At the end of a long day, gentle yoga can be the perfect way to prepare your body and mind for a restful night of sleep.
Yoga can promote relaxation and calm the mind, said Dr. Vanika Chawla, a clinical assistant professor at Stanford School of Medicine and a certified yoga instructor. Recent studies have suggested that yoga can improve sleep quality and help people with insomnia fall asleep more quickly and remain asleep throughout the night.
Deep breathing, a key element of yoga, can help you relax by dialing down the fight-or-flight response that keeps your body on high alert, said Dr. Elizabeth Ko, the medical director of the UCLA Health Integrative Medicine Collaborative and a certified yoga instructor.
Yoga has many other health benefits, too: It can help counteract some of the aches and pains that can come with sitting all day, and some studies suggest that it can help reduce stress.
To reap the rewards of an evening yoga practice, you might need to begin your flow with some dynamic movement before settling into more restorative poses. “Every day is a series of small transitions from our home life to our work life and back,” said Steph Creaturo, a certified yoga instructor in Brooklyn. Yoga can create a bridge to help ease that transition.
This routine consists of two parts. The first four poses make up what Ms. Creaturo calls a “sun setting salute,” a sequence that flows from one pose to the next and helps ease the body into the more restful postures that follow. Complete this first sequence twice. Then perform the remaining five poses, holding each pose a little longer than the previous one. Take slow, deep breaths throughout.