Yoga at bedtime can help you fall asleep faster and sleep better. Trudy, a registered yoga teacher and fellow Physical Therapist, stops by to show me a therapeutic yoga bedtime routine.
Therapeutic yoga focuses on gentle yoga or modification poses with breathing techniques. Trudy is not only a friend and mentor, but she is also from Canada! So if you are a Canadian viewer, make sure to give her a shout-out in the comments. And Canadian or not, make sure you visit Trudy’s website!
When trying to get a good night’s sleep, you want to do stretches and exercises that don’t wake up your spine, so try not to extend your back or open up your chest area before going to sleep.
A piriformis stretch is a great way to help relax the glute area and relax the lower body.
Next, is a double knee to chest stretch. Make sure everything is in alignment, and that you are not getting any pinching in the front of your hips.
Finally, legs up the wall helps with lymphatic drainage. This is a great way to relax the whole body and help with sleep.
Core exercises are very important to have a healthy and stable back as well as the whole body. The core is not only the front, sides, and back of the trunk, but it is also the pelvic floor. When first starting core exercises, it is best to try modified ones first and then progress to harder movements as the core gets stronger.
Finding a comfortable position to sleep at night can be challenging for some people. People who sleep on their sides and suffer from back, hip, and/or shoulder pain may find these tips helpful to get a better night’s sleep.
Bell’s Palsy is the sudden weakness of your facial muscles on one half of the face. These exercises may seem like you are just making funny faces, but this will help get the weak muscles working again.
We squat every day from sitting down in a chair to getting out of bed, or even sitting safely on the toilet, but squats can be a painful task when something hurts, or our muscles are weak. Practicing squats in a reverse order can help strengthen the muscles and work on doing them correctly and safely.
Tension headaches can cause a lot of pain. Stress is a common cause of tension headaches. Relaxing the muscles around the neck and shoulder area can help decrease the pain caused by tension headaches.
Exercise Snacks are short bursts of activity that can provide great health benefits. It can be as little as 30 seconds, and up to five or 10 minutes. It can be any type of movement like climbing stairs, walking, doing squats, wall pushups, or modified jumping jacks.
Tinnitus is a ringing in your ears. For some people, this simple technique may stop tinnitus immediately giving you instant relief. Tinnitus can also be another noise like buzzing, roaring, hissing, etc.
