Before we get to the post, a quick, shameless plug for my upcoming trainings. You can join me live at my 500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training in San Francisco, London, or Hong Kong. I also have three separate online teacher trainings, focusing on arm balances & inversions, sequencing, or anatomy.
I’ve spent many an evening, after a long, hard day doing these poses in our living room while family life happens around me. That might mean that my daughter is jumping on me, or that there’s an occasional sports newscast on in the background. My evening wind down practice isn’t pristine (and yours doesn’t have to be either), but I still find it incredibly helpful to spend a few minutes on self-care in the evening. It provides a buffer zone that helps me relax so that when it’s time for sleep, my mind isn’t buzzing and my body isn’t calling out for more attention.
The evening sequence focuses on stretching the hips, hamstrings, and shoulders – all areas that accumulate tension in daily life. You’ll notice that there are no Sun Salutations at the beginning of the sequence and that’s intentional. The idea is to gently nurture yourself by stretching, breathing, and tuning your awareness to your body and breath. This act of focusing on exactly what you’re doing in your body and breath will help slow down the momentum of your mind so that when it’s time to let go and sleep, it’s easier to do that.
Take 5-10 breaths in each pose and do each side before moving to the next. Rest, savor, and repeat as often this evening-sequence you can!
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{illustrations by MCKIBILLO}
Thank you as always for a wonderful sequence! It comes at a great time for me. I’m in the middle of marathon training and all of the time spent running has made it difficult for me to get to class. So I have been looking for a mellow flow just like this for at-home practice. Incorporating shoulder work is a great bonus as well, especially for runners who have the tendency to tense up like I do. Thanks again! 🙂
Hi Kathryn,
I’m glad this sequence works for you! Best of luck with your training! -Jason
Thank you Jason for this wonderful sequence…as a teacher I love being a student first and foremost especially with fantastic teachers like yourself, helps keep me inspired
Namaste
Betty
Thanks so much, Betty!
What a fabulous sequence. Thank you! Looking forward to attending your workshop in Florida at the YJ conference.
Thanks, Amy! Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Did this routine twice this week. Happy to have found it on Pinterest and just featured it in my bodyweight roundup.
Thank you!
That’s great, Johnny — thanks for letting me know. Hope it’s a great complement to your other workouts. Jason
Oh, thank you for this. I have been looking for just such a sequence for at home in the evening! Namaste
I was wondering about “stretching” without any kind of warm-up. I’ve recently become a bit confused on how this works with this type of yoga, which I used to do a lot of but now feel uncertain. Any thoughts?