from it, lie back and extend your legs up the wall then let your arms rest by your sides with your palms facing up and breathe gently. If you can feel the stretch in the back of your legs, you’re doing it right.
#11 Next, Try The Reclining Bound Angle
This is another great pose that you can do from the comfort of your bed to help prepare you for a restful sleep.
The reclining bound angle or Supta Baddha Konasana, is another pose that you may have found yourself doing without even knowing it.
Lay on your back, bend your knees, bring your heels in near your bottom, then drop your knees to your sides while keeping your back flat on the bed. Rest your hands on your belly and heart then breathe in and sink deeply. Next, you’ll find yourself sleeping like a baby.
#12 5-Minute Yoga For Better Sleep
In this 5-minute yoga video, you can follow along with the instructor while guides you through poses that have been known to help people sleep better.
#13 Extended Puppy Pose
The Extended Puppy Pose or Utta Shishosana, is a hybrid between the Downward Facing Dog and the Child’s Pose.
All you have to do is extend your arms out on the ground with your palms down and your forehead resting on the ground as well. Your knees and shins will be resting on the ground as well with your hips directly above your knees.
The point of the Extended Puppy Pose is to calm the mind in preparation for bedtime. It is ideal for those who may suffer from insomnia.
#14 Beginner Nighttime Yoga
In another helpful video by Brett Larkin, she allows us to follow her through her bedtime yoga pose sequence for better sleep.
You can enjoy 10-minutes of yoga poses that have been proven to help people fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer. They are simple, relaxing, and calming.
Watch the video and enjoy a restful night of sleep.
#15 Lizard Pose
This is a pose that is commonly found in sequence poses as a bedtime routine.
If you prefer to only do one pose before bed, just for that little bit of extra relaxation, then this is one of the poses you should definitely try, even I can do this one.
The Lizard Pose opens the hips, hamstrings, groins, and hip flexors, strengthen inner thigh muscles, opens and releases the chest, shoulders and neck, and prepares the body for deeper hip openers.
#16 Marichi Pose
The Marichi Pose, often called Sage’s Pose, is meant to stretch the hips, hamstrings, and shoulders.
I like to use this pose before I go for a run and before I go to sleep. It helps to relax my mind, body and makes me sleep like a baby.
Marichi Pose also helps to benefit your digestive system.
#17 The Sphinx Pose
The Sphinx Pose is another easy pose that helps induce sleep. I use it all of the time and it definitely does help me relax.
It is great for opening the chest and strengthens your core body. It helps to align the spine and helps invigorate the kidneys and nervous system. Do not do this pose if you have had recent injury to your back, arms, shoulders, are pregnant, or had recent abdominal surgery.
If you are looking to induce sleep simply, the Sphinx Pose is the way to go.
#18 It Doesn’t Get Any Easier Than The Easy Pose
The Easy Pose is well, easy. It is perfect for meditation before bedtime to help you get into the sleep zone. I often find myself doing this before bed.
It helps to promote an inner calm and allows you to find serenity.
The key to this pose is focus and breathing techniques to begin relaxation before your other bedtime routine yoga poses.
#19 Bridge Pose
The Bridge Pose is kind of an inversion pose, which means that you can get all of the benefits of inversion such as stress reduction and improved circulation.
This pose opens up your heart and stretches out the chest muscles.
This is the one pose that you are going to want to start your bedtime routine with. You can use just this pose to help fall asleep or you can go from bridge pose to another one for even better results.
#20 Corpse Pose
The Corpse Pose is another pose that is wonderful before bedtime, this is one that I have mastered, mostly because it involves laying down without turning my body into a pretzel.
Keep a pillow under your spine and extend your legs out in front of you. Put your left hand on your heart and the right on your belly. You are then going to do three rounds of deep breathing in a regular pattern. Inhale to the count of four and hold for seven then exhale for eight.
Once you have done the Corpse Pose sequence four times, you can remove the pillow from under your spine. You are then ready for blissful dreams.
#21 From Corpse To Cat/Cow
The Cat/Cow Pose is perfect for stretching and strengthening the spine and neck. Do you see a pattern here? A lot of these poses involve stretching the neck and spine. Maybe this is why it feels so good when we stretch in the morning?
So, to do this, you are going to want to get on all fours and spread your fingers wide making sure your hands are under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Inhale and tuck your tailbone, round your back, and look at your belly.
Exhale, drop, arch your lower back, and look up. This is what it takes to do the very simple Cat/Cow Pose to help you fall asleep easier.
#22 Triangle Pose With Wall Support
If you haven’t quite yet mastered the balancing act known as Yoga, then this supported pose is a great place to start.
The Triangle Pose with a wall support creates better blood flow and space in the spine. It is easy to do and your body will thank you for not working it too hard before bed.
This pose also releases the hamstrings and allows spinal extension. Using the wall will help you keep the pose longer.
Are You A Master Yet?
Did you enjoy this article so much that you tried every pose on the list? If not, that’s okay, I just hope you enjoyed the read. Yoga isn’t always easy to master, but once you learn all of the poses for better sleep, you can drift off to dreamland and stay there longer. To me, Yoga is an important part of my life because it helps lower my stress and brings me blissful relaxation before bed. It is definitely something that I need after a long, exhausting day. If you know someone who is interested in using Yoga for better sleep, share this with them. If you have any comments, feel free to make them as well.