Dos & Don'ts of Late Night Yoga

A couple weeks ago I posted about insomniac yoga, and evening yoga seemed like a new idea to many of you so I thought I should post a bit on the Dos and Don'ts of doing yoga at night.

Do:

• Forward Bends
• Shoulderstand, Plow pose, Legs up the Wall (cooling inversions)
• Restorative postures (floor work in general is good)
• Light Twists
• Neck Rolls - or any stretches that ease neck/shoulder tension
• Wear layers
• Meditate
• Keep the lights low (think candles)

Don't:

• Backbends - they're  super energizing. If you want to be wired into the wee hours of the night - go ahead.
• Warrior Poses (if you have some serious energy to burn this may work for you, otherwise stay away from big energizing standing poses)
• Ashtanga - if there's a lot of jumping in your evening practice - you're way off base.
• Get Naked - an evening practice should be very cooling, so unless your home is amazingly warm - wear layers to avoid getting cold.
• Practice for a long time - keep it to maybe 30 minutes to avoid waking up too much.
• Turn on every light in the house - too bright is too stimulating.
• Negate the whole thing by promptly watching TV afterwards. Try to actually go to bed.