Soothing Bedtime Yoga

This slow, gentle practice helps soothe the body of any tension, aches, and pains before sleep. Perfect for all levels, this practice stays low to the ground and doesn't require any props. Put on something comfy, get cozy, and meet me on your mat.

Background Music: Parlemor by Bomull || Available on Epidemic Sound

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Your Journey Yoga.

My name is Natalia and tonight I will be guiding you through a bedtime yoga sequence.

Put on something comfy and if you would like to grab a blanket or a pillow to have with you,

Please feel free to do so.

Take a moment to get settled in and we'll begin.

We're going to begin today's practice in extended child's pose so bring your big toes to touch and your knees as wide as a yoga mat.

Lengthen your fingertips towards the top of the mat as you send your tailbone towards your heels.

If you brought your pillow or blanket with you and you'd like to bring it underneath your forehead,

Feel free to do that.

Allow the hips to soften and settle.

Allow your belly to relax and take five big full breaths.

As you breathe,

Allow yourself to ground into where you are in time and space,

Noticing how loud the mind might be,

Thinking of things that happen throughout the day,

Things that still need to be done,

Planning for tomorrow,

Whatever it might be.

Give yourself permission to turn down the volume on these voices.

Invite the mind into relaxation.

Let the mind know that its only job right now is to relax,

To soften,

And to witness.

Your only job right now is to be present with yourself and gift yourself some time of relaxation before you head to bed.

If you have a pillow or blanket underneath your forehead,

You can very slowly remove that.

We're gonna walk the fingertips to the top left-hand corner of the mat.

You can stack your palms or you can reach the left hand back towards the left foot and just lengthen through the right side of your body,

Perhaps directing your breath to the right side of your ribcage.

Take one more round of breath here and then slowly transition to the other side.

Fingertips over to the right,

Either stacking your palms or reaching that right hand back for the right foot,

Creating space and length in the left side of the body.

And again,

Perhaps directing your breath to the left side of your ribcage.

Take one more round of breath here and then walk the hands back to center.

We're gonna come forward onto the belly with the elbows directly beneath your shoulders,

Palms pressing into the earth,

Finding our sphinx pose.

Imagine drawing your yoga mat underneath your body,

Intentionally pressing your hands into the earth,

Pressing your pelvis and the tops of the feet into your mat,

Drawing your heart space forward but keeping the back of your neck nice and long by perhaps gazing somewhere at the ground just before you.

If it feels okay in the neck,

You can bring your gaze very slowly over one shoulder and then the other.

One more round of breath as you are.

And then we're going to lower the forehead to the earth,

Bringing the hands in line with the ribcage,

Pressing the pelvis and tops of the feet into the earth as you slowly roll up into a baby cobra and exhale to release.

Inhale to roll up,

Exhale release.

One more time,

Catch a wave with your spine and then crest back down.

Bring your hands underneath your shoulders and press up into a tabletop position,

Drawing your shoulders away from your ears,

Tailbone and the crown of the head drawn opposite directions and just anchor into this foundation for a moment.

Spread your fingers nice and wide,

Pressing the earth away from your hands,

Lifting up and out of the wrists,

Deciding if you want to press into the tops of your feet or tuck your toes and then begin to move through some cat-cows as slowly as you can,

Bringing your awareness deeply into the movement and the articulation of your spine.

You might notice that some parts of the spine feel a little bit more difficult to move than others,

Which is just all the more reason to slow down and to be intentional with what you're doing.

And allow this movement to evolve in any way that feels intuitive and supportive for your body,

Whether that's making your cat-cows a bit more exaggerated or smaller or even jump roping the spine,

Moving your hips,

Moving side to side.

Allow the body to lead for a bit here.

Trust in the movement that it wants to find.

Take a couple more rounds of breath in whatever movement you're finding and then we'll come back to a neutral spine in our tabletop.

Tuck the back toes and lift your hips up and back into downward-facing dog and let your down dog be fluid.

Move your legs and your hips.

Check in with the placement of your hands and your feet.

Just let yourself open up into this pose.

Start to find stillness in your down dog and take a big round of breath.

And then we're going to anchor into the right foot and lift the left leg up high.

Take a breath in here and very slowly step the left foot up between your hands and lower your right knee to the mat.

Keeping the fingertips on the ground here,

Just sway a little side to side,

Exploring this pose the same way that you did for down dog.

And then come into center stillness.

