You struggle with your sleep.

You can’t turn off your brain.

You can’t stop thinking about your worries and your woes.

You watch the numbers move on the clock and know you only have a few more hours before you start the next day.

And it’s frustrating.

And it is especially frustrating when you can’t fall asleep and you have Boot Camp Challenge® at o’dark thirty the next morning!

I got you, boo.

I want you to try my secret that helps me fall asleep.

And here it is. These 6 yoga poses.

I know, I know. Some of you hate yoga. Some of you think I’m making this up. But I promise, it’s for realz.

Try these 6 poses, and you are going to fall asleep faster, sleep longer, and be ready to crush your day.

I don’t think I need to tell you the benefits of sleep, but just in case you aren’t convinced sleep is important, here are some other benefits besides just feeling good.

It helps with your nutrition. Whenever you have a lack of sleep, your nutrition tends to suffer. Your brain goes into a “tunnel vision” when you are lacking sleep. In order to help you feel awake, you will have the tendency to reach for the sugary/salty foods or grab an extra soda to perk you up. And this compromises your nutrition goals.

Sleep also helps with brain function. Do you ever have lapses in memory? You walk into a room and forget what you walked in for? You are in the middle of a sentence and totally forget what you are going to say? If you are over 50 (like me!) this probably happens to you a LOT. Would you believe sleep can help? It’s true. If you truly want to live day to day feeling awake, your brain needs sleeeep.

So you get it. Sleep = good. Now let’s get to the yoga!

For a visual of the stretches, make sure to check out the video above.

Stay in each pose from 15 seconds to a minute. Breathe deeply as you move from pose to pose, and focus on the rhythm of your breath. Try to calm your mind and focus on your breath and moving from pose to pose. Your mind will start to relax, and you can start drifting to sleepy-ville.

1. Just Rock.
Lay on your back. Bring your knees towards your chest and gently rock side to side. Allow your muscles to calm and breathe deeply.

2. Child’s pose.
Move over into a tabletop position. Put your feet together and allow your knees to go apart from each other. Bring your hips and glutes towards your feet, and extend your arms. Allow your forehead to rest on the floor.

3. Happy Baby.
Laying on your back, bring your knees towards your chest. Open up your feet and grab the inside of your foot with your hands. This will allow your hips to open and relax, as well as allow your back to release. Our lower backs are where we are most tight, and this pose helps release these muscles.

4. Get Them Hammies.
From a sitting position, bring one leg towards your center. Extend the other leg out in front of you. Sitting up proud, gently tip from your hip and reach towards your extended leg. This will begin to stretch the back of your legs and release the tension in the muscle. Then switch legs.

5. Twist It Out.
This is a laying side twist. Bring both of your knees into your chest, and then gently set them on one side of your body. Open up your arms with both your shoulders staying on the ground. Lift up your head and turn it away from your knees. This is a spinal twist and releases your lower back and glutes. Repeat on the other side.

6. Savasana or Corpse Pose.
Extend your legs out and lengthen your arms by your side. Allow your muscles to relax from your toes up to your head. Move through each muscle group and focus on making them relax. As you do this, you’ll begin to create a rhythm with your breath and your belly. Once you have relaxed your muscles, focus on the rhythm of your breath. You’ll notice how your belly rises and falls with your breathing. Continue focusing on this rhythm until you gradually… doze… off…

Good night! :)

If you found this to be helpful, we would love it if you would share it with your friends.

Now get out there, and keep going for your goals one step at a time. Invest in yourself!

Hoo-Aah!
The BCC Team