After a long day, all you want to do is go home and indulge in an evening of relaxation. Relaxing can look different to different people. Some people put on their pajamas and watch television to relax, while others settle into a comfy chair and read a good book. You might be missing out on one of the best forms of relaxing at night — yoga! Here are some benefits of a nightly yoga routine.
1. Reduces Muscle Tension
During your day, you build a lot of tension in your muscles as stress builds and the demands of daily life seem to be too much. As you go through each of the poses in your yoga routine, you’ll stretch your muscles. These stretches help to release the built-up tension from a long day at work.
Reduced muscle tension helps you relax while going through your nightly routine and can help you fall asleep faster. It can also help you improve your range of motion when you need to pick something up or reach for something on a high shelf.
2. Sleep More Soundly at Night
How many days a week do you wake up feeling tired? This happens when you don’t sleep well at night. Relaxing with yoga at night can help you get a better night’s sleep and sleep more soundly.
As part of the yoga routine, you control your breathing in 2:1 pattern. This controlled breathing lowers both your heart rate and your blood pressure, which makes you feel more relaxed. In this deepened state of relaxation, you’ll find that it’s easier to drift off to sleep and that you stay asleep longer during the night. You’ll wake up feeling refreshed and ready for the day.
3. Replaces Bad Habits
You already know that you aren’t supposed to eat a lot of junk food late at night or spend a lot of time watching the television before bed. A nightly yoga routine can help replace any bad habits before bed. Yoga encourages you to practice deep breathing and meditation, which helps with your mindfulness. Once you start to feel better, you’ll be more apt to make better decisions and replace your bad nighttime habits.
4. Reduces Stress
You probably build up a lot of stress during the average day. From the pressures at work to the demands of getting the kids to soccer practice on time, there is always something you need to do and the urgency to complete it now. Yoga can help you press the pause button on your “fight or flight” response and reduce your stress levels. Reducing stress can help your overall health and help you live longer. It can also help you relax more easily while it slows the production of cortisol, a stress hormone.
5. Calm Your Mind
When you try to go to sleep or just relax for a few minutes, do you find yourself thinking about the same thing over and over again or revisiting an event that happened during the day? You can’t seem to let it go. Relaxing with yoga at night can help calm your mind so you aren’t stuck in a loop. The breathing exercises and meditation will help you learn to redirect your thoughts and clear your mind.
You don’t always have time to attend a yoga class on their schedule, so you can opt to use a home yoga plan. These plans are just as detailed and relaxing as a studio setting without a crowd of people. At Sworkit, we can help you find the yoga plan that meets your needs and helps you make every evening at home a relaxing one. Try Sworkit’s Every day Feel Good Yoga routine.
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