I Swapped My Bedtime Scroll for 10 Minutes of Yoga - And I Can't Believe How Different I Feel
Confessions of a late-night scroller...
Fine, I'll admit it: I’m a serial night-time scroller. TikTok, Instagram, even a last-minute peek at my emails - I’ve long told myself that pre-bed phone time is my way to "unwind." Dare I say it, I look forward to it. There’s something oddly comforting about ending the day cocooned in bed, succumbing to the addictive pull of social media. But in reality, I’m flooding my brain with blue light and algorithm-fuelled noise. No wonder I’ve been feeling wired and worn out.
The numbers paint a similar picture: a 2020 report found that 73% of adults admit to scrolling their phones within 30 minutes of bedtime, while studies link this habit to disrupted melatonin production and increased sleep latency (that’s the time it takes to drift off).
But I’d already seen how transformative ditching my phone could be. A few months ago, I swapped my morning scroll for a gentle yoga flow and noticed a tangible shift - clearer head, calmer energy, less of that frantic need to “catch up” before my day had even begun. So why not try the same thing at night?
Enter, my 10-minute pre-bed yoga challenge. A 2025 review in Frontiers in Neurology reported sleep quality gains of up to 16% after short, regular evening practices. So, could it help me? I was about to find out.
To guide me, I called on Nancy Trueman, sound practitioner and founder of True North Studio in London, and Eloise Skinner, author and yoga instructor at Third Space London. Both are firm believers in yoga as a nightly reset.
New to yoga? Don't miss our guides to yoga for beginners, the best specific yoga poses for beginners before your first class or our favourite Yoga with Adriene classes. Eager to explore the different types of yoga? Our guides on yoga for flexibility, yoga for core, and yoga for energy will come in handy, here.
Pre-Bed Yoga Promises to Boost Relaxation and Sleep Quality - So I Gave It a Go
What exactly is pre-bed yoga?
Unlike the dynamic vinyasa flows you might do in a sweaty studio, pre-bed yoga is intentionally slow, grounding, and floor-based.
"Restorative yoga postures are ideal before bed because they calm the nervous system and release tension," Trueman tells me. "Shapes like Legs Up the Wall, Reclined Bound Angle, and Supported Child’s Pose shift us into the parasympathetic "rest-and-digest" state - exactly where we need to be for deep, quality sleep."
Skinner adds: "Anything steady and close to the ground works well. Being supported by the floor can help you feel centred, while slower movements prepare both your mind and body for rest."
Why bother? The benefits of pre-bed yoga
Scrolling TikTok before bed is basically overstimulation on steroids - the exact opposite of what your brain needs before rest. Pre-bed yoga doesn’t just help you relax, but it can actually counteract our high cortisol levels, which are spiked by endless screen time.
"Even just ten minutes of gentle yoga pulls us out of the inner noise stirred up by screens," Trueman says. "Scrolling stimulates the brain and often activates stress responses, whereas yoga encourages stillness, grounding, and a natural slowing of the breath."
Who is pre-bed yoga best for?
"Pretty much anyone," Skinner tells me. "If you spend your evenings tethered to your phone or racing through Netflix, ten minutes of yoga can feel transformative. It’s less about flexibility and more about allowing the body to settle."
Is pre-bed yoga recommended?
Both experts agree it’s best to find a rhythm that works for you. While I focused on a 10-minute routine, Trueman told me: “Ideally, aim to practice between 30 to 60 minutes before bed, with devices off and the room calm."
She added: "Practising right before bed is fine as long as you’re not feeling rushed, yoga shouldn’t feel like another task to tick off before sleep."
Which pre-bed yoga flow should I try?
While there are loads of free to stream videos online, I went with my own tailored flow to suit my own needs.
I’d begin with Legs Up the Wall, letting the day drain out of my legs while focusing on my breath. From there, I’d shift into a gentle Reclined Butterfly, opening up my hips and allowing my chest to soften. A Supported Child’s Pose followed, sinking me further into relaxation, before a slow Reclined Twist released the tension in my spine. I’d finish with a minute of Happy Baby, gently rocking side to side, and close with Savasana, using box breathing to settle my mind.
If you need more guidance, you could follow the pre-bed yoga flow, below.
I practiced 10 minutes of pre-bed yoga every night for a week - my honest take
Days One to Three
Night one, I felt reluctant. I had to physically leave my phone in another room to avoid falling into my usual rabbit hole. But once I started, something shifted. Trueman’s recommended poses (Legs Up the Wall, a gentle Reclined Twist, and Supported Child’s Pose) were surprisingly soothing. I ended each mini-session with a few minutes of Savasana, practising box breathing: inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4.
By day three, I noticed the biggest difference: my brain wasn’t whirring while I tried to drift off. The usual overthinking reel of "did I reply to that email?" and "why did I say that in 2012?" just… didn’t start.
According to my Oura ring, my sleep latency dropped to just a few minutes, down from my usual 20 to 30. That was a shock in the best way.
Days four to seven
By midweek, I felt comfortable enough to experiment. I added Skinner’s favourites - Happy Baby Pose to stretch my hips and Reclining Butterfly, propped up with cushions. "Our hips, back, and shoulders hold so much tension from the day," she told me. "Gentle, floor-based stretches can make a huge difference."
I also tried her embodied breath practice - simply noticing the sensation of each inhale and exhale. It felt almost meditative. By day six, the change was undeniable: I was falling asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow, and my Oura ring showed consistently lower latency and longer deep sleep phases.
As I woke up on day seven, which, dear reader, happens to be the morning I'm finishing writing this article, my productivity battery feels fuller than ever, almost like my brain has been on charge all night and I'm ready to take on a fresh week.
Pre-bed yoga? My honest verdict
I’d love to sit here and pretend I'm going to keep this up forever, but from one chronically online girl to another - there’s nothing quite like that pre-sleep social media fix. Still, will I try to limit my evening scrolls to one or two nights a week and make a conscious effort to roll out my mat the others? Absolutely.
And as I fire off these words first thing in the morning, bursting with productivity and zero brain fog, I can’t help but think it was worth every single minute.
As Trueman puts it: "Yoga isn’t about doing more, it’s about slowing down enough for your body to catch up. That’s where the magic happens."
Skinner’s advice sticks, too: "The smallest shift in attention, from outward distraction to inward presence, can transform your entire night."
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What are the best yoga poses to do before bed?
The best yoga poses before bed are gentle, restorative, and floor-based, helping calm the nervous system and prepare your body for deep rest.
