15-Minute Evening Wind Down Yoga

Release tension and transition into rest with this practice. This gentle, slow-flow class combines relaxing stretches, mindful breathing, and calming movements to help ease stress and quiet your mind before bed. It is suitable for all levels and ideal for improving relaxation, flexibility, and sleep.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Allison. You can follow me here on Insight Timer for more practices, But welcome to this 15-minute evening wind-down yoga. This class is designed to help you release the day, To slow your breath, And to prepare you for rest. So move slowly, Breathe deeply, And feel free to pause or stay in any shape longer if that feels good for you. Let's begin in an easy seat, Just legs crossed, Sitting comfortably, Just closing your eyes or maybe softly gazing down onto the ground. Begin by taking a slow breath in through your nose and a long breath out through your mouth, Just allowing your shoulders to soften, Just allowing any tension to melt with your exhales. Be the transition between the busyness of your day and the quiet of your evening. After your next exhale, You can seal your lips or you can feel free to continue exhaling through your mouth, Whichever feels good for you. We're just going to take a little bit of a side stretch here, So maybe you gently flutter your eyes open, And on your next inhale, Just lifting your arms up towards the sky. Exhale, Lowering that right hand down to the side of your mat, Bringing that left arm up and over. Your gaze could be up at the ceiling or maybe you lower it down to the earth, But just breathing here, Feeling that left side body expanding with your inhales, Softening with your exhales, Softening your forehead. On your next inhale, Bring both arms back up towards the sky, And exhale, Lowering that left hand down. Now the right arm comes up and over. You have that option to come down onto your left forearm, If that feels good. Just creating length through your side body without forcing the stretch, Softening with every exhale for you to see. Just coming up into that tabletop, Up on all fours, And just bringing some breath to movement here. So you're going to inhale cow, Lifting your tailbone and your gaze up towards the sky. Exhaling cat, Rounding your back, Tucking in that tailbone, Bringing your chin into your chest. So we'll be here for a little bit again. Breath to movement. Gentle, Like you're wringing out your spine from the day. Puppy pose here. So keeping your knees stacked under your hips, Just begin to gently walk your hands out, Lowering your chest down onto your mat, And maybe your forehead touches here. Just opening up that upper body, Upper back, And your shoulders. Coming back to your breath, And your next inhale, Go ahead and just gently under your shoulders once again, And we're gonna just take a low lunge here. There's no rush, But you're just gonna step your right foot up towards the top of your mat in between your hands, And just gently bringing your chest up. You can have your hands on your knees. Maybe it feels good to have your arms extended, However you'd like, And then just gently coming forward, Melting your hips down towards your mat. There's no need to push deeply here. Evening yoga is all about softening, Not forcing. I'm coming back towards center. We're gonna take a half splits here. So you can extend your right leg long, Flexing your feet. You can bring your hands by your sides here, Framing that right leg, And just keeping your foot flexed, Doing your best keeping your back straight, And then when you're ready, You can gently and slowly, Right foot back, Bringing right knee under left right hip. Let's take that low lunge on your left side. So stepping that right, That left foot forward, And rising up, Finding the shape that works for you, And then just we're gonna come into that half splits. So when you're ready, Coming back towards center, And then extending that left leg long, Flexing your toes, The sensations that you're feeling in your body here. When you feel ready, You can bring that left knee back under your hip, And pressing both palms against the earth, And just inhale, Tucking your toes, And exhale, Coming up into down dog. Just take a few breaths here. Biceps should be framing your ears. If you want, You can bend one knee and then the other. Take your dog out for a walk here, If that feels good for you. Coming back to stillness. On your next inhale, Just gaze in between your hands, And just slowly begin to walk your hands up to meet your hands, Coming into a standing forward fold. I'm going to turn so it's easier for you to see, But your feet are hip distance apart. If you'd like, You can ragdoll it, Holding opposite elbows, And maybe just swaying side to side. Just allow your neck and your head to hang heavy here. Maybe you shake your head yes, Shake your head no, And then when you're ready, You can plant your hands back down on the earth, And just bend at your knees, Coming back into that tabletop position. We're going to lie down on our backs, So you can cross at your ankles and bring your seat back. We're going to come into a reclined figure four here, So maybe you scoot your seat forward just a little, Bend in your knees, Soles of your feet on your mat, And just gently lie back down. We're going to start on the right side, So you can bring that right ankle up to meet your left knee, And just kind of bring that right knee out to the side, Enough that you feel that nice little active stretch, And if you want a little more here, You can float that left foot, Maybe grab behind the left thigh or your left shin, Just coming back to your breath. If you have that left foot floating, Go ahead release it back down to the earth, And we're going to take a little twist here, So you can keep that right ankle on your left knee. You can bring your arms out to the side like a T if that feels good, And then just begin to lower your left leg down, So that that right foot maybe touches that left side. You want to make sure that both shoulders are grounded onto your mat, And if this is too much, You can always stack your knees on top of each other. Just finding what works for you today. Coming back to center, Releasing that ankle-knee connection, Let's take that reclined figure four on your left side, So bringing that left ankle to meet your right knee. You can stay right here, Or maybe you float that right foot. If you have that right foot floating, Go ahead gently release it back down, And take your arms out to the side like a T if that feels good for you. As we take that little supine twist again, Now lowering that right leg down to the right side, Bringing that left foot down to the earth. Again, You want both shoulder blades on the mat, So if that left foot's floating you're fine. You can place your head anywhere that feels good, Maybe you want to look over that left shoulder. And then when you're ready, Bringing your feet back to center, Planting both soles of your feet on the mat, Just gonna hug both knees into your chest here, Maybe you rock side to side for a little massage. And then when you're ready, Coming into your Shavasana, So extending your legs out long, Keeping them nice and relaxed, Arms by your sides with the palms facing up towards the sky. And if they're not already, You can close your eyes. There is nothing left to do but to enjoy this rest. I will wake you when time is ready. Maybe you just gently rock your head side to side. And when you feel ready, You can come back up into a seated position. Maybe you want to roll over onto one side, Coming into that fetal position, And just gently pressing yourself back up into that sitting position where we began from. Thank you so much for practicing. I hope you enjoyed this evening wind down yoga. Please follow me for more.