Benefited from Brief Yoga Practice Instead of Nightly Screen Time - Remarkable Change in Feelings Reported
In the pursuit of a good night's sleep, one author has turned to pre-bed yoga as a nightly reset. For seven days, the author incorporated a series of gentle, restorative yoga poses into their evening routine.
The author's favorite yoga pants for evening practice are lightweight, wide-leg pants made with 89% recycled material, providing comfort and sustainability during the pre-bed routine. The author's top choice for a pre-bed yoga tank top is ultra-soft, sweat-wicking, and made from 90% recycled water bottles, ensuring a comfortable and eco-friendly experience.
The author's mat of choice during pre-bed yoga flows is the Sweaty Betty Balance Yoga Mat, providing a stable surface for the practice.
The practice begins with Legs-Up-the-Wall (Viparita Karani) for 3–5 minutes to lower heart rate and ease leg/low-back tension. This is followed by Reclined Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana) for 2–5 minutes to open hips and support slow abdominal breathing. A few slow Cat-Cow cycles (Marjaryasana–Bitilasana) are performed for 1–2 minutes to release spinal and shoulder tension with coordinated breath. The practice concludes with Child's Pose (Balasana) for 1–3 minutes to soothe the nervous system and rest the forehead, and finally, lying in Savasana for 3–5 minutes with slow, full breaths to integrate relaxation before sleep.
Studies link phone scrolling before bed to disrupted melatonin production and increased sleep latency. Pre-bed yoga is recommended for anyone who spends their evenings tethered to their phone or racing through Netflix, as it allows the body to settle rather than focusing on flexibility. By day three, the author noticed a significant decrease in sleep latency, from 20 to 30 minutes to just a few minutes. By day six, the author's Oura ring showed consistently lower sleep latency and longer deep sleep phases.
By day seven, the author felt more productive and less brain-foggy upon waking up. Nancy Trueman, a sound practitioner and founder of True North Studio in London, and Eloise Skinner, an author and yoga instructor at Third Space London, believe in yoga as a nightly reset. A 2025 review in Frontiers in Neurology reported sleep quality gains of up to 16% after short, regular evening yoga practices.
The author plans to limit evening scrolling and make a conscious effort to practice pre-bed yoga on most nights. Ideally, pre-bed yoga should be practiced between 30 to 60 minutes before bed, with devices off and the room calm. Practicing pre-bed yoga right before bed is fine as long as one is not feeling rushed, and yoga should not feel like another task to tick off before sleep.
If you'd like, the author can provide a timed audio script for the 10-minute routine, or tailor poses and modifications to any specific issues (neck pain, pregnancy, insomnia history). The author encourages others to give pre-bed yoga a try and experience the benefits of a relaxed body and mind, leading to deep, quality sleep.
- Nancy Trueman, a sound practitioner from True North Studio in London, and Eloise Skinner, an author and yoga instructor at Third Space London, endorse pre-bed yoga for a nightly reset.
- The benefits of pre-bed yoga include a relaxed body, mind, and improved sleep quality, with studies suggesting up to 16% improvement in sleep quality after short, regular nightly practices.
- The author's preferred attire for pre-bed yoga consists of lightweight, wide-leg, eco-friendly yoga pants and an ultra-soft, sweat-wicking tank top made from recycled materials.
- A balanced pre-bed yoga routine includes poses like Legs-Up-the-Wall, Reclined Bound Angle, Cat-Cow cycles, Child's Pose, and Savasana, which aim to lower heart rate, ease tension, open hips, soothe the nervous system, and promote relaxation.
- To fully reap the benefits of pre-bed yoga, the practice should ideally be performed between 30 to 60 minutes before bed, with devices turned off and the environment calm, to signal the body and mind for sleep.
