63. Should you lower your cortisol before bed?

😴 I love Yoga Nidra! Join my free 7-day Yoga Nidra challenge, starting 19 October. A different guided practice each day, in your own time. Save your spot here  \--- Cortisol is a baddy of the wellness world. "Lower your cortisol… Balance your cortisol… Avoid foods that spike your cortisol." But cortisol isn't simply a "stress hormone" that we need to get rid of. It's an essential hormone involved in energy availability, metabolism, immune and inflammatory activity, and it follows its own daily circadian rhythm. So what *should* cortisol be doing at bedtime? And if you're lying awake at 1am with a racing mind, does that mean your cortisol is 'too high'? In this episode, we'll explore: - what cortisol actually is and what the HPA axis has to do with it - why high cortisol isn't automatically a sign that something is wrong - the natural daily rhythm of cortisol - fascinating newer research suggesting that the morning rise in cortisol begins **before we wake up** - why cortisol would normally be lower towards bedtime - what disrupted cortisol rhythms may have to do with sleep - why trying to "control your cortisol" can be an unhelpful way to approach sleep - how yoga can help create a deliberate transition from **doing to resting** Rather than being a health metric measure (or worry about), I want to take some of the pressure off - if better sleep is the goal, you don't need to lie in bed wondering whether you've successfully lowered your cortisol. Instead, you can work with your brain and body to tell them: **The day is over. I don't need to keep doing. It's time to rest.** 💤 💤💤 **Try the free sleep practice** If you'd like some help doing exactly that, try Sleep Deeply Tonight: A Bedtime Nervous System Reset. It's a long sleep practice designed to be played when you're already tucked up in bed. I'll guide you through breathing, body awareness and nervous system relaxation, and there's absolutely no need to stay awake until the end. Listen here. Simply get snuggled up, press play and let me do the rest. \--- 💤 free challenge: 7 days of yoga nidra I love Yoga Nidra! Come and practise it with me for seven days. Each day, I'll send you a guided Yoga Nidra to practise - different lengths, different focuses, different intentions. You don't need to know anything about Yoga Nidra, nor be "good at meditation", you don't even need to be able to clear your mind! You just need to get comfortable and let me guide you. 🗓️ starts mon 19 October  💻 online & self-paced 😴 save your spot here \--- **👋 work with me** 💛 **1:1 therapeutic yoga** Personalised support for anxiety, sleep issues, stress or back pain. Take a look here   🌻 **therapeutic workshops and retreats** Small, supportive sessions focused on anxiety, deep rest or back health, blending yoga, breathwork and evidence-based education. Come join us here    🦋 **vinyasa flow 200 hour yoga teacher training** A welcoming, practical, neuroscience-informed training for people who want to teach yoga, or just learn more about it. Dive in, ...