Deep Sleep: Yin Yoga Practice In Bed

In this 20-min yin yoga practice, you can already set up in bed, join me for gentle 3 poses that we will be taking and then allow yourself to drift off into a deep and blissful sleep after releasing the tension from the day before.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this evening yin yoga practice my name is doris and i will be guiding you through this practice today and the way i intended this short class was that it can be taken in bed so you're more than welcome to set up for beds set up for sleep and then just practice but we won't be really needing any props you're more than welcome to use your pillows or your duvet your blanket whatever you have and we also won't be needing a lot of space so this can be done in a single bed or even with someone next to you without you getting in their space but you're more than welcome to also simply practice on a mat or on the floor just any comfortable surface will do and then once you're settled in then feel free to pause this if you need a bit more time i invite you to find perhaps a seat or maybe you want to lie down maybe sit on your heels sit on an elevation with your legs crossed whatever works for you to check in yep and perhaps lying down feels a bit too sleepy then maybe you want to take a seat instead and we want to take this time to tune in to the breath if you'd like to you can place hands on your body and notice the breath entering the body maybe the chest the belly is lifting and then on your exhale noticing how the breath leaves the body again with the exhale breathing in and breathing out if you'd like to you can close your eyes starting to become soft in the body and allowing there to be a sense of heaviness if it arises soft face soft jaw jaw soft shoulders and as you're breathing here perhaps you can notice other places in the body where you're still holding some tension and perhaps sending your breath there to create a sense of ease and relaxation allow yourself to take a few more rounds of breath and to maybe check into your body if that feels right and then gradually returning to the physical body and maintaining this connection to the breath however as we practice and our first pose that we're going to take is a child's pose so for this you might want to place the feet together or maybe the heels together or perhaps there is a bit of distance between the feet placing your pelvis down towards the heels and then you can either keep the knees together or bring them apart to any level that you'd like we just don't want to have too intense of a stretch or too intense of a sensation so this is just your guide to know when it's too much if it's too intense to hold then for yin and especially for an evening practice and perhaps taking a step back might be more beneficial to you and then we're gonna fold the body over the legs so maybe the forehead is coming to the ground or perhaps you want to bring a pillow underneath your torso and maybe resting the head on a pillow or maybe the head on your hands maybe you want to crumble up your blanket your duvet to support you really up to you what you like to do here you can extend your arms towards the front or you can bring the arms back towards the heels which might be more comfortable if the knees are closer together if there is a support underneath the head maybe turning the face one way so you're lying on your cheek rather than your forehead we're going to stay for about three minutes and as we are staying in the poses for a few minutes in yin it really take your time to feel comfortable especially after a few moments sometimes sensations can arise so give yourself permission to change anything that you need to change this is not a competition or a challenge where we want to be as still as we can no one is watching no one is judging or rather this is a practice of self-love and self-acceptance and kindness knowing that you can always decide to leave the pose again no one is forcing you or maybe there is something else that you'd like to do that feels right and please also go ahead and listen to your body but perhaps this feels right and you'd like to stay here knowing that the breath is always there for you and that you're never alone with your breath being here maybe taking another two or three rounds of breath in your child's pose and to come out maybe you want to bring the hands in front of the knees and start to unravel the spine to maybe find a seat perhaps you want to extend the legs out in front invite movement or invite stillness before we move on to the next pose this is your time to listen to your personal needs our next pose is going to be seated butterfly so for this when you have the legs out in front i'm going to bring the soles of the feet together allowing there to be space between your pelvis and your heels so the closer you bring the heels the more intense this might feel so perhaps as it's night time allow yourself again quite some space if you feel like your back is already hinching then maybe you want to elevate the pelvis with a pillow or a blanket and then you're more than welcome to stay upright and allow the spine to round or perhaps you just want to allow gravity to take over as you start to fall towards the legs the head can hang heavy if that feels okay for the neck or maybe you want to gently lift your head or perhaps even place a support like a block underneath the forehead whatever serves you here again here we'll be staying for about three minutes once again you have time to make any changes that you'd like to make perhaps you want to sigh exhale loudly this can help release any stagnant tension any stagnant energy from the body allowing yourself to be here with your pose allowing there to be softness allowing there to be a sense of ease and even heaviness is welcome and maybe another two or three rounds of breath in your seated butterfly and then slowly starting to unravel once again by rolling up the spine if you were folded forwards bringing the hands to the outer corners of your thighs or knees to then move your legs together together maybe shake out the legs or stretch it out and then whenever you're ready finding your way onto your back and if you're lying in bed maybe you want to already place your duvet your blanket over you but you're also more than welcome to stay on top of the duvet or if you're on the mat just simply reclining lying on your back maybe hugging the knees in might feel nice and just take some time to arrive here as our last pose we're going to take a reclined butterfly a similar movement to what we've done just now if you are in bed then from here placing the soles of the feet together and allowing the knees to fall outward and again just giving yourself a bit of space and maybe propping up the upper body on your pillow so allowing there to be a slight incline of the spine if you're on the mat maybe you want to place a bolster or a big blanket that is rolled up or a big pillow even underneath the spine so the head is supported and perhaps other parts of the spine too and if it doesn't feel right to have the legs apart then you can always step the feet back onto the bed or the mat have them a bit wider apart so that the knees can fall together and you create a sense of rest this way we're not going to stay here too long just another two minutes if you want to you can place your hands on the body again or maybe taking up a bit of space by placing them away from the body allowing yourself to be here with your pose another round of breath here and then very gently bringing the hands once again to the outer corners of the knees or the thighs bringing the legs together if you were in butterfly and then starting to extend the legs if you have a pillow underneath the spine and moving the pillow out from underneath you or placing it underneath your head if you're in bed so you're set up for sleep a few rounds of breath noticing how the body is feeling right now breathing in and breathing out maybe the eyes are starting to close maybe you're drifting off towards going to sleep this is where i will be leaving you i hope you can sleep well and deeply good night

Reviews

Beautiful. I had a wonderfully, restful sleep. Thank you so much! 💫

So peaceful. Thank you for holding this space for me with your kind and gentle voice.

Hello beautiful 🌺🌺🌺Thank you so much for the wonderful yin yoga practice 💙I will sleep like baby 🥂 happy new year 🙏Namaste

Wonderful opening of the back body and yin lines, so helpful to relax for sleep, thank you

Love the background music.