Gentle Evening Stretches
Slow down your mind and prepare your body for a peaceful sleep!
Is your mind running a million miles a minute as soon as you lay your head down to go to sleep? Sometimes the gap from finishing your day to going to bed is too big. Having an evening routine with yoga stretches can help close that gap. Release physical tension and get your body and mind ready for sleep with these stretches you can do on a yoga mat or on your bed:
- Swaying Side Body Stretches: Take a seated cross-legged position. Lengthen your arms out to the sides and place your finger tips on the yoga mat or floor. As you inhale lift your right arm up and take a side body stretch to your left side as you exhale. Then inhale lower your right arm down and come back to center and lift your left arm up. Exhale take a side body stretch to your right side. Move with your breath and keep swaying from side to side.
- Butterfly Pose: In a seated position, place your foot soles together and gently let your knees fall open. Sit in an upright position or place your hands in front of you on your mat. You can add a forward bend if you’d like.
- Happy Baby Pose: Lie down on your back. Slowly bring your legs up and bend your knees. Hold on to your ankles and slowly pull your knees down towards the ground. Press your whole back into the ground. You can add a gentle sway.
- Shoelace Pose: Lie down on your back. Cross your right leg over your left. Stack your knees. Begin to hold on to your opposite lower legs or ankles.
- Savasana: Lie down on your back with your arms and legs lengthened out. Try to be as still as possible. Focus on the body parts that are connected with the ground. Then notice your the rise and fall of your breath, without changing it. After a minute or so imagine ocean waves washing away everything that happened today.
For a full evening routine, click here: https://youtu.be/BlYtZPLtBTI