Lengthen your spine and send your hips back,

Straightening your front leg for half splits.

Toes point up towards the sky.

Left hip crease comes back into alignment with the right.

And you can keep the spine long by drawing the crown of the head towards the front of the mat or you might choose to round,

Bringing your forehead towards your knee.

If you'd like to move and explore this pose as well,

You can oscillate back and forth between your low lunge and your half splits.

You can also catch some waves with your spine again by lengthening and rounding.

And then return to stillness and take a big round of breath.

As you exhale,

Roll forward in your front foot coming back to your low lunge.

I'm going to bring the hands to the inside of that left foot,

Bringing the left foot to the edge of the mat and settle into a deeper runner's lunge.

You might stay up on the hands or if it's available,

You can come down to the forearms,

Bring a block underneath your forearms.

You could also come on to the edge of your left foot and allow the knee to open to the side.

Feel free to sway and move in ways that feel good here.

Staying connected with the flow of your breath.

Take one more round of breath here.

And if you're on the forearms,

You can come back up onto your hands,

Very slowly and carefully bringing that left knee back into your tabletop,

Finding one round of cat-cow and then send it back into your downward-facing dog.

One full round of breath when you get there.

And then we'll anchor into the left foot and reach the right leg up high,

Shifting forward and gently placing the right foot in between your hands and lowering your left knee,

Keeping the fingertips on the mat as you move a little side to side,

Feeling out this low lunge.

And then come back to stillness and send your hips back into your half splits,

Gently straightening your front leg as the toes flex up to the sky.

Right hip crease is aligned with the left.

And same options for movement here,

Moving back and forth between half splits in your low lunge or oscillating a bit in the spine by lengthening and rounding.

Take another big round of breath here and then roll forward in your front foot,

Coming back to your low lunge,

Bringing your hands to the inside of the right foot and bringing your right foot to the edge of the mat.

Same options as before for this runner's lunge variation.

Coming to the forearms or down to a block,

Maybe opening to the edge of the foot,

Letting the knee open wide.

Maybe you're static or maybe you're fluid.

Continue to breathe deep and notice where the mind is gone.

Turn down the volume on anything that's particularly loud and come back to this practice only.

Taking one more round of breath.

And if you're on the forearms,

Coming back onto your hands and gently bringing that right knee back into tabletop,

Finding another round of cat-cow.

And then either cross your ankles behind you or send the legs out to one side as you come into a seat.

You're going to bring the soles of the feet together and the knees wide for baddha konasana.

Interlacing around the big toes or grabbing your ankles.

Lengthen up through your spine,

Open your heart,

Maybe even lift your chin up to the sky.

And use an exhale to round through the spine,

Bringing the forehead towards your feet.

Letting the knees and the thighs be heavy and direct your breath down into the low back,

The hips,

And the groin.

Take one more round of breath here and then slowly begin to rise up in the spine.

Start to make your way onto your back,

Maybe bringing your blanket or pillow with you,

Setting it off to the side where you can reach it.

Let your knees gather up towards your chest and find whatever movement feels nice on your low back,

Whether that's rocking side-to-side or drawing circles with your knees.

You could also come into a happy baby if that feels good for you.

And when you're ready,

You can let the knees melt to the left side for a supine twist.

Maybe the right arm extends and you gaze over your right fingertips.

Find a big,

Slow,

Full breath in your torso that reaches all the way down to the low belly and to either side of your ribcage.

Let your knees gently transition to the other side,

Maybe extending the left arm and turning your gaze,

Reconnecting with that full,

Big breath.

Make a slow transition back to center and if you want to,

You can make yourself into a little ball by wrapping your arms around your knees and giving yourself a tight squeeze.

And then extend your arms and legs,

Coming into Shavasana with the option to bring your pillow or blanket underneath the head or to let your blanket rest on top of you.

Make any small adjustments you might want to make to surrender into stillness.

And then trust that stillness.

Let the brow unfurl,

Let your jaw relax,

And allow the arms,

The torso,

And the legs to be as heavy as possible.

The music will continue playing for a few minutes here.

You're welcome to stay beyond that time,

Whatever feels intuitive and supportive for you.

But this is where I will leave you verbally.

Thank you so much for joining me in this practice and I hope you have a restful night of sleep.

Reviews

A lovely way to wind down at the end of the day.

Beautiful practice, thank you. 🙏🏼💖

Lovely relaxing stretch and release. Thank you!

Felt great! Thank you!