Using yoga for insomnia can be one of the most practical applications that there is for this healing form of exercise. You can often successfully relieve insomnia with a well planned daily yoga session. Many of our most common sleep issues are actually related to stress, rather than an actual physical problem. Of course, certain medications can also help keep you awake well into the night. Fortunately, using yoga for insomnia can be an easy way to help you settle down after a long day of stressful activities and get a calm and relaxed night of sleep.
Yoga offers natural insomnia relief through its well known ability to help you center. You can really get in touch with the spiritual side of your life through the practice and discipline of yoga. Because you are using the natural state of the mind-body-spirit connection to help you work toward well rested nights, you are most likely going to be able to tune into your body’s needs more effectively. Listening to your body is a great way to get started.
Yoga is soothing and helps to keep you naturally calm. This can help put you in touch with the sleep center of your brain, naturally aiding sleep. The calmer you are, the less likely you will be to lie at night tossing and turning with worry. Being able to let go of the stress and frantic pace of the day will guide you peacefully to sleep once you learn how to settle yourself with a soothing yoga practice.
Yoga poses for insomnia are good for creating a strong flow of blood to the central nervous system as well as the brain. This will enhance the brain’s ability to rest, especially as increased blood flow enters the sleep center. Teaching your body to return to a regular schedule of sleep instead of lying awake is easier if you keep a regular routine. Veering too far off your normal bedtime schedule can complicate matters. While every individual sleep cycle is a little bit different, you can assume that yours will need consistency.
Plan your yoga time wisely, especially when considering what time of day is likely to work best. Since yoga will naturally release endorphins, which are not conducive to sleeping, you’ll want ample time for allowing the calm and self nurtured feeling to prevail over the rush of endorphins. There are some specific yoga poses for insomnia that don’t have to be paced so far from going to bed. In fact, you can perform these three poses while you’re lying in bed for the night as part of your calming and relaxation period.
The type of yoga poses known as hip openers have a particularly soothing and settling effect, and therefore are well suited as natural remedies for insomnia. These include Happy Baby’s pose and resting Pigeon pose; Child’s pose is another pose that is great for releasing stress and getting ready for sleep. The lower back, the hips, and the groin all get a chance to relax with these poses. The relaxation naturally aids sleep.
The best pose to practice right before bed is the Corpse pose. This pose provides natural insomnia relief, because it allows you to consciously release tension from muscle groups. You simply walk through the muscles that you want to encourage to let go of stress, and of course get rid of a lot of the tension that you carry in your muscles. This can make using yoga for insomnia very effective and well worth the additional investment of time or money.
For more information on yoga for sleep problems, try YogaTherapyWeb.com, which has articles about about yoga for insomnia and great online yoga downloads for better sleep
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