The Yogic Mindset for Healthy Sleeping

By Sanjeev Patel, CYT 500

Sometimes, you have an issue that comes into your life and it's going to keep you awake, no matter how tired you are. My personal suggestion: practice yoga asanas and stop watching the news before you go to bed. The last time I watched the news before bedtime, I had the urge to throw my popcorn at the television. 

Now, Seriously Folks...

Getting a good sleep at night can be difficult for some people, and gentle or restorative yoga poses, can help alleviate insomnia. Through meditation and breathing exercises, yogic methods help in reducing stress and anxiety so you can relax more easily. If you have trouble sleeping, then yoga nidra, a deep relaxation technique, is something that you should try.

In yoga, there is really no single asana that can guarantee instant slumber. However, having a yogic mindset, in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle, is an effective sleep aide. With that said, incorporating asanas into your daily routine, can help you achieve a healthy sleep. It does not have to be intense, and it can be as simple as incorporating pranayama at work. It is also important to stretch your entire body during the day to release built up tension. This will help you to think more kindly thoughts about your boss. Having a yogic mindset means focusing on the present moment, while releasing the worries of the past and future. This can be learned by concentrating on your breathing, while performing covert asanas in your office.

Incorporating Yoga Before Bedtime

Professionals, who study sleeping and insomnia, believe that creating and sticking to bedtime rituals, signals your body to prepare for sleep. Including a few pranayama exercises, and easy asanas, are great ways to establish this routine. Yogic breathing exercises, and light stretching, will promote relaxation to get you ready for bedtime.

Some yogic methods that can be included into your bedtime routine are those that involve lying down on your bed. The ananda balasana (happy baby pose) is basically placing your feet up in the air with your knees bent. This helps in aligning and relieving tension within the lower back, while stretching the hamstrings. A great asana is viparita karani (legs up on the wall pose), which is lying down on your back while resting your legs up on a wall. This pose is not only gentle, but it also provides all the benefits of mild inversion. Another pose to try for bedtime is supta baddha konasana (supine bound angle pose). In this pose, you are lying flat on your back, while your legs are in a bound angle pose. 

Dirgha Pranayama

For night time breathing exercises, you can try dirgha pranayama (three-part breath). The three-part breath is a method to be used - especially when you have had a long and stressful day. It teaches you to focus on your breathing and clears your mind of the day’s stress triggers.

By having a yogic mindset, of focusing on the present moment and releasing the worries of the past and future, you can have a healthier sleeping pattern, and you'll never have to clean butter and popcorn off your television screen.

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