Practicing yoga for sleep is about more than just hitting your mat and dimming the lights. Focusing on your inhalations and exhalations, aligning your breath with your movement, and taking yourself through a slower flow all support a restful state. But finding stillness in a thoughtful shape can also help your mind and body begin the transition from the waking world to slumberland, even if you have time for just one pose.

An array of research shows that yoga can help you fall asleep fast and enhance overall sleep quality, making the practice an effective choice should you struggle with winding down each night. And because restless nights accompany thoughts that refuse be silenced, finding stillness before you get into bed can help set you (and your monkey mind) up for more successful rest.

The following yoga poses are less about doing and more about being, bringing you one step closer to real rest.

Yoga for Sleep: 5 Poses for Better Rest

Restorative poses, inversions, and prone positions all encourage your entire being to release and reset.

1. Legs Up the Wall

(Photo: Andrew Clark)

A well-loved and accessible inversion, Legs Up the Walls calms your body down…and quickly. The restorative pose stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system, lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and (hopefully) any accompanying racing thoughts, inviting you to let your head hit the pillow unencumbered by the day’s ruminations.

2. Reclining Bound Angle Pose

(Photo: Andrew Clark)

With one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly, and a focus on your breath, this pose is rest embodied. Reclining Bound Angle Pose has just one relatively active element—soles of the feet together, knees splayed to either side—that delivers a satisfying hip stretch. Not only does this restorative have the potential to release some emotional stuckness, it also frees up any tightness accrued from a day spent sitting.

3. Standing Forward Bend

(Photo: Andrew Clark)

Allowing your head, neck, and upper body to dangle passively is a simple way to release tension from your day. Standing Forward Bend sends oxygenated blood to your brain, the inversion sending your head below your heart and inviting your nervous system to chill.

4. Happy Baby Pose

(Photo: Andrew Clark)

This mild inversion is all about release—the ideal ethos for a bedtime yoga pose. Happy Baby stretches your lower body, opens your hips, and functions as a DIY spinal massage. Once you’re in the pose, gently rock from side to side, allowing the floor to relax your lower back and, in turn, your brain.

5. Savasana

(Photo: Andrew Clark)

This one is kind of a no brainer, but taking some deep breaths in Savasana is pretty much practice for sleep. In fact, many yoga for sleep practices are designed to be done in bed, allowing you to end your practice and drift immediately off to dreamland.