Sleep...such an important part of our overall health but often overlooked. We look at our phones right until we go to bed, we go to bed later than we should, we eat that spicy snack before we lay down. But we are all human and sometimes I need to eat that snack! We are trying to be more intentional with our bedtime. We are very strict with our kid's bedtime routine but ours is often neglected. Why? I am not sure if it is our need to have adult time in the evening or if we are just so tired at the end of the day we don't put the effort in. But her lies the problem...it is a vicious cycle. So I have come up with a short yoga routine for us to do each night to signal the start of our bedtime. The intention is that once we start we are also not going to look at the TV or our phones...this is going to take some time to transition! I challenge you to join us!
1. Cat/Cow - Starting in tabletop roll slowly through 5-10 cat/cows. The number will depend on how much time you need to transition. Your breath should be even and slow, a 5 count inhale and a 5 count exhale.
2. Child's Pose - settle back into child's pose for 5 breaths, the stretch to one corner of your mat and then to the other. Giving your side body a stretch can help release stress from the day.
3. Supine Twist - Settle on to your back and grab both knees to your chest, after a few lower back circles, drop both knees to the right for 5 breaths. Then come back through the center and drop your knees to the left for 5 breaths.
4. Legs Up the Wall - find a spot to put your legs up the wall, if you don't have a space on a wall place a pillow or block below your lower back and do it in the middle of the room. This pose is very restorative and great for helping to soothing sore legs and feet, relieves lower back tension and stretches your hamstrings.
5. Savasana (corpse pose) - This one you may want to save until you are ready to go to sleep. While you are laying flat focus on your breath and on doing a body scan. A body scan can start at your head or feet, you notice each part of your body without moving it and "put it to sleep". This technique helps you to stay focused on relaxing rather than letting your mind wander.
In addition to all of this, I suggest diffusing lavender or tree oil in your diffuser as well as rolling lavender on the bottom of your feet. We do this every single night with the kids but we often forget ourselves. So here is to better and longer sleep in 2020! Who's with us?
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