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YOUR EVENING RESET
After a full day of activity, decision-making, and stimulation, it’s normal to feel mentally wired or physically tense. A gentle evening ritual helps release the day’s buildup and prepare your body and mind for rest. Moving with intention slows the nervous system, supports deeper sleep, and creates space to ease into relaxation.
Yoga is one of the most effective ways to wind down in the evening. Gentle movement, paired with conscious breathing, activates the parasympathetic nervous system – your body’s “rest and restore” mode. This response helps lower stress hormones, eases muscle tension, and creates a sense of calm that prepares you for sleep. Evening yoga often targets areas where stress accumulates, such as the spine, hips, shoulders, and jaw, gently encouraging release.
A consistent evening yoga practice supports your body’s natural circadian rhythm. It can enhance melatonin production, aid digestion, reduce inflammation, and ease you into a more restful and regenerative sleep. Even just 15 minutes of slow, mindful movement can become a powerful signal that your day is ending and it's time to relax and reset.
EVENING YOGA IN SUMMER
Evenings offer a unique opportunity to tune inward and honour your body’s need to slow down. This is your time to let go of effort, disconnect from screens and stimulation, and shift into rest. In the warmer Summer months, evenings can be the perfect time to cool down and rebalance. With longer daylight hours and more social commitments, summer evenings may still carry a sense of stimulation well into the night. Evening yoga can help you step back from that momentum and prepare for a good night's sleep. Gentle breathing, especially with extended exhales or deep belly breathing, is especially effective in calming the nervous system.
Cooling poses – such as forward folds, hip openers and reclined poses – support relaxation and release heat from the body. These poses also support digestion and detoxification, which can be disrupted by summer’s shifting routines. Gentle twists are especially helpful after summer meals or travel fatigue, and supported poses with the arms open encourage both stillness and a sense of cool spaciousness.
Your summer evening practice offers a grounding pause in an otherwise energetic season. Roll out your mat, dim the lights, and soften into the gentle rhythms of your evening wind down – your body and mind will thank you by morning.
EXPLORING SUMMER EVENINGS FLOW IN YOUR PRACTICE
This full sequence focuses on staying lower to the ground than our regular practices to purposefully prepare for lying down in bed. This sequence starts in the first row with seated breath-led movement and child pose flow to stimulate the vagus nerve, regulate your heart rate, and ease the body into a restful state. The second row is a continuous flow to help you ease out any tension and fidgets from a busy day. The third gives the opportunity to realign the spine, stretch the front body and strengthen the back body. The final row has a four pose seated flow and three restorative poses. You can either pick one of the restorative poses or if you need more time to unwind you can do all three.
ALIGNMENT CUES
Below are the restorative techniques used in this sequence. The props you’ll need are:
1 x bolster - or 2 towels, wrapped around a horizontally rolled pillow and tied to secure.
2 x yoga blankets - or any wool, thick cotton or fleece blanket with density.
2 x yoga bricks - or two thick similar sized dictionaries
Restorative
No.1 - Supported childs
Come into a kneeling position with your hips on your heels. Nestle a bolster between your knees, vertically along your mat with a folded blanket on the far end. Place your hands either side of the bolster. With an inhale lengthen through the whole spine and on an exhale gently place your front spine along the centre of the bolster. Place your right cheek on the bolster. Feel the breath in the back of the ribs and lungs. Swap to your left cheek half way through the pose.
No.2 - Reclined seated
Place two bricks horizontally at the top of your mat, One at its highest height and the other at its mid height. Lie your bolster over the bricks along the centre of your mat and place a folded blanket on the far end of your bolster where your head will rest. Sit with the back of your hips along the short end of the bolster. Roll up a folded blanket and place it under your knees. Gently lie back onto your bolster. Feel a gentle opening across the chest.
No.3 - Mountain brook
Half roll a four fold blanket and place it at the top of your mat. Accordion fold the other blanket and place it below your top blanket where your shoulder blades will lie. Place the bolster towards the bottom of your mat where your knees will be. Lie supine on your back, nestle the rolled part of the top blanket in the curve of your neck, place the accordion folded blanket under the lower tips of your shoulder blades and the bolster under the creases of your knees. Legs and arms extended, palms facing up, feet fall out to the side. Feel the rise and fall of the props supporting your back body.
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Ruth Delahunty Yogaru