Phase 1 · Build the Ritual

Part of the 4 Week Evening Yoga Program for Better Sleep

20 Minute Evening Yoga Sequence for Better Sleep

The first two weeks. Twenty minutes at the same time every evening, which is the part that does the work.

The most useful thing about a wind down practice is not what is in it. It is that it happens at the same time every night, so that after a fortnight your body starts anticipating what comes next. This sequence is built to be repeatable rather than interesting: it moves from gentle movement to a twist, then down to the floor and stays there. Nothing in the second half asks anything of you at all.

20 min · Level 1

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Wann hilfreich

Every evening for the first two weeks, roughly an hour before you want to be asleep. Twenty minutes. A blanket, a cushion and a bit of wall. This is for winding down and for how well you feel you sleep. It is not a treatment for a diagnosed sleep disorder, and it is not the answer to sleep apnoea, which is a mechanical problem and belongs with a doctor.

Wind down

The order matters more than the poses. Anything with effort in it happens early, and the last ten minutes are entirely passive.

Physical effect

The back, the hips and the backs of the legs, which is where a day of sitting and standing tends to end up.

Rhythm

Doing it at the same time every evening is what turns it into a signal rather than an exercise.

Move, briefly

Five minutes of gentle movement at the start. Everything with any effort in it lives here and nowhere else.

Marjaryasana

1 min

Katzenpose

Hands and knees, rounding the back as you breathe out.

The cheapest way to find out what the day left in your back.

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Bitilasana

1 min

Kuh Haltung

Chest forward on the in breath. Eight rounds, unhurried.

Movement tied to the breath, which is where the slowing down starts.

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Bharadvajasana 1

1 min each side

Dem weisen Bharadvaja

Sit down, twist gently from the ribs. Both sitting bones staying down.

A twist belongs early in the evening rather than late. This is the last thing here that could be called stimulating.

Mehr über Bharadvajasana 1 erfahren

Down and forward

Forward bends with the head supported. From here on, nothing gets more demanding.

Janu Shirsana

1 min each side

Einbeinige sitzende Vorbeuge

One leg out, one foot in, folding only as far as you can stay comfortable. Rest your forehead on a cushion or a stack of books.

Head supported is the whole point. A forward bend with something to lean on is a completely different experience from one without.

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Supta Hasta Padangusthasana

1 min each side

Liegende Hand Fuß Pose

On your back, one leg up with a strap or a belt around the foot. Knee as bent as you like.

The back of the leg, without having to hold yourself up. This is the last pose that asks anything.

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The passive half

Ten minutes of doing nothing. This is not the cool down, it is the part the research is actually about.

Viparita Karani

5 min

Das Siegel der Umkehr

Legs up the wall, arms wherever. Let the out breath get slightly longer than the in breath and then stop counting.

Five minutes here does more for winding down than any amount of stretching, and it is the pose people keep long after a program ends.

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Apanasana

2 min

Knie zur Brust

Knees drawn towards the chest, arms loose.

A small, comfortable shape between the wall and the floor.

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Savasana

3 min

Totenstellung

Flat, covered with a blanket. Nothing to do and nothing to count.

Three minutes at the end, every night, in the same place. That repetition is the mechanism.

Mehr über Savasana erfahren

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 2

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Build the Ritual, the first phase of the 4 Week Evening Yoga Program for Better Sleep. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Every evening for two weeks, at the same time. If you miss one, do the ten minute version rather than nothing. Keeping the slot is worth more than the length of any single session.

Der Mensch hinter dieser Sequenz

Gründer & Autor

Manish Rana

Gründer von Asanaverse.de. Manish schreibt über Yoga, Ayurveda und Meditation und verdankt seine tiefe Verbindung zum Yoga seinen indischen Wurzeln. Mit über 1000 Stunden Yoga Alliance Teacher Training gibt er sein Wissen an die Community weiter.

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Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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Make it yours

Keep this practice in your library, print it for the mat, or build your own sequence from all 108 asanas.

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