It can be difficult to fall asleep quickly at the end of a long and difficult day, but there are some things you can do to help yourself relax and move into a more restful state. Breathwork is a great way to help your body to enter a calmer state before bed and is one of the main tenets of yoga, as is meditation.
This evening yoga flow from yoga and Pilates teacher Camelia Oberoi employs deep stretching poses to release tension and soothe a busy mind before bed. As a yoga instructor, Oberoi is very flexible, so don't worry if you can't quite achieve the same depth of stretch as she does. If a pose is too difficult for you or causes discomfort, you can always return to child's pose and simply focus on your breathing.
How to do this flow
Oberoi begins the floor seated on her knees, curling and arching her back as in cat cow. She then moves on to a side stretch from child's pose, sweeping her inside arm in a circular motion. She then adopts a half-kneeling adductor stretch position and flows through cat-cow, a rock back and thread the needle. Next is a half butterfly stretch with a diagonal reach, and a modified frog with her feet together into a dynamic frog pose. Finally, Oberoi demonstrates three levels of puppy pose using yoga blocks.
Can doing yoga before bed help you to sleep better?
Last year I spoke to yoga teacher Bhavini Vyas about practicing yoga at bedtime, and she explained that performing yoga asanas before bed can be a great way to wind down and slow down a busy mind. "Spend a few moments alone with yourself," says Vyas. "This can let you sink deeper into each asana [yoga pose]. This chance to check in with yourself before you sleep will help you attain deeper levels of rest too."
