Shataghnee Chanda
Recent surveys have found that insomnia is prevalent in up to 30% of adults across the globe, and nearly 10% of the population suffer from chronic sleep issues. If nothing seems to have worked for you—no amount of counting sleep or drinking bedtime tea, so try this instead: yoga for insomnia.
At The One Liner, we actually recognized bringing to you holistic, science-backed solutions for everyday problems. Imagine this: you slip into bed, your mind cleared, your body relaxed, and drift off. That is what happens from merging yoga and mindfulness for sleep.
So, how can you practice yoga for insomnia and turn these sleepless nights into peaceful slumber? This guide will show you:
Say goodbye to tossing and turning from today onwards.
In this article, we will give the readers practical poses of yoga for insomnia. It will discuss how yoga helps with insomnia.
Yoga for insomnia seeks to alleviate as a whole the physical and mental factors responsible for sleep disturbance. The dual beauty of yoga is that it relaxes both the body and the mind. Most insomnia cases are triggered by stress, anxiety, or an overactive brain; thus, yoga achieves its cure through gentle movement, mindfulness, and breathing.
Yoga is one of the ancient tools that can enhance the inner connection, bringing one’s mind and body in tune with physicality as well as emotionality. Such realization comes with a deliberate awareness of stress’s triggers and mechanisms for producing relaxation. Therefore, through various poses, controlled breathing, and meditation, cortisol (stress hormones) would lower levels along with triggering the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is a vital component in relaxing the mind and preparing it for sleep.
Being present in the poses and focusing on the breath is what mindful yoga is all about. This tends to block out so much mental clutter, which is one of the most common reasons for sleepless nights. Mindfulness combined with yoga is positively supported in research to achieve the objectives of having improved quality of sleep and reduced sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep).
Among various yogic techniques, not every form of yoga brings relief from sleeplessness. While some like power yoga will energize both body and mind, gentle and restorative styles work better in pacifying your system. Here are some of the most helpful forms of yoga that you can try against insomnia:
Holding gentle yoga poses for extended time, usually supported by props such as bolsters, blankets, and straps, is restorative yoga. This works best to soothe your nervous system, induce the reduction of stress hormones, and relieve muscle tension.
Although not as active as normal yoga, restorative practice requires the body to be still and sometimes uses deep breathing to move the body into relaxation. Practicing restorative poses for about 10-15 minutes before bedtime reduces the noises in the mind and allows for settling into sleep.
Restorative yoga is the best yoga type that one can use to improve sleep quality. Age and fitness don’t matter; anybody can practice it.
Yoga Nidra, or Yogic Sleep, is a very strong form of guided meditation that takes you to the boundary of consciousness, or the thin line between waking and sleep. This in itself is a great technique for relieving the physical stress causing chronic insomnia symptoms, as well as mental stress.Â
You are told to lie in Savasana during a typical Yoga Nidra session while a teacher or tape guides you through a whole range of visualizations and body scans. Many practitioners say they feel that they have really rested when they do the practice, and others report falling asleep during or immediately after.
Yoga Nidra is one of the best ways of treating insomnia without using drugs and is said to help with better sleep and also builds emotional strength.
Gentle flow yoga involves slow movements, accompanied by slow breaths into and out of the body. It helps empty out tension built during the day as well as provides a meditative rhythm to prepare the mind and body for rest.
A gentle flow sequence typically would consist of at least six movements: shrugging the shoulders and head with Cat-Cow stretches, forward folds, and seated twists all to stretch and open up the body. That is psychologically and energetically healthy; unlike the other power and vigorous yoga practices, gentle flow will always calm your energy and not fire it up.
Gentle flow yoga can be practiced any time, but part of a nightly routine adds an element of transition that eases from the busyness of the day into the calmness of sleep.
Yin yoga is a practice of holding long stretches for several minutes at a time in order to target the body’s connective tissues. Breathing in slowly with the mind quietly creates a meditative space in which the body begins to release stress.Â
This has an effect on people who really have insomnia, primarily arising from the body’s tension or anxiety experiences; it gives them time to cool down mentally and physically. Most of the practices in yin yoga are more of opening up the hips and stretching the spine, both of which are wonderful in releasing tensions and improving circulation.
Incorporating Yin yoga into your evening can ultimately improve soothing effects while uplifting your body for restorative sleep.
For most pregnant women, overwhelming anxiety is insomnia. Prenatal yoga is that form of gentle exercise that prevents or relieves almost all physical discomfort and keeps one in a state of calming. It comprises some easy alternative asana postures, especially meant for normal pains accompanied by pregnancy.
Prenatal yoga focuses on mindful breathing; gentle stretches and strengthening poses are designed to accompany the body in pregnancy. Thus, practicing this asana session can even relieve the back pain, increase circulation, and ultimately increase psychological well-being—important ingredients for better sleep.
Notably, there are two or more poses that can prepare the body as well as the mind for relaxation sleep. These are perfect basic poses that are most conducive to doing within the bedroom.
This pose is going to be best for relaxing the lower back, improving circulation, and calming the nervous system.
This inversion helps the redirection of blood flow, soothing the body and quieting the mind; very natural for those sleepless nights.
Gentle stretching for the lower back and hips; child pose; it also helps to relax and ground.
It’s a restorative position that encourages deep inhalation and releases any built-up tension from the body.
It is a wonderful posture for releasing tension from the back and improving digestion, two very important factors in sleep.
This pose is a gentle spinal twist, helping relieve back pain and making the body more relaxed—an ideal practice for the night.
This is the consummate asana for rest! Savasana puts you in zen and invites that nice transition toward sleep.
Savasana will encourage full-bodied relaxation and give your mind the space to change its level of activity from working to restful mode. That’s really what makes the difference when it comes to quality of sleep.
Light on the hips and adductors, this gentle opening allows for some much-needed release of accumulated tension.
That is a reclined butterfly, which gives a sense of opening and absorbing freedom in the first line of unwinding before bed.
By practicing these yoga poses for insomnia daily, you can calm your nervous system and send the signal to the body that it’s time to rest.
You’ll not spend your nights struggling with insomnia. Now, with beginning yoga for insomnia into your sleep schedule, you not only focus on sleep issues but also build a lifestyle that includes relaxation and mindfulness. Whether it’s restorative poses, yoga nidra, or just simple breaths to relax, these could all help you unlock the restful sleep you deserve.
At The One Liner, we believe in giving you practical, natural solutions to better wellness. So get on with it and start tonight.
Insomnia does not have to roll your life: just pull out your yoga mat and take it back using yoga for insomnia.