meditation in sunset

meditation in sunset

After a long day at work, for many people, the day continues with different tasks at home: cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children, etc. And, when it is finally time to go to bed, you can’t get any sleep, because all the things that happened during the day, still are lodging in your head.

 

Gotta Joga’s Evening Yoga Practice calms the body and the mind with seated and supine twists and forward bends ending with the mother of all calming poses, Viparita Karani. After the evening yoga class, you will find a good night sleep.

 

Needle Eye pose with a Twist

Needle Eye pose with a Twist

Twists help us to digest, not only our food, but also the thoughts and events of the day. The central nervous system includes our brain and spinal cord. The spinal cord runs through the vertebrae of our spine. Most of the nerves that carry information to and from different parts of our body expand out from our spinal cord. Grounding, lengthening and then twisting the spine lightly realigns the vertebrae and relieves unwanted pressure on the nerves. The nervous system interprets this decrease of the pressure as a “non-stressful” situation, thus physical as well as mental relaxation happens throughout the whole body. Also, twists make us literally see things from totally a new perspective: A “huge” problem gets smaller, or there suddenly seems to be a solutions for it.

Evening-wideangleforwardbend-gotta-joga-yoga-app-apple-iphone-photo-maija

Upavistha Konasana – Wide-Angle Seated Forward bend

 

Forward bends calm the whole nervous system. They turn us inward and create the optimal conditions for calmness and ease. They also ground us. Grounding brings us psychically and physically to the element Earth, which holds us and gives us the feeling of protection, like someone would be carrying us through life. Like in twists, in forward bends we lengthen the spine creating more space between the vertebrae and nerves. This inner space releases pressure, not only in the body, but also in the mind.

 

While practising twists and forward bends it is most important to breathe deep. Sometimes in these poses the breath can get a little shallow. When we breathe deep in a posture that makes breathing more difficult, again, we calm the nervous system and prepare it for the night.

Evening-viparita-gotta-joga-yoga-app-apple-iphone-photo-maija

 

The last pose in this sequence, Viparita Karani, is always a good idea! Lifting the legs up on a wall has many health benefits, like relieving back pain, alleviating headaches, restoring tired feet and legs and many more. It also teaches us that positive results can come from doing less, not more. With this thought a good night’s sleep is guaranteed.

 

Do evening yoga with Gotta Joga – for a better sleep.

 

Thank you for practicing with Gotta Joga!

 

Anu Visuri, yoga teacher and co-founder of Gotta Joga

Certified Anusara® yoga teacher registered with Yoga Alliance (E-RYT 500 & YACEP).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images copyright:

Silhouette of a woman meditation: KieferPix through Shutterstock, Inc
needle eye, wide ankle forward bend and Viparita - Maija Airas-Ceri for Gotta Apps

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