Yoga is a powerful form of movement that can transform your state of mind and body from one thing to many things. From glum to shining, from tired to energised, from all over the place to focussed.
The transformation we’ll be talking about today is from wired, stressed, overly-energised and flighty… to relaxed, calm and ready for the best sleep of your life. Sounds good, right?
Insomnia and broken sleep is something we know a lot of our friends, family, MerryBody Members and us have suffered from. When we chat with our Doctor, Psychologist, and Naturopath friends, one thing they all agree on is that sleep is number one.
They say… if you’re not sleeping then let’s sort that out first and then deal with everything else after.
A better night’s sleep leads to more balanced hormones, less stress, a balanced appetite, a calm and focussed mind, more energy, more JOY.
We aim to get between 7-8 hours of sleep and we KNOW that on night’s we practise MerryBody Yoga that we sleep better. We’re talking no (or less) interruptions and that general feeling of when you wake up in the morning you actually feel RESTED. It’s easy to jump out of bed, as opposed to ughhh I’m tired… I wanna stay in bed.
So yeah, we’re big on doing everything we can to get the best night’s sleep and the RIGHT Yoga class is one of those things.
When we say right, you really can do any Yoga in the evening and we guarantee you’ll probably get a better night’s sleep... although there have been times when we’ve jumped into a super-fast, super flowy class and then felt energised… and rather than sleep, we jump on our laptops feeling ridiculously inspired to work. Ha!
There are a few things to look out for when trying to find a Yoga class that will make you feel relaxed and sleepy.
Words like:
- Yin
- Slow flow
- Restorative
- Rest
- Cool
- Moon
Are usually a HECK yes for sleepy time yoga.
Words like:
- General
- Intensive
- Ashtanga
- Hot
- Vinyasa Flow
- Inversion
Tell us that the class is more energising and probably not the best to put us to sleep.
We’ve put together a list of our go-to MerryBody Yoga Classes to get you feeling relaxed, calm and ready for your best sleep ever! These classes are inside MerryBody Online Studio, if you’re not a member yet, learn more here or try a free class here!
Best Yoga classes to make you feel relaxed and sleepy
Quick 10 De-Stress
This Yoga MerryBody class is all about letting go of stress and tension. Yoga is scientifically proven to de-stress the body and mind. We do this through movement with breath, this allows us to be completely present within the body. This practice will encourage you to let go of the past, to ease anxiety about the future and instead, to bring one point of focus to the here and the now. The only time and place where life itself exists. Ready for bliss? Yes! Try this class right now…
Here are some other Classes inside MerryBody Online Studio…
Quick 10 Bed Time
Obviously the BEST one for bed time! This MerryBody class is designed to put you in a sleepy zone. Getting you ready for a night of deep peaceful sleep! All of the postures allow you to wind down from your busy day, inspiring you to let go and breathe into the present moment. Use your pillow or bolster for extra support.
Lumbar Rumba Yoga
This slow flow Yoga class will stretch, twist and release the lower back. A delicious way to show your body (especially your spine) some love and care. We focus on all the areas of the body that affect the lower back area, the hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes and side body. Get ready to bliss out and feel nourished from the inside-out!
Quick 10 Your Flow
This Yoga MerryBody class is perfect for when you have your period or need a little extra massage around the abdominal area. We specifically focus on gently compressing and twisting the belly area. And YES it’s blissfully perfect for any day really! But we do avoid any inversions and focus mainly on forward folds, bending with gravity, going with your flow.
Delicious Hips Yin
Are you ready for another Yin Yoga? Welcome to 29 minutes of delicious hips… and yes, you are about to feel oh so yummy. It’s important we stretch and release the hips. Not only will stretching the hips improve our posture and relieve back pain but we will release stored emotion and energy that loves to get stuck in the hip area! We focus on the entire hip area: hip flexors, adductors, glutes, piriformis, IT band and lower back! Get ready to slow it right down, breathe deeply and sink into those delicious hips of yours.
Lunar Yin Yoga
Prepare for bliss town. This Lunar Yin Yoga is seriously going to stretch out the body. Yin Yoga is all about long hold stretches. We hold each of the stretches during our class today for 3 minutes. The focus of the class is to breathe deeply and let go. To allow the tension in the body to melt into the Earth. Not only is Yin Yoga one of the best ways to create flexibility but this way of movement also stretches the joints, increasing the body’s bone density. Give yourself 30 minutes of deep breaths, delicious stretches and moon magic.
Slow Flow Lovely Legs
Another addition to our slow flows and oh this one is deeeee-licious! It’s all about lengthening those lovely legs (and yes, they’re already lovely!). Remember to treat each time you come to the mat as if it were your first time, with a keen awareness of how your body feels right in this moment, right now.
This flow focusses on lengthening the back of the legs (hamstrings) as well as the inner seam of the legs (adductors).
Slow Flow Digestion
Oh hello delicious yoga flow. During this session we spend all the time rolling around on the floor, it’s seriously so good. We’ve designed it to really encourage that digestion system to get going! Adding (NICE) pressure to the ascending and descending colon promotes the movement of any waste that’s ready to be eliminated. Do this before bed and reach a super intense bliss level of goodness.
Get Happy Hips
It’s time to get happy hips! Oh yeah! With all the booty burning fun, it’s important that we stretch out our hips and this session is dedicated to that! Did you know that we store a lot of emotion and energy in the hips? This is why they can feel so tight! We also spend SO many hours sitting down these days (working at desk/phone and driving) that we can shorten the muscles around the hips, making it harder and less comfy for the body to stand up straight.
Let’s give those hips some love, release the tension and feel the freedom.
As you can, there’s plenty of classes to pick from inside MerryBody Online Studio! And every week we add a NEW class which means you never get bored!
Bree, one of our amazing MerryBody Members recently told us, MerryBody is a fantastic program, there are so many classes! They cater for all abilities and fitness levels. The girls make everything so fun and are so encouraging. They give great explanations of the moves and have adaptions for everything.
Yay, so glad to hear this Bree <3
Ok, MerryBods, go get sleepy! And if you want to learn more about becoming a member, simply head over here!
Always merrymaking,
Emma + Carla