20 min Bedtime Yoga for Beginners

I must stay Yogis .

Welcome to my channel .

My name is Cassandra and today we're doing a bedtime yoga class that I would encourage you to do in bed .

So normally in my classes for Shana , I take you out of Shabana and we close by chanting home one time together .

But because this is to facilitate sleep , I'm not going to take you out of Shava .

I'm going to instead encourage you to crawl underneath the covers and hopefully you'll be ready to fall right asleep .

So because there won't be an out show to this video I wanted to mention really quickly .

Now , um to please subscribe to my channel if you don't already , it's just a wonderful way to support free yoga on the internet .

So no props needed for this practice other than the pillows you normally have on your bed and get really comfortable , maybe put on your pajamas .

If you're not already in your pajamas , get yourself totally ready for a great night's sleep and then sit up tall on your bed , close your eyes and just let your hands rest on your thighs , release any tension from the jaw , from the neck , from your shoulders , bring your awareness to your breath , letting it flow in and out through your nose .

Using this as an opportunity to let go of the day you've had letting go of anything that might still be on your mind , just feeling it drift away .

My favorite breathing technique to do before bed is called 448 where you can do 444 where you inhale for a count of four , you hold that breath in for a count of four and you exhale either for that same count of four or maybe for a count of eight .

So the act of holding the breath and lengthening the exhale helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and helps to relieve anxiety and facilitate a good night's sleep .

So you're welcome to maintain this breath .

We'll come into a butterfly fold , just bring your feet out in front of you soles of the feet together , knees apart and we're really not trying to push ourselves in this one .

So get as comfortable as you can as you fold on down and I'll just turn to the side a little bit .

You're welcome to use your pillows as cushion underneath the forehead or underneath the chest , just getting nice and comfortable .

You can turn one ear to the pillow or you can just let your forehead come down and once you settle in this first pose , find that breath rhythm , either 444 or 448 .

Whenever you notice your mind start to wander .

Just bring it back to the present moment .

Focusing on your breath .

Imagine the tension melting out of the shoulders , pouring out the crown of your head .

Take your last five breaths here and very slowly , ease your way out .

Unwinding .

We'll come into another forward , fold , forward , folds are really the best kinds of poses that you can do before bed .

Really great stress relieving poses so you can extend your right leg out in front of you , bring your left foot to the inside of that thigh and we're just gonna fold ourselves over that right leg and dangling is perfectly fine .

Here .

You don't need to be supported with blocks or pillows or anything like that .

You can just let gravity do the work for you .

But if you're somewhere close , you can always just close that gap with a little pillow .

The mattress is great because it allows our knees to stay a little bit bent , which is what we want .

We're not chasing sensation here .

We're not trying to push ourselves into any kind of pose .

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Now , we're going to lie all the way down .

So I'm gonna turn to the side just so it's easier for you guys to see what I'm doing where you can lay right down the way you normally would and just pull your knees into your belly , giving it a big squeeze , maybe rocking a little bit side to side .

Massaging the low back .

We'll come into reclined pigeon pose so you can cross your right ankle over the top of your left knee .

Maybe staying here , you can reach through with your arms and pull that left knee into the belly just inviting that glute to relax to open up and as much as possible , keep your eyes closed in this practice .

Always preparing for sleep .

Give that leg one last little squeeze and then release cross your right thigh over your left one , you can reach your arms out to the sides and maybe move your hips a little bit to the right before letting both of your knees drop down over to the left , taking a little laying spinal twist .

This should help to release any tension in your low back and release both legs come back up , reclined pigeon on the other side .

Left ankle crosses over the top of your right thigh and you can pull through with your arms , drawing your right knee into your belly .

One more big squeeze come to your twist on the other side , wrap your left thigh over your right , reach your arms out to the sides and your hips might need to move to the left before both knees drop down over to the right .

Continue to breathe down deep into your belly , deep into the low back And we unwind , you can take a big stretch with your arms up overhead , straighten your legs .

Go ahead and get yourself under the covers .

I'm just gonna stay as I am here taking Shiva .

Just notice if there are any lingering aches and pains , any points of tension .

If you need to do any other little movements , you're welcome to come into it here .

But we'll finish with a bit of a body scan like a body relaxation meditation and then the video will gradually come to an end and hopefully you'll be ready for sleep .

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Bring your awareness to the chest and the upper back , the belly on the mid back , down into the pelvis , into your lower back and into your hips .

Feel them get heavier with your breath sinking deep into the mattress underneath .

You focus on your right glute your right hip , right quads and write hamstrings softening down into your right knee , the right calf and shin into your ankle .

Your toes , soul of the foot , observe your right leg .

Completely relaxed .

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And this is where I will leave you .

Yo is have a wonderful night mama .

Stay .