An evening wind-down ritual: 20 minutes with a mat, breath and scent

An evening wind-down ritual is a short, always identical sequence at the end of the day: preparing the space and scent, a few gentle yoga poses, a few minutes of calm breathing and warm water. It takes about twenty minutes. It is not a workout but a clear signal to the body that the day is over.

Preparation (3 minutes)

Switch off the ceiling light and keep one warm lamp. Leave your phone in another room. Roll out the mat and put a bolster or folded blanket beside it. Light incense in a non-flammable holder by an open window — or if you prefer no smoke, two sprays of room mist or turn the diffuser reeds. On Bali, incense smoke carries the daily canang sari offering upwards; here let it simply open the evening.

Five gentle poses (10 minutes)

1. 1.Child’s pose — knees wide, forehead on the mat or on a block, arms stretched forward. Ten breaths.
2. 2.Cat and cow — on all fours, gently down on the in-breath, up on the out-breath. Eight slow rounds.
3. 3.Seated forward fold — legs in front, knees may bend, a strap around the feet if the hands do not reach. Ten breaths.
4. 4.Supine twist — on your back, knees drop to one side, head to the other. Eight breaths each side.
5. 5.Legs up the wall — lying down, hips by the wall, legs resting vertically, a bolster under the sacrum. Three minutes.

Breath (5 minutes)

Sit on a cushion or stay lying down. Breathe in through the nose counting to four, breathe out counting to six. An out-breath longer than the in-breath is the simplest way to slow down. If counting gets in the way, just watch the air coming in and going out. Finish with three ordinary breaths.

Closing: warm water

Put out the incense and air the room. If you have a bath, a warm soak with a bath bomb extends the calm; if a shower, coconut soap and warm rather than hot water. Then straight to bed. Repetition matters most: the same order every evening quickly becomes a signal the body waits for.

If you have an injury, back pain or are pregnant, choose the poses with a teacher. The mat, bolster and strap are in the Yoga section, incense under incense, diffusers and mists under scents, and soap and bath bombs under cosmetics.