Practice Point #93 - Times of Day to Practice

I received a question from Jill Dobkin from India. Their question is...

I'm on medication for my heart, and getting up early is difficult for ne. I don't sleep well. Is there a way to do my practice not in the morning. I was doing the morning start for the 5 day kick start yoga but then I'm tired later. If my sleep was better I'd be more optimistic about an early morning start.

Thanks for your question and while it is quite specific I will answer it more generally so that others can also benefit from this question.

If you don't sleep well, I would focus on a practice before dinner that includes inversions and forward bends to help promote better sleep. Try this a few times a week for a couple of weeks.

While your sleep is not good, I would recommend that if you are attempting some kind of practice in the morning to just do supta baddhokonasa and Viparata dandasana over crossed bolsters or postures similar to theses as they will give you energy without using any to practice them.

Here is an example insomnia sequence to practice pre bed.