Are you Insomniac? Do you spend the essential hours of sleep by working all night just because you have to or because it becomes challenging to sleep even after spending hours on the bed? It surely helps to do a lot of pending work, but when it occurs it may mess up badly with your health.
Insomnia is a severe sleeping disorder characterized by difficulty in falling asleep. It may affect you in your regular life with a feeling of tiredness or non-activeness but are you aware that yoga for insomnia can get you out of this nagging trouble?
Well, if you aren’t then you must be struggling on the internet to find the best remedies and treatments for insomnia. Out of the numerous medications and treatments that are available in the market, the choice is yours, to choose medications which may come with side effects or pick a healthy way with no side effect like this useful remedy of yoga for insomniacs.
Harvard Medical School conducted an American Insomnia Study on 7,428 respondents, and their collected data points out that about 27% of working women and 20% of working men complain of insomnia.
An estimated 83% of the U.S. population which suffers from depression shows the symptoms of insomnia and 80% of American women experience this sleeping disorder during pregnancy.
Why Should One Do Yoga for Insomnia?
Yoga for insomnia is one of the best options to treat your condition(1). The best thing about yoga is that it has no side effects and will help your bodies in the long run as well. Besides enhancing the flexibility of your body, yoga has multiple benefits.
[ Also Read: Natural Remedies for Treating Insomnia ]
Yoga Will Rejuvenate Your Body
- There are mainly two ways that the practice of yoga poses for insomnia(2) can revive your body. Yoga helps in the release of the harmful toxins which gets stored up in the organs and tissues.
- The breathing exercises and poses will increase the circulation of blood and oxygen all over the body.
Yoga Helps in Unwinding the Nervous System
- When you go to sleep, the hormonal levels may randomly change in your brain which decides the intensity of your sleeping.
- Yoga practices for insomnia can help in the processes as increasing blood flow to the central sleep center of the brain.
- The simulation glands which are responsible for releasing hormones that are essential for sleeping improve at great extents.
Yoga before Sleeping
- Doing yoga postures for insomnia before sleep can give you the power of self-discipline and responsibility.
- It will stop the release of the stress hormone and strike you off to bed.
[Read: Treat Insomnia with Acupuncture]
4 Yoga Poses for Insomniacs that can Help Induce Sleep
You can practice some poses of yoga for insomniacs. It just takes your full dedication and firm will power to practice yoga. The top four poses of yoga for insomnia as listed below:
1. Uttanasana
Uttanasana will help to calm your body along with reviving your body with energy.
How to do?
- Stand straight on the floor with feet firmly on the ground.
- Let your upper body loosen up.
- Exhale softly and soften your knees to bend slightly forward with hips raised upwards.
- Bend in a U-shape until your fingertips touch the ground.
- Your head must stay loose and look through your legs while holding the pose.
- Stay still in the position for about 30 seconds and repeat the process.
[Also Read: Teas That Help You Treat Insomnia]
2. Baddha Konasana
Baddha Konasana is popularly known as the butterfly pose. This pose will give stretch to your inner thighs, groin, and knees which helps in extreme relaxation and results in better sleep.
How to do?
- Sit erect on the floor while stretching your legs out.
- Breath out while pulling your heels towards your groin area.
- Press the sole of your feet together with knees touching the ground.
- Hold the thumbs of your feet with your index finger.
- Make sure to make your back erect and aligned with the ground and pelvis.
- Sit in the respective posture for few minutes and repeat the process.
3. Viparita Karani
The pose focuses on removing fatigue from the feet and hips and sends a fresh flow of blood to the brain. It may even relieve headaches and lead to a calm mind for better sleep.
How to do?
- Lay down straight on the floor near the wall. Straighten your legs and make sure that the back of your legs touch the wall forming an ‘L’ shape.
- Ensure to keep your hips away from the wall.
- Try to lift yourself upwards by giving the support with your hands on your hips.
- Make sure the hands and elbow make a 90-degree angle.
- Keep your neck and head in the same flat position.
- Keep your eyes closed and breath in a regular pattern.
- Hold the position for about five minutes and take a breath when you sit up.
[Also Read: Essential Oils to Cure Insomnia]
4. Shavasana
You must perform Shavasana after the end of every session. It is a must pose for the people who are doing yoga for insomnia. It helps in relaxing the whole body and system. Shavasana is very simple to perform.
How to do?
- Lie down on your back on a hard surface.
- Close your eyes and place your legs comfortably apart.
- Place your arms aligned to your body but slightly apart.
- Let the palm face upwards and open.
- Lay down in this posture for five to ten minutes and get back to your regular schedule.
NOTE: If you are wondering how long to hold yoga poses? know that is an alternative therapy- the more you do, the more benefits it yields.
Yoga Postures for Insomnia
Although yoga for insomnia is one of the best remedies to solve your issues, there are few exceptions to that also. Everything is good when it stays in a limited boundary. There are such boundaries in yoga as well that may make your problems difficult rather than solving them.
Insomniacs should not practice certain contraindicated poses in yoga for curing insomnia as it may aggravate the condition. You can either avoid them or modify and practicing them under expert guidance. They are-
- Boat Pose
- Bow Pose
- Extended side angle pose
- Half frog pose
- One-legged king pigeon pose
- Revolved side angle pose
- King pigeon pose
- Marichi’s pose
[Read: Cure Pregnancy Isomnia]
Do’s and Don’ts
Here is a list of the Do’s and Don’ts that is to be strictly followed up for your healthy lifestyle and treatment of insomnia:
Do’s
- Always practice yoga early in the morning for better results.
- Try to practice yoga before trying to sleep as it will calm your mind and help in your sleep.
- Always do yoga in a calm, green and soothing atmosphere as the environment plays a significant impact on the practice.
- It is recommended to stay hydrated as your body will work out and you need water to supply oxygen to your body.
Don’ts
- Inform your doctor about your yoga practice for insomnia.
- Always practice yoga in the presence of an expert to perform the poses appropriately, as wrong postures will not give out results.
- Avoid the poses which require intense bending and stretching of your body. You need to practice the calm poses which are focused on insomnia and not enhancing the flexibility of your body.
Yoga for Insomnia is one of the most important habits to develop. It will enhance your sleeping patterns and bring back to your regular daily schedule. The effect will be gradual. You cannot expect to get your sleeping patterns back to normal within a week. It takes a good amount of hard work and dedication to keep up with the schedule.
The result of your commitment will be rewarding. You don’t have to spend a fortune on the highly priced medicines and treatments. You can treat your insomnia yourself with such healthy practices. Yoga for treating insomnia is a great practice to calm your mind and body for your future as well as your present.
