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Evening Yoga Practice to Promote Deep Sleep (10-20 minutes)

noreply • Sep 29, 2022

Set an intention to do these poses gently and quietly, and let your breath be complete, smooth, and even.

1.     Prasarita padottanasana - wide-angle standing forward bend.

Stand with your feet wide apart, toes facing front. Fold at the hips, and place the crown of your head on the floor or on a block or pillows. Visualize all your burdens rolling off your shoulders. Hold for about 15 relaxed breaths.

2.     Supta baddha  konasana - reclining bound angle pose.

Sitting on the floor, draw the soles of the feet together, knees apart. Place a rolled blanket across the feet and tuck the ends underneath the thighs to support the knees. Recline over a bolster or 3-4 pillows, allowing the shoulders and  chest to broaden and release to gravity. Soften the belly. Hold for five minutes.

3. Adho mukha jathara parvrittasana - downward facing twist

Sit with your hips to the right of your feet and cradle your left ankle in the arch of the right foot. With a long spin and open ribs, turn the sternum and drape yourself over a bolster, or stack of pillows or blankets. Place your right cheek on the top pillow, snuggling your belly into the support of the pillow pile. repeat on the left side. Stay for one minute on each side.

4. Salamba balasana - supported child's pose

Sit with a small roll blanket between the heels and the sitting bones, knees apart. Tuck your stack of pillows or bolster between the thighs and fold forward. Turn your head to one side. Let the rib cage melt into the pillows and the arms drape to the floor. Relax for five minutes, turning the head to the other side halfway through.

5. Chandra bhedana - pranayama for sleep

This pranayama activates the left nostril and the ida nadi, the lunar energy channel. Activating this pranic channel has a quieting effect on the brain and nervous sytem and helps facilitate sleep.

With your right hand, assume the vishnu mudra by curling your index and  middles fingers into the pad of your thumb. Your thumb and your ring and pinkie fingers are extended. Sit tall and tuck your chin slightly. Bend the elbow and close off the right nostril with your thumb. Inhale through the left nostril to the count of five. Then close the left nostril with the ring and pinkie fingers, exhaling through the right nostril for give counts Continue inhaling left, exhaling right for 15 breaths or more.

This sequence was designed by Lauren Toolin, director of The Metta Center for Yoga in Spencer, Massachusetts.

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