Evening Bed Mobility Flow for a Restful Sleep
An evening bed mobility flow can feel better than a massage. Seriously! When we’re going to bed, we don’t want to have stress, anxiety, or tension built into the body. That’s why I’ve created this mobility routine you can do on your bed (!!) for you to relax and fall asleep with ease.
The best part about bed mobility exercises is that you’re already in bed and you only need pillows! All it takes is a few little movements. You’re going to wake up feeling so refreshed because you won’t be sleeping with extra tension locked up all night long.
(Follow along with the video below!)
Cat-Cow
Come onto all fours on the bed just like you’re setting up for cat-cow on the mat. If you have some wrist problems you can modify this exercise by placing a pillow underneath your elbows and move through cat-cow that way.
While you practice cat-cow, you want to focus on slow movements while connecting breath to movement.
- Inhale as you lower the belly and open up the chest and shoulders
- exhale as you round the spine and lower the head and neck.
Do this practice five to ten times. Cat-cow helps to relax and decrease the tension that has gathered in your lower back and spine. This is especially great after sitting all day.
Cat Stretch
For this one, I like to use my body pillow but using a few regular pillows works just as well.
Place your forearms onto the pillow and release as you create a sway in the back. Hold here and imagine sinking into the bed. Take deep breaths and release with long exhales. Either breathing in and out through the nose or out through the mouth (like you’re blowing out a candle.)
If you have shoulder issues you can modify and place the pillow underneath your armpits and bend the arms at the elbow.
Cactus
This one is a great pose in the evening bed mobility flow for opening up the chest. If you spend a lot of your day typing on a keyboard, answering the phone, or doing a lot of active running around, you’ll start to gather a lot of tension in the chest area.
Again, I use my body pillow for this exercise but you can always roll up a couple of pillows so they’re lying long and you can rest your spine against them. Use enough pillows to support the back of your head!
Open your arms into a cactus position and relax into the pillows. The stacked pillows offer a little height so you can get into the pectoral muscles. And just breathe.
This is a great place to observe the breath. Is it riding high in the chest? Can you send it down to the lower ribcage? Start to notice how you’re breathing.
Angel stretches
(By the way, if you are struggling with any of these poses or just realize you want to be stretching more often, I offer an online course for improving your overall mobility called the Mobility Method.)
As we lie on our pillows, we’re going to reach the arms up and back (while still leaving them on the bed) and then bring them back down. Keeping everything relaxed and easy while continuing to breathe. Completely avoiding pain or tension here- this is all about relaxation! Do this for a couple of easy breaths.
Upper back stretch
Stack a few pillows under your upper back (or thoracic spine). Place your arms up and over your head, allowing the chest to open up.
Place a pillow underneath your head if it doesn’t feel comfortable to let it fall back onto the bed.
Place your focus on opening up the upper back and chest, releasing the thoughts about your lower back. Continue to breathe into the opening here and relax into the pillows.
Hip internal rotations
Once you get comfortable lying on your back (while maintaining this chest-opening position) you can begin to wiggle out the legs and get into some internal rotations. Gently rotate the hips and move the legs. Only focus on what feels good here- avoid any popping or cracking.
If your arms are starting to get tired above your head, feel free to bring them down toward your side. I can’t say it enough: this is all about relaxing and releasing tension. No effort here. Just find what feels good and breathe into it.
Getting into these upper body areas is important, especially if you’re working on a computer or sitting at a desk all day long. It’s so important that we open up and relax to reverse the tension we hold in these areas during the workday.
Hip external rotation
When you’re ready, place your left ankle on top of the right thigh (towards the knee) and relax into a modified sleeping pigeon position. This will gently open up your external rotators. You can press against the leg and rock side-to-side, not trying to stretch anything here just releasing tension from within the joint. Breathe into any areas where you might feel tension.
Stretching routine in bed: Butterfly Twist
Release the legs into butterfly position and hang out here for a moment as you continue to breathe.
Next, bring one knee over to the opposite side to get a back rotation stretch. Breathe into the side body as you focus on twisting from the rib cage. Stay in this position as long as you need to before switching to the other side.
Final pose in your evening bed mobility flow
Move your pillow(s) and place them underneath your knees. Place another pillow underneath your head and shoulders. What we’re going for here is alignment from the neck (in the glottis area) down the chest, through the sternum, which then naturally drops over the pelvis. If the chin is coming too far forward then you’re out of alignment. That’s why you want to place the pillow just underneath the shoulders so it supports the head while keeping everything aligned.
Deep breathing for sleep
I challenge you to stay here for five minutes!
Take this next five minutes to connect with the breath. Relaxing back into the body as you observe your breathing.
Follow these stretches in order, modifying when necessary, and give this bedtime stretching routine a try for a full week. I promise you’re going to feel so good.
Giving yourself this time and attention at night, right before you go to sleep, is so valuable. Especially if you’re working all day or running around with the kids; you don’t get a lot of time to be yourself and be with yourself. Take this time to come back to your own self, your own healing, your own release.
Take your mobility a step further with my free challenge, Create Your Own Flow. In only 7 days you can learn how to create a mobility flow that works for your unique body!
