Gentle Evening Yoga Flow
Practicing a gentle yoga flow in the evenings is a habit I’m trying to get back into. Since a lot of us have been gifted with some quiet time alone during this self-quarantine, it’s nice to turn inward and maintain good habits and routines. Since sleep plays a large role in our overall health, it’s important that we allow ourselves ample rest. If you have a hard time trying to quiet your mind before bed, or you often feel it’s difficult to get a full night’s rest, practicing yoga before you sleep can help! Taking time to calm your mind and release tension through your body, can ease you to a better night’s sleep.
Find Your Flow
As you flow through these poses let your breath be the most important factor. Don’t push or force a fully-expanded inhale. You want your breath to be deep, but to flow with a sense of ease. When we encompass this ease with our breath, our body and mind will follow suit. You can hold these poses for as long as you would like. More often than not, the longer we hold the poses, the better the benefits are received.
Childs Pose
Starting off in childs pose. Childs pose is an incredibly grounding posture. Physically, our body is close to the earth, we are folding in and resting our forehead on our mat or brick. There is a sense of connection and intimacy here that can be quite calming.
How to
From all fours, take your big toes together and knees wide. Sink your hips back towards your heels as you reach your arms out in front of you. Place your forehead on the earth or brick. Focus on the sound of your breath resonating off of your mat. Sending your breath to the backside of your body.
Cat/Cow
Moving your spine in all six directions is great for maintaining your range of motion. Starting off with cat and cow. Cat and cow are usually linked together as movements. Flowing through these shapes with your breath builds a sense of awareness in your body, further rooting you in the present moment.
How to
From childs pose, shift forward to all fours. Stack your shoulders over your wrists, and your hips over your knees. ground down through the finger pads of your palms. On your inhale, release your belly, life your heart and tail towards the sky for cow pose. On your exhale press into your mat, drop your gaze and curl your spine up towards the sky for cat pose.
Thread the Needle
Finding a gentle twist form our tabletop position will help maintain a healthy spine, and wring out our internal organs. This twist can also provide some release into your shoulders and low back. Once again, we are close to the earth encouraging that sense of grounding and connection.
How to
From all fours, sweep your right arm towards the sky on your inhale. On your exhale draw your right arm underneath your body, resting your right ear and should on the earth. Maintain length through your side body so you have space to breathe, and do your best to stay relaxed through your jaw and neck. Repeat on the left side.
Melting Heart Pose or Puppies Pose
This pose is one of my favorites for releasing through my neck and shoulders. It’s a gentle heart opener which normally can be very energizing, but because we are so close to the ground it can be incredibly calming. This pose invites us to play around with the balance of effort and ease. The effort coming from lengthening our side body, and gently grounding down through our fingerpads. The ease, coming from the surrendering in our chest and shoulders as we work with gravity to move into this shape.
How to
From all fours, keep your hips above your knees and walk your hands out in front of you. Bring your forehead to the earth or brick. Gently press your shoulder blades into the back of your heart, encouraging your chest to open. Stay soft at the space below your lowest ribs, making room for your diaphragm to expand with your breath.
Seated Forward Fold
coming into a very gentle seated forward fold is soothing for our central nervous system. when we move into a more passive variation it encourages stillness and relaxation. furthermore, by using a brick underneath our forehead, we can add some pressure to our third eye spae between our brows. This will help release the muscles in your face, jaw, and neck.
How to
From melting heart pose, press into your palms and walk yourself up to all fours. Come to a comfortable cross-legged seat on your mat. sit up nice and tall as you start to hinge from your hips, folding with a long spine. Once you start to feel resistance, you can allow your upper body to round resting your forehead on a brick or the earth. Allow your upper body to feel heavy, as you focus on sending your breath to your low back and outer hips. When you’re ready, come back up to a tall spine. Then, switch whatever leg you have crossed in front or on top, and repeat on the other side.
Knee to Chest
lying on your back and drawing your knee in towards your chest targets your hip space. During this time of self-quarantine, chances are you’re sitting down a lot, more than before. Sitting in one position for long periods of time can cause our hips and hamstrings to tighten up. Furthermore, Our hips are a large emotional center in our body and can naturally carry a lot of tension. Giving ourselves time to gently move into this space will help clear out stagnant energy, and keep our joints limber.
How to
We will move from our seat to our backs. Lie down with your arms and legs extended. Bend your right knee, huge your knee in towards your chest. Draw your knee closer to your armpit to avoid your ribcage. Maintain a gentle engagement through your left foot and leg. Feel free to add gentle movements to your right leg. Maybe drawing circles with your knee, or rotating your ankle.
Half Happy Baby
half happy baby helps open up our inner thigh, as we move into our outer hip. Once again, it can be incredibly beneficial to work these spaces as they hold onto emotional energy in our body. Additionally, adding movements in your half happy baby can help invite synovial fluid into your hip joint. The synovial fluid protects our joints and allows a little more ease in our movements.
How to
with your right knee bent towards your chest, grab a hold of your outer right foot. Gently draw your right knee down towards your outer armpit, as you flex your foot up towards the sky. Your left leg can stay extended, or if this is really intense on your left hip, you can always bend your left knee and plant your foot. Feel free to gently bend and extend your right leg, working through your range of motion here.
Supine Twist
Moving into a supine twist towards the end of our flow will help reset our spine and further wring out our internal organs. Additionally, this twist will help release your outer hip and low back. when we twist lying down we work with gravity. This means that we can let go of resistance and excess engagement, focusing on bringing that sense of ease and relaxation into our body and breath.
How to
From your half happy baby, gently release your right foot. Cross your right knee over to the left, letting your right hip stack on top of your left hip. sweep your arms open like a “T” staying soft through your shoulders. If you would like you can take your left hand on top of your thigh to encourage that softening in your outer right hip.
When you are done with your supine twist, repeat this back sequence on your left side (knee to chest, half happy baby, supine twist).
Once you have repeated this back sequence on your left side, hug both of your knees into your chest and gently rock from side to side massaging out your low back. Thank your body for carrying you through your day and through this life. When you’re ready, gently release into savasana. Extend your arms and legs out on the mat, let your breath return to normal, and allow your body to soak in the benefits of this practice.
