15 Minutes of Bedtime Yoga for Stress Relief

Struggling with stress, anxiety, depression, and lack of sleep? Not many among us can claim to be completely free of these ailments. In fact, we tend to forget that these are not mere tendencies but proper ailments. 

Experts often recommend yoga for stress relief and mental wellness.  

Calming with 15 minutes bedtime yoga for better sleep

Studies ^[1]Mayo Clinic: Prenatal yoga: What you need to know and surveys prove that people who practiced yoga saw considerable improvements in their sleep quality. But what about:

• People, who are too busy to sign up for those yoga classes? 
• Pregnant women who have heard about bedtime prenatal yoga but are unsure how safe it is to try out those contorted postures on a hard floor with only a mat for cushioning.
• Kids who are either too stubborn to join yoga classes or those that are already overburdened by their academic pursuits.

The answer is Bedtime Yoga!

Research has found that bedtime yoga is steadily catching up as an easy, convenient, and safe form of yoga practice. It involves different types of yoga poses with and without any assistance. 

It is easy to make up time for because you obviously will go to bed at some point. It is extremely safe and comfortable thanks to the use of cushioning like pillows, bolsters, and so on. You can even do some of the poses on the bed. 

By incorporating simple relaxing stretches and a lot of breathwork, bedtime yoga routines guarantee a good sleep. It soothes both the tense body and mind to provide a reliable solution for stress and insomnia. 

Bedtime yoga poses for stress-relief

Spare a minute or two to sit or recline on your bed comfortably. Remember, this is not a pose. Comfort is the first and last criterion. It’s okay to feel twitchy or not find a steady, comfortable position your first few times.

Just relax. 

Now take a deep breath to the count of three and hold that breath inside for the count of four.  Exhale from the core to the count of five. 

Do this relaxation technique for a minute or two, and then start your poses. 

1. Butterfly Pose

Butterfly pose, also known as Bound Angle pose, can help stimulate abdominal organs and improve digestion. It also stretches inner thighs, groins, and knees, and relieve tension in the lower back.

How to do

1. Sit on the bed or a floor mat and move your legs such that your feet are a foot away from your groin. Your toes and heels need to be touching each other. If you look at your legs, they should be making a soft diamond shape. 
2. Your arms can relax and find a comfortable resting position on your sides. Rest the palms on the floor beside your hips.
3. Repeat the breathing exercise mentioned above. Hold this pose for a minute or two.

2. Reclining Bound Angle Pose

Reclining Bound Angle Pose, also known as Supta Baddha Konasana, is a restorative yoga pose that helps to open the hips and increase flexibility in the inner thighs and groin. It can also promote relaxation and reduce stress and anxiety.

How to do

1. This is an extension of the previous pose. Stretch your legs forward from your butterfly pose and then lie down on the floor straight.
2. Still focusing on your breath, try to bring your legs back towards your groin/tailbone.  This can be a little more difficult in a lying-down position. So, remind yourself not to bend your knees till it hurts. Just bend your knees until your toes can comfortably touch each other.
3. Add cushions under your knees if you are tight and feel a need for a bit of tilt or lift. Make sure the cushions aren’t too thick.
4. Focus on your breath. Hold the position for 2 minutes.

3. Legs up the wall Pose

Legs up the wall pose, also known as Viparita Karani, is a gentle yoga posture that involves lying on the back with the legs extended vertically up against a wall. This pose can help to reduce stress and improve circulation in the legs.

How to do

1. Now move to the nearest wall and sit down facing it. Lie down on your back while slowly raising your legs against the wall. The wall should provide good support to your legs.
2. If you find yourself too stretched, allow for a little space between your buttocks and the wall. This will provide a slight angle that will ease the tension the pose might cause your beginner’s muscles.
3. Focus on your breath. Hold the position for 2 minutes.

4. Child’s Pose

Child’s pose can help relax the mind and body before bedtime, promoting a more restful sleep. It can also help release tension in the lower back and hips, allowing for greater comfort during the night. This yoga pose can also be done with the help of a partner.

How to do

1. Now come back to lying flat on the bed. Bend your knees slowly while holding them apart from each other. 
2. Pull the knees close until the thighs are resting on the sides of your torso. 
3. Let your toes slowly touch each other. Use your hands to grip your legs around the ankles to give you control to hold the position.
4. Focus on your breath. Hold the position for 2 minutes.

5. Child’s Pose II

Child Pose 2 helps to release tension and stress in the body, promoting a more relaxed state for better sleep. It also improves circulation, which can aid in sleep quality.

How to do

1. Move back to the seated position. Now kneel down and sit with your body resting on your calf muscles. Your big toes must be interlocked (this in itself is a yoga pose). 
2. Now stretch your arms and bend forward as far as your body can bend. By the end, your belly must be comfortably sunk into and resting on the thighs, with the arms extended forward. 
3. Keep your head downward facing.
4. Focus on your breath. Hold the position for 2 minutes.

6. Cobra Pose

Cobra pose helps in improving posture and reducing back pain by strengthening the back muscles. This pose also aids in increasing the flexibility of the spine, opens up the chest, and improves digestion.

How to do

1. You can easily swing from the previous position to the cobra position. Slowly release the bent knees one by one and lay them straight. You should find yourself lying flat on your belly now.
2. Slowly raise your head in a graceful arching motion. Your palms flat against the floor on either side act as pillars propping you up and supporting you as you hold the position.
3. Focus on your breath. Hold the position for 2 minutes.

7. Corpse pose

Corpse pose, or Savasana, is a restorative yoga posture that helps reduce stress and anxiety, promote relaxation, and improve overall mental and physical health. It is often used as a closing pose in yoga practice to allow the body and mind to fully integrate the benefits of the practice.

How to do

1. Slowly come back to the starting position. Roll over and lie down flat on your back. 
2. Let your legs be a comfortable distance apart from each other. Your hands should be lying straight with palms resting flat on the ground.
3. Focus on your breath. Hold the position for 2 minutes.
4. Continue in this position for longer until you find yourself sleepy enough. 

How does yoga help to relieve stress?

Several among us hate that feeling in the pit of our stomachs right before a deadline or the general sense of sadness and hate in a world that just doesn’t seem right for us.

We know this is a mental health issue. But medication, pills, or antidepressants? The thought of mental health medications scares most of us. 

Here, research ^[2]National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Wellness-Related Use of Common Complementary Health Approaches Among Adults: United States, 2012 suggests that alternative therapies like yoga come in like a ray of pure, side-effect-free sunshine. 

It’s proven that engaging in physical activities and exercises has a positive effect on the minds of people struggling with stress and other mental health conditions. There is a simple reason for this: feelings are not external to the body. 

After all, the brain is what processes the emotions you struggle with, and it is an organ of your body: a physical, biological organ connected in flesh and blood to all other body organs. 

So don’t beat yourself up. It’s not all those bad life choices you made. Bad food choices, maybe! But it’s all okay, natural, and healable. 

Stress symptoms are the body’s way of working up energy reserves to save you from a situation it perceives as dangerous. The simplest and nontoxic remedy for the body’s response is to trick it into calming some parts of your body while diverting the energy into others. 

Yoga hits at the deepest, most primal physical and mental stress roots. Yoga incorporates highly relaxing stretches and poses that relieve the tensed body and slow down your breathing. This signals your brain that there are no lions behind your back to run from, so you can breathe easily. 

Which is the best type of yoga for stress relief?

Hatha yoga is the most general and commonly known form of Yoga. It is the most preferred form of yoga for beginners. Since it is slower and more comfortably paced, it is ideal for people who need less exertion and more relaxation. Slow-paced, non-exertive styles like Hatha Yoga and Yin Yoga work very well for people seeking stress relief.

Yin Yoga is a wonderfully contemplative and relaxed branch of yoga that can help calm your mind. The philosophy behind this practice encourages the idea of non-striving. That makes it a perfect antidote for the fast-paced, over-competitive, modern life-induced stress.

Yoga Nidra, Pranayama, and guided meditation can help those who exert their bodies too much and too little. They provide minimal exertion to the body and focus entirely on relaxation, balance, and mindfulness. 

Most forms of yoga incorporate elements like breathing exercises and meditation within their routines. You can always speak to your guide to tailor your practice to suit your mental health needs.

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