Yoga Therapy for Insomnia

By Faye Martins

In today's charged up, plugged in, needed-it-yesterday world, it's no wonder insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders, affecting, at least, half of all adults at some point in their lives. We need sleep for our bodies to repair themselves, and for our minds to sort out the details of the day in preparation for the next. 

Health Problems

The inability to sleep well, or sometimes even at all, can also lead to high blood pressure, weight gain, and heart disease among other conditions. Some people experience a variety of mental and emotional problems due to sleep deprivation. Needless to say, driving, working, and thinking are impaired by lack of sleep. Medications are often only a temporary solution for relieving symptoms, but not the underlying cause, and many can have some nasty repercussions. Treating insomnia with yoga, however, is not only effective, but has been shown to have pleasant and positive side effects.

Yoga Therapy's Approach

Yoga therapy focuses on a person's well-being at all levels: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. It alleviates stress by quieting the mind and relieves tension with gentle stretching and restorative poses, often increasing blood flow to the sleep center of the brain, helping to regulate the sleep cycle. 

Recent Studies About Yoga and Sleep Cycles

A 2004 study by Harvard Medical School in Boston found that daily asana practice actually improved the quality of sleep, including total sleep time, and onset latency (the time it takes to fall asleep. Another study, conducted between 2006 and 2009 by the University of Rochester Medical Center, linked yoga therapy to better sleep quality, lessened fatigue, and reduced use of sleep medications in cancer patients.

Solutions

The next time you sleep eludes you, try some calming breathing techniques, or pranayama, and follow with a few gentle poses to help your body relax and prepare for rest. Suggested poses include Balasana, which is pictured in the upper-left section of this page. This extended variation releases tension in the arms shoulders, chest, stomach, and back.

Other postures to practice are Uttanasana, a deep forward bend in which you simply "hang" from your hips for several deep breaths, Viparita Karani, an "inversion" style asana in which you lie on your back with your legs supported by the wall, and perhaps the most calming pose of all, Shavasana, or the Corpse pose. You can perform this simple pose in bed to unwind from the day and help yourself drift off to sleep. Lie on your back, noticing, tensing, and relaxing each part of your body in turn, emptying your mind of competing thoughts, and eventually entering a state of deep relaxation.

Yoga therapy is certainly highly beneficial and can lead to a state of quality sleep, deeper and more restorative. Your mind, body, and soul will thank you for making Yoga techniques a regular part of your life.

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see find out more about yoga or to see our selection of affordable courses, including our online 500 hour yoga teacher training intensive program, please use the yoga resources on the right side of this page.

If you are a teacher, yoga studio manager, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is. Namaste!

A World of Infinite Opportunities

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Many people feel that there is a limited amount of abundance, wealth, or chances to succeed in life. Further more, there is a solid belief that, if one person succeeds, another must fail. This might sometimes be true in a small company or school, where opportunity is limited, by management or the structure of an organization. 

However, the world is a big place and there are opportunities created from ideas, that help people, and no one gets hurt in the process. Below are two examples of success that have not taken anything away from anyone.

Danny Thomas: With his promise, prayers, and vision, for St. Jude’s Hospital, he received the help of friends within the Arab-American community, to build a fantastic charity. Some of us also believe he received divine help – I know, I do.

There is much more to this story, but what did this hospital or charity take away from anyone. Are the children who recover from cancer living proof that this idea and prosperity is for the pure benefit of mankind? There is no one who is hurt by this and Marlo Thomas has picked up where her father left off.

Yoga teachers: Many unfulfilled members of the work force have left their jobs to teach the benefits of Yoga to the masses. They teach their students to enjoy life, deal with stress, breathe properly, improve their posture, become aware of their bodies, and many more benefits.

Most Yoga teachers believe, that all of the great Yoga jobs are in health clubs, ashrams, and Yoga studios. Not so, in my book “How to Grow Your Own Successful Yoga Business,” I mention 16 ways to start up with little or no overhead.

Within the first chapter, there are Yoga teaching opportunities that currently exist with little or no competition. Yoga teachers who have taken this advice have become successful and prosperous. Do these jobs take food away from anyone? When someone starts a business do they take food away from another competitor?

If you believe your competition is your problem, it will be. This is limited thinking and you have to learn to think “outside the box,” to be successful in life. This is why you need to take a mandatory vacation and get fresh ideas. This