Find a deep sleep with Yoga
Do you find yourself tossing and turning in the early hours of the morning? Or lying in bed staring at the ceiling just begging for sleep to come? Or checking the clock consistently hoping that you’ve not spent half the night awake? You’re not alone - insomnia and sleep troubles affect many of us and can creep up on us unannounced.
Insomnia or sleeplessness often stems from stress. When we’re stressed our mind becomes overactive making it hard to drift off. Then, being sleep deprived, we are more vulnerable to stress. It’s a vicious cycle and one that can be hard to break.
Introducing a short yoga sequence before bedtime can help you to break this stress cycle and settle into a night of deep shut eye.
Yoga for sleeplessness
A gentle yoga practice just before bed can help you to soothe your senses and quieten your mind preparing your body for sleep. The following poses are perfect for inducing relaxation, reducing overall fatigue and helping your entire body to let go of any stresses that it is hanging on to.
Supported butterfly pose
Setting up: lie down on the floor and bring the soles of your feet together letting your knees drop out wide. Lengthen your arms out either side of you and close your eyes.
Introduce props: you can place a pillow underneath your spine (length ways), some cushions underneath your knees if your hips are tight and place a blanket over you if your room is cold.
Elevated legs up the wall pose
Setting up: lie down on the floor with your tailbone close to a wall, elevate your legs and rest your heels against the wall, bring your arms out wide either side of you and close your eyes.
Introduce props: you can place a pillow underneath your tailbone, a cushion underneath your head and a blanket over you if your room is cold.
Supported seated angle pose
Setting up: find a seat and lengthen your legs out wide, slowly fold your way forwards and close your eyes.
Introduce props: place lots of pillows out in front of you and rest your forearms and head onto the pillows as you fold forwards.
Other dream-inducing tips
Much like a newborn baby a sleep routine can actually be really helpful in preparing our body for the night ahead and telling our mind that it’s time to switch off. Here’s a few rituals you can adopt to compliment your nighttime yoga practiceL
Take a warm bath with some relaxing essential oils
Avoid overstimulating activities after 7pm - don’t exercise, watch TV, listen to loud music or eat a big plate of dinner
Drink a cup of warm milk or sleep time tea before bedtime
Leave your phone out of the bedroom, this helps to signify that the bedroom is for sleep only, not for mindless scrolling
Sleep tight Yogis
Give this a try and see how your body and sleep cycle responds. If you want me to send you a full nighttime yoga sequence let me know - I have one on hand.
One last tip - if you do wake up in the middle of the night and you can’t get back to sleep - get out of bed. Associate your bed with sleep and not with insomnia. Once out of bed, even if it is 3am, practice some of the restorative yoga poses mentioned.