It’s 11pm, you’re exhausted. You’ve been exhausted since about 3pm. And yet here you are, wide awake, staring at the ceiling while your brain runs through every awkward thing you’ve said since 2014, plus the full list of everything you have to do tomorrow and the next day and also next year.
Tired but wired… if you know, you know. We have a feeling YOU really know!
Here’s the frustrating bit, the harder you try to fall asleep, the more awake you tend to feel, which is possibly the least helpful design feature of the human body (and giving birth… surely this should be easier haha, Carla’s story here about giving birth in the car). But when it comes to sleep, you can set the conditions for a better sleep. You can give your nervous system a clear signal that the day is done and it’s safe to switch off. And that is exactly what Yin yoga is perfect at.
So if you’ve been lying awake more than you’d like, pour yourself a decaf and let’s talk about Yin Yoga for sleep.
Why Yin yoga works for sleep
Most of us spend the day in go go go mode. Emails, deadlines, notifications, the mental load of remembering that the dog needs worming and someone’s birthday is coming up. Your sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight one) stays switched on for hours longer than it was ever designed to. By bedtime your body is still braced and ready for action, even though the most dangerous thing you’re facing is a lukewarm cup of tea (of course there is also climate change/collapse… but that is anther article and the topic is best not thought about right before bed!!).
So what we are trying to say… Yin yoga flips the switch. Because you’re holding supported poses for several minutes at a time, breathing slowly, doing absolutely nothing else, your body gets the message it’s been waiting for all day. The parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) takes over. Your heart rate drops, your breathing deepens. That stress hormone cortisol, which loves to spike at exactly the wrong moment, starts to settle.
We wrote a whole post on how Yin yoga helps lower cortisol and calm your nervous system if you want to go deeper on the science. But the short version is this: Yin doesn’t tire you out into sleep. It calms your body and mind down into it. Which, when you’re already exhausted, is precisely what you need.
When to do Yin Yoga before bed
The beauty of bedtime Yin is that you don’t need much. No sweat, no changing into workout gear. You can do most of these poses in your pyjamas, on the carpet, a Yoga mat or even on your bed.
Do it in the last 30 to 60 minutes before you want to be asleep, so the calm carries you straight into bed. Dim the lights (bright light tells your brain it’s daytime). And put your phone in another room if you are doing your own practice, or on do not disturb if you are following an online class.
Yin Yoga poses for sleep
Here’s a simple bedtime sequence. Move slowly, breathe deep, and use bolsters, pillows and blankets wherever you’d like more support. There’s no such thing as too many cushions here.
Reclined Butterfly (3 to 5 minutes)
Lie on your back, bring the soles of your feet together and let your knees fall open. Pop a pillow under each knee so you’re fully supported and can completely let go. This one gently opens the hips and chest, two places we hold a surprising amount of the day’s tension.
Child’s Pose (3 to 5 minutes)
Knees wide or narrow, big toes together, and fold forward. Head resting on the ground/bed, or on your stacked hands. This pose is grounding in the best way. It’s hard to feel wired when you’re curled up like this.
Caterpillar (3 to 4 minutes)
Sit with your legs out in front of you and fold gently forward. Don’t reach for your toes or force anything. Round your spine, let your head hang heavy and rest your hands wherever they land. This one quietly turns your attention inward, which is exactly where you want it before sleep.
Reclined Twist (2 to 3 minutes each side)
Lie on your back, hug your knees in, then let them drop to one side while you turn your gaze the other way. Legs can remain stacked or extend the bottom leg. Twists release the spine and settle the whole system. Do both sides.
Legs Up the Wall (5 minutes)
Scoot your booty close to a wall and rest your legs straight up it. This gentle inversion helps drain tired legs, slows the heart rate and is genuinely one of the most calming things you can do with five spare minutes. If you’re already in bed, resting your legs up the headboard works too. Or option, use a bolster, with no wall (below image).
Savasana (as long as you like)
Lie down, get comfortable and stay. This is the moment everything you’ve just done sinks in. Plenty of people don’t make it out of this pose, and that’s the whole idea. If you drift off here, you did it right.
A few things that make bedtime Yin even better
Slow your breath. If your mind is still busy, try box breathing: breathe in for four, hold for four, out for four, hold for four. It gives your racing thoughts a simple job to do and drops you deeper into rest.
Keep it warm. Your body temperature falls as you relax, so grab a blanket or some socks. Feeling cold will pull you straight back out of it.
Let go of doing it perfectly. There’s no gold star for depth or flexibility in Yin. If a pose feels like effort, add support until it doesn’t. The only goal is to feel calmer at the end than you did at the start.
New to Yin Yoga? Start here
If any of this is new and you’d like to understand the how and why before you begin, our beginner’s guide to Yin yoga walks you through everything: what Yin is, how it’s different from other styles, and a full beginner class to follow along with.
Reading about Yin is lovely. Being guided through it while someone else keeps the time and tells you exactly what to do is a whole other level, especially when you’re tired and your brain has clocked off.
Inside the MerryBody app you’ll find guided Yin classes made for exactly this, including short wind-down sequences you can do in bed with the lights low. No pressure, no performance, just a calm voice and a Yin sequence to carry you from wired to rested.
Try MerryBody for free and get a great sleep tonight.
Always merrymaking,
Emma + Carla