This series of four movements, especially the basic yoga breath (more on that below), helps to relax the essential areas of your body needed to get to sleep. It only takes about 20 to 25 minutes when you’re first learning it, and about 10 to 12 minutes when it becomes a routine, even if you’re doing it slowly. And you’ll find that it doesn’t become less effective with continued use. Instead, the more you practice it, the better you’ll become at getting a deeper and more releasing stretch! Slow breathing and rhythmic movement done together calm and soothe your nervous system. Keep the Basic Yoga Breath throughout the sequence, and when you find you’ve forgotten to breathe like this, just start again. Adapted from Sleep Recovery by Lisa Sanfilippo. Reprinted with permission from Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020. Lisa’s practiced yoga since 1997 and taught since 2002. She seeks to challenge and refresh you on all levels with yoga postures, breath work, meditation and sound. She became a dedicated yoga practitioner in 1997, after graduating Brown University and moving to New York and began teaching yoga to students at the LSE in 2002, where she was completing her first Master’s degree. Soon after, she was invited to teach at Triyoga and the Life Center, where she has remained for many years.
