Yoga Poses That Put You to Sleep

By Anonymous -
Ever lay in bed at night, only to find that you’re wide awake? You may count sheep, or toss and turn while your mind keeps churning away about your day, to-do list, and all the shut-eye you’re missing as each second ticks by. But there’s a more productive way to snuggle into bedtime and sleep better: These 5 simple yoga poses will relax your body and mind so that you can slip into a peaceful and well-deserved slumber


1. Reclined Spinal Twist
Begin lying on your back with both legs straight. Bend your left knee into your chest and give it a good squeeze with your arms as you lengthen your lower back. Keeping the knee bent, drop it over to the right and extend your left arm flat onto the ground in line with the shoulder. Place your right hand above your left knee and give gentle pressure as you keep the lower back lengthening. Try your best to drop the left shoulder completely to the ground. Hold for 8 breaths then come back to center and switch sides.

2. Reclined Big Toe Pose A + B
(a.) Place a yoga strap or towel over the ball of your foot and extend that leg up into the air working towards a straight leg. Press the ball of your foot into the strap as you pull the strap into the ball of the foot. Relax your shoulders and take 8 breaths.
(b.) Rotate your lifted heel in and toes out. Hold onto the the strap with the same hand as the extended leg and release your other arm out to your side. Let your lifted leg rotate open to the side hovering it above the ground. Try to keep both sides of your pelvis heavy and shoulders relaxed. Hold for 8 breaths. Bring the leg back up to center and switch legs.

3. Supported Bridge Pose
Have a yoga block handy and bend both of your knees on your back so that the soles of the feet are flat and hip width apart. Lift your hips up (maybe even come onto the balls of your feet, if you’re comfortable) and slide the block in the tall and skinny way to rest directly under your lower back. You might have to adjust the block a bit until you find a comfortable location. Rest your hips on the block and interlace your fingers in front of it. Hug your upper outer arms in to open up your chest. Keep a slight lift of your chin. Stay here for 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Double Pigeon
Roll up to sit with your knees bent and shin bones crossed. Stack your left shin bone on top of your right so that the top heel rests on the thigh directly above the knee while the left knee stacks over the flexed right foot. Sit tall or walk your arms forward and bring your head to the ground. Take a pillow or bolster into your lap and wrap your arms around it so you can rest your head and chest. Hold for 3 to 5 minutes and switch sides.

5. Reclined Bound Angle
Sit in front of a bolster or pillow with it set up the long way. If you have extra blankets, try folding 1 or 2 on top of the bolster for extra height. Take a yoga strap and make a lasso the large way placing it over your entire body. Take the back of the lasso to your pant line. Bend both of your knees and take the soles of the feet together and slide the front part of the lasso underneath your pinky toes so that the strap holds your hips open. Play around with how tight you want the lasso to be then lie back onto your bolster. Let your arms dangle next to your sides and close your eyes. Stay here 5 to 10 minutes then slide directly into bed! Sweet dreams.

photo: YogaGlo
Published on June 20th, 2012
Written by: Kathryn Budig, Women's Health Yoga Expert
Women's Health Magazine

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Ways to Burn 200 Calories (*based on a 135lb woman)

By Anonymous -
Try these out and in case you couldn’t guess after reading….number 6 is my FAVORITE!! 1.        Get into the swing of things .   Take your stress out at the driving range.   Just 62 minutes at the driving range burns those calories away.   Ready to take on 9 or 18 holes…skip the cart and walk.   You’ll burn 50% more calories per minute. 2.        Meet in a dark alley.   Bowling Alley that is.   In 90 minutes of fun with your friends you’ll roll off 200 calories, skip your light beer-you can do it in an hour! 3.        Go Green.   Ride your bike to run your errands.   In just 23 minutes of peddling or 4.6 miles you burn off those 200 calories! 4.        Strike a pose.   Try Vinyasa yoga.   This type of yoga moves you fluidly from pose to pose, burning more than 7 calories per minute.   29 minutes….200 calories GONE! 5.        Rub-a-dub-dub.   Take a 2 mile walk with you puppy (about 40 minutes), come home and give him a 10 minute bath, then treat yourself to a 15 minute bubble bath and
Read more

How To Get Started On An Exercise Program

By Anonymous -
So, you ask yourself…How do I get started?  Everyone has good intentions to exercise on a daily basis, but you need a game plan to make it work.  Here are some suggestions for when you’re beginning to think about an exercise program: Consider what you would like to achieve.  What are your goals?  Are you trying to lose weight or maybe train to participate in a 5K for the first time? Make a reasonable exercise plan.  “No pain, No gain” should not be your plan.  Everyone needs to ease into exercise at their own pace.  Whether you are trying weight training or cardio…ease in… you’ll get to that 5K. How will you fit your exercise program into your day?  Pick the time of day that you feel that you have the most energy and you can commit to your workout.  Schedule your workout time like an appointment you can’t break.  Look at it as “me time”. Try a variety of different exercises.  Don’t do the same exercises all the time, if you do, your body will acclimate over time.  Cross training is
Read more

Speak up for yourself

By -
Image
A simple, effective way to sidestep sabotage (well meaning or not). "Another slice won't hurt, you don't need to lose weight, but you've always looked like this-it's who you are."  Do any of these sound familiar?  If so, you've faced sabotage at some point along the way and it can undermine your weight loss journey. Something to keep in mind, is that most often, sabotage is not intentional.  Often it's the people that love you the most say or do things that could derail your weight loss and maintenance efforts.  These people don't even realize they're doing it.  They think they are helping you.  Many people associate food with love. The bottom line is not to assume that friends and family are trying to harm your weight loss journey.  Take the time to explain to them how you feel sabotaged and let them know how they can better support you and your goals.  after all, they won't be able to change their behaviors unless they know how th
Read more