Sleep Better: 4 Pre-Bedtime Yoga Poses to Help You Drift Off

Zzz’s are essential to health and well-being, but some of us need help falling asleep on our own. Have no fear, we’ve got you covered. Try this essential oil trick, and these poses from YJ Influencer Lauren Taus to guide you into a peaceful slumber.

FIRST: Pump your self-timed essential oil diffuser with gentle scents to set the mood and promote sleep. (We used GuruNanda, Calming Sleep blend.)

THEN: Get into your comfiest PJs, and try these yoga poses to prep you for slumber. All doable from the comfort of your bed — no yoga mat needed! 

See also 4 Yoga Poses For Better Focus (Hint: Try these to Cultivate Concentration!)

4 Yoga Poses to Promote Better Sleep 

1. Child’s Pose 
Begin in Child’s Pose (Balasana). Kneel on your bed. Touch your big toes together and sit on your heels, then separate your knees about as wide as your hips. Exhale and lay your torso down between your thighs. Lay your hands on the floor alongside your torso, palms up, and release the fronts of your shoulders toward the floor. Hold for five minutes. 

[Note: set a soft alarm on your phone so you can relax fully into the pose and avoid worrying about when five minute is up.]

2. Supine Twist
Next, take a gentle Supine Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana) on each side for five minutes. From a Savasana position, inhale your right leg up into your chest. Exhale and roll onto your left side, bringing your right knee with you as you turn. You should end up on your left side from ear to ankle, with your right hip stacked directly on top of your left. Cactus both arms and melt your shoulder blades down your back. 

3. Reclined Bound Angle Pose

Then, release your hips in Reclined Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana) for five minutes. From Savasana, bring the bottoms of your feet to touch and send your knees out wide to either side of you. Rest your arms 45-degrees away from your side bodies, inhale, tuck your tailbone, and use the exhale to let go in your hip flexors. Tuck your shoulder blades down your back for full expansion across your collarbones. 

[Note: If you have very tight hips and five minutes is too long to hold, start with one minute and work up from there.]

4. Corpse Pose 

And finally, drop deeply into your Savasana. By now, the essential oils are rolling and your body should feel relaxed. From your back, release your arms outward to your sides palms up. Tuck your shoulder blades so they are resting evenly on the bed beneath you. Spread your collarbones. Let your feet fall to either side, release any tension in your jaw, and let go of the tongue from the roof of your mouth. Riding your inhales and exhales, softly let your body drift to sleep.

About the Oils // GuruNanda 
GuruNanda made it his personal mission to bring 100% Pure and Natural essential oils From Farm To You™. He personally traveled across 6 continents to form a global alliance of honest farmers to eliminate the middlemen and get the cost and quality under control. Learn more here.