Regardless of how your day has been, give yourself a moment to wind down, reflect and let your body find peace. To go to sleep without a moment of relaxation may have a negative impact on your sleep and your body's opportunity to recover. So give yourself the chance to balance OFF and ON with a nice evening routine!

Create your own routine for a good nights sleep

Find a routine that suits you by trying different techniques. And try to keep it as long as possible. Let the parasympathetic nervous system help you to wind down and get a good start of a good night’s sleep. Pick and choose, and stay with the routines that works best for you!

• Listen to some relaxing music
  Switch of the TV and put on some relaxing music that makes you feel good. Sit or lay down for a minute and listen. Choose soft and comforting music rather than the upbeat music before bedtime, though a moment of happy dancing will boost your mood and can also be helpful in order to release tension and stress.

• Read a good book
  To read a good book can be a way to let go of nagging thoughts and let us become more present. Take a break and let the body relax.

• Keep a journal
  Make some reflections of your day. Write down all your thoughts that are running loose in your mind. Put them on paper and it will be easier to slow them down. To write down our thoughts helps us to sort our emotions, ourselves as well as what’s only thoughts and that we don’t really need to react to. It can be an amazing way to get it all out before falling asleep. Also, write down what you are grateful for that day.

• Drink a cup of tea
  Boil some water and enjoy a nice cup of tea while reading a book or listening to music. Choose a soothing herbal tea such as chamomile or rooibos, free from caffeine.

• Enjoy a moment on the mat 
  To practice yoga in the evening helps you to relax and reduces stress levels before a good night’s sleep. Even a short session of yoga, meditation or breathing techniques can be enough to calm and balance the physical and mental.
  
  

  If you choose to practice a full yoga session, long or short, gentle and slow movements are to prefer. It will slow down and not trigger the body’s system. Yin yoga is perfect as we maintain each position for several minutes without putting pressure on the body in deep stretches. In yin yoga we look for a soft and gentle stretch where we can breath naturally and calmly.
  
  You can also choose restorative yoga; select a couple of positions, use bolsters, blankets and blocks, lying down as comfortable as possible in the position. We also maintain the position longer than in yin yoga. But the goal is not to stretch out the body, but to relax and soften up.

• Legs against the wall
  If you choose one position, you should go for Viparita karani, legs up the wall. Highly recommended! It’s the most recuperating position you can practice. Lay down for 10-20 minutes and you will experience an amazing relaxation, simply a restorative pose. A few tips:

  • Put down a folded blanket or a bolster under the sacrum, just below the lumbar.
  • Put a strap around the thighs, low down and close to the hip, to be able to relax fully in your hips.
  • Place a bolster on the height against the wall to lean your leg against. If you have a strap around your thighs, attach it to the bolster as well. This is good in order to avoid overstretched knees and if backside thigh feels tight, among other things.
  • If it’s too difficult to focus, do a breathing exercise or repeat a mantra until you feel the calm inside of your.

• Practice yoga in your bed
  There are certain relaxation and yoga nidra sequences that are adapted to falling asleep comfortambly. These can be done in bed so that you can fall asleep straight after.

Foto: yogahverdag.no

Calming yoga videos online 

video id: bk92

video id: fp68

video id: g34u

video id: t24e

Relaxation exercises & Yoga Nidras

video id: x2a5

video id: a75e

Meditation practices online

video id: 4s5p

video id: 6a8c

To be able to see the full video you need to be logged in as a paying member. New to Yogobe? Register to start your 14 days free trial here!