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The Calm Lab Podcast
Nervous system education for bodies that won't settle
Welcome to The Calm Lab — a podcast about nervous system regulation, trauma-informed healing, and what it actually takes to feel safe in your body.
Hosted by Kassandra, a trauma-informed yoga teacher and nervous system educator.
If you've ever felt like your body won't cooperate — like you know you should relax but you can't — this podcast is for you.
Each episode, we explore:
- Polyvagal theory and how your nervous system works
- Why trauma lives in the body (and how to release it)
- Vagal toning, breathwork, and somatic practices that actually work
- Conversations with therapists, somatic practitioners, and researchers
This isn't surface-level wellness advice. We go deep into the science and the practice of nervous system regulation.
Whether you're healing from trauma, managing chronic stress, or simply trying to sleep better, you're welcome here.
New episodes Bi-weekly Mondays.
Breathe. Move. Learn.
The Calm Lab by Namasté Your Life, LLC recommends that you consult your physician regarding the applicability of any recommendations and follow all safety instructions before beginning any exercise program. When participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, and assume all risk of injury to yourself.
The Calm Lab Podcast
Side-Lying Yoga in Bed When You're Too Tired to Stretch
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:)
Some nights you don't have it in you to stretch — so tonight you don't have to. This whole practice happens lying on your side, eyes closed, nothing to watch. Grab two pillows, get comfortable under the covers, and let my voice guide you through slow side-lying movement that ends right where you'll fall asleep.
We move gently through soft cat-cows, a supported twist, and rocking to release the hips on each side before settling into rest. Move as much or as little as your body wants.
This is a trauma-informed, somatic practice — slow enough to keep your nervous system in rest-and-digest, and gentle enough that you never push past what feels safe.
📥 Free 7-Day Nervous System Reset Protocol → thecalmlab.org/lead-collection
💛 14-Day Nervous System Reset Challenge → thecalmlab.org/challenges
📅 free 15-min 1-1 fit call → thecalmlab.org/book-online
breathe. move. learn. —kassandra
Please consult your physician before beginning any movement practice. Participate at your own risk.
About Kassandra:
Kassandra is a trauma-informed yoga teacher, breathwork guide, and Harvard-certified lifestyle & wellness coach who blends nervous system education with accessible mind–body practices to help people sleep better, ease anxiety, and feel grounded.
Links:
Rewire Your Nervous System in 7 Days (Free Guide)
The 14-Day Nervous System Reset
If The Calm Lab is helping your nervous system, the best way to support is to:
★ Rate and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
★ Share an episode with someone who needs it
★ Subscribe so you don't miss the next one
Thank you for being here. — Kassandra 🌿
The Calm Lab by ...
Hi friend, this is the Calm Lab Podcast. I'm Cassandra. Tonight's episode is Yoga in Bed. Gentle movement for when you have nothing left. Find your bed, keep the lamps soft. I'll walk you through it. This is audio only. You don't need to see anything. Just feel your body and follow along. Let's land. Hi, I'm Cassandra from the Calm Lab. Some nights you don't have it in you to stretch, so tonight you don't have to. Tonight's entire practice happens on your side. So when we are done, you can drift right off into sleep. Move as much or as little as your body wants. Let's settle in. You need two pillows or blankets for tonight's practice. Go ahead and come to lay down on one side. I'm going to start on my left side. So one head, one pillow is under your head, the other one is between the legs. And we're just going to come into a comfortable side-lying position. So get comfy, maybe tucking that pillow under your head, supporting your neck. The other pillow is between your knees. All right, and once you are comfortable, we are going to reach the right arm up, kind of opening up behind us, and then curling it in. So it's like a mini cat cow here. If you have any shoulder mobility issues, you don't need to use the arm. You can just keep it here on your ribs, and you're curling in toward the knees and then opening up. So find what feels good. Exhaling, closing in, and then inhaling, opening up. If you want to leave the right side open here, so knees are to the left, right shoulder is open, arm is open. Look over the right shoulder. Allowing the body to just sink into the bed. So you can open the hips kind of wide, you can be narrow, just notice what your body needs. Rocking left and right here, staying on the left side. Massaging the hip, the glute, the back, and the internal organs. You can hold behind the right thigh if that feels better. You can even hold on the outer edge of the right foot or heel. So just notice what variation feels best. And then try to get into your hip mobility by opening up wider. Keep the movement slow so our heart rate stays slow. We stay in the parasympathetic rest and digest branch of the nervous system. Then come back to center. Let's just hold here and we're going to press up just slightly in order to come up on our pillow. So press into the right hand, prop yourself up, pull your top pillow in toward your belly. The left hand is going to drape over. Sorry, the left arm is going to drape over the pillow. So we want it to kind of arch our spine a little bit here. And then again, if you have the shoulder mobility, reach the right arm up and over. You can even use the left hand to grab the right forearm, pulling and lengthening the right side body. You can always keep the right hand on the ribs or the side, the hip, whatever feels good. Allow your body to sink down into the bed. Just relax any muscles you're not using. You can also take the right hand behind the head like you're looking up at the stars and kind of opening the chest up toward the ceiling. We're just going to gently rock ourselves and right. You can also move the pillow back to being under your head, like we had it originally. Just a little rocking motion. Nice long and slow deep breathing here. And when this side feels complete, we're just going to transition onto the other side. So find stillness. Keep that pillow between your knees. Come on to your back. And then just switch over. So I'm now on my right side. Let's begin with the pillow under our head. So pillow stays between knees, pillow is under the head. Beautiful. All right. And let's just begin by doing our very, very delicate cat cows. So you can kind of open up the left shoulder, pull it back towards the bed, and then exhale, kind of curl in. You can take your arm opening up, looking over the left shoulder, exhaling, curling in, bringing the arm around. So this side might need something different than the first side. Just become aware of that. Noticing if you're gripping or holding any muscles tightly, release them down into the bed. Again, you can grab behind the left thigh, the shin, the left heel. We're just going to find a very gentle rocking motion. That might turn into opening up towards the left a little bit more. Finding some more range of motion. Eyes are closed, or the gaze is soft. If you want to find stillness, you can just drop the left shoulder down, look over the left shoulder. The leg can stay with you, or you can drop the leg down, stack the knees, and then open the left arm up to the left. Look over the left shoulder. Just a really beautiful supine twist. Letting the body sink even deeper. So exhaling, releasing, coming back to the right side, pressing into the left hand, pushing yourself up, bringing your pillow back towards the hip, draping the body over the pillow, stretching the left arm up and over. So again, use the right hand to grab onto the left forearm if that feels good. You might need to change the position of the pillow between the legs, that's okay too. And again, just playing with movement, opening and closing, bending the left arm, opening the chest up to the left, exhaling, curling yourself in. Whatever feels good. You can even bring the left hand to the left ribs and just rock here. Move the pillow and it's going to come back under your head. This is your final resting position. So let's snuggle down. Let's get a pillow between our legs or move it. Blanket on to cover us up. Just taking a few slow deep breaths. Releasing and relaxing down. Enjoy your rest. Be well. Thank you for being here today. If this episode landed, share it with someone who needs it. And if you want to go deeper, the free seven day nervous system reset is waiting for you at thecalmlab.org. Link is in the episode notes. I'm Cassandra. Breathe, move, learn.
