Yoga instructor, fitness and wellness expert, Rachelle Wintzen shows you 8 simple yoga poses to help you have a better sleep.
Transcript:
Hi, my name is Rachelle Wintzen, and I’m going to show you 8 of my favorite yoga poses to help you get a better night’s sleep.
The first pose we’re going to do is just come to sit. And then just nice and easy, you’re going to slowly start to fold forward. Extending the arms in front of you. Just letting the hips relax. Just getting everything nice and calm. And essentially just allowing yourself just to decompress after a long day. Letting yourself just slow down and focus on the simple. Inhale and exhale.
The second pose is, you’re going to sit cross legged, and you’re going to slowly start to draw your navel in towards your spine. Sitting up nice and tall. You’re going to slowly take the right hand to the wall, and just gently start to twist around. Again, moving to your own range of motion. So making sure not to over twist. Bring back posture, help to reset the spine. And again, also very calming. And you’re going to repeat this on the left side as well.
The third pose we’re going to do is child’s pose. You’re going to bring the big toes together, and take the knees wide apart. And again, just letting yourself fold forward. So letting the belly just sink between the thighs, and just extending the arms. Focusing on laying the hips. Just sink down towards the heels of the feet, and focus on the breath. Inhale and exhale.
The fourth pose we’re going to do is, you’re going to slowly come to lay onto your back. And you’re just going to gently bring the knees in towards the chest, placing your hands on top of your shins. And then you can gently start to rock side to side, releasing out any low back tension.
The fifth pose, staying on your back with the knees tucked into the chest. You’re going to let the knees fall to the right side, nice and easy. And you’re going to open up the chest, then arms come by your sides. And then slowly look away from the legs. This is really nice to help reduce low back pain. Really great just to help the spine decompress. And it’s very calming. You can repeat this as well onto the left side. So bringing the knees over to the left, and just looking – opposite direction.
The sixth pose we’re going to do is my favorite pose of all the postures. You’re going to come as close to the wall as possible. Maybe moving the pillows out of the way. You’re going to slowly fall onto your back, and then gently bring the legs up the wall. And then just rest the arms by your sides. This pose is really nice, because it brings you into relaxation mode. So it allows your body to have a sensation of grounding, and just slowing down physically and mentally.
The seventh pose that we’re going to do is, you’re going to come to lay onto your back. You’re going to let the soles of the feet press together, and allow the knees just to splay apart. Now if you have tight hips, or you feel tense in your hip flexors, you’re going to place a pillow under each knee. You can place your hands onto your belly or by your sides. And again, just let your eyes close, and just focus on a nice deep breath. Inhale, and exhale.
The last pose we’re going to do is Shavasana. So you’re simply just going to come to lay onto your back. Extending your arms by your sides, and your legs out long in front of you. And just allowing your whole body to fully unwind, decompress. Getting the sensation of feeling very heavy and grounded, and just allow yourself just to start to calm the mind by just focusing on the inhale and the exhale.
I like to sleep on my right side, because the right side triggers are right brain, which is responsible for our parasympathetic nervous system. Which is the place that we go to rest and digest mode. And I also like to put a pillow between my knees, and keep my knees bent. This helps to keep the spine in neutral. It’s very supportive for the spine, and it helps a lot of you have low back pain, or low back discomfort. So I hope these help you have a better night’s sleep. Goodnight.
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