Guides · By Dr Kia Prescott, PhD · 16 July 2026 · Updated 4 October 2026
If your body is tired but your mind won't switch off, you don't have a discipline problem — you have an over-alert nervous system. A short, gentle yoga practice in the evening can help turn that dial down. This is how it works and a simple way to try it tonight.
Why does yoga help you sleep?
Sleep doesn't arrive on command — it arrives when your body feels safe enough to let go. Slow movement, long exhales, and a few minutes of stillness shift you toward the parasympathetic ("rest and digest") state, lowering the background arousal that keeps you staring at the ceiling. It's not sedation; it's removing the brakes on your own sleep. Done consistently, an evening practice becomes a cue your body learns to read: this is how we wind down now.
What's a simple evening wind-down?
Keep it slow and unambitious — this isn't a workout. Move at the pace of your breath and stay in each shape long enough to soften:
- A few gentle seated forward folds to round the back and turn attention inward.
- A supine twist on each side, knees dropping toward the floor, to release the spine.
- Legs up the wall for a few minutes — quietly calming, and kind to tired legs.
- A supported child's pose or lying rest to finish, letting the body be heavy.
Ten unhurried minutes is plenty. If a pose doesn't feel good, leave it out — comfort is the whole point.
How should you breathe to slow down?
The fastest lever you have is the exhale. Breathe in for a comfortable count, then make the out-breath a little longer than the in-breath — slow breathing with a longer exhale is linked with a calmer nervous system: a review of slow-breathing studies found it raised heart rate variability, a marker of the body's "rest and digest" activity, and left people feeling more relaxed (Zaccaro and colleagues, 2018). A few minutes of that, lying still, is often more settling than pushing through poses. No special technique needed; just let the out-breath lead.
Does sound healing help with sleep?
Sound is a natural partner to an evening practice — sustained tones give a restless mind something soft to rest on instead of tomorrow's to-do list. Many people use a short sound bath as the last step before bed. If you're curious how that works, read what is sound healing?
How often should you practise?
Most nights, even briefly, is my advice over a long session once a week — regular practice is what teaches the body the cue. The research is encouraging but modest: pooling 19 trials in 1,832 women with sleep problems, yoga improved sleep quality compared with doing nothing extra, by a small-to-moderate amount (Wang and colleagues, 2020). So yoga supports good sleep; it isn't a treatment for a sleep disorder. If poor sleep persists despite winding down, it's worth speaking to a doctor.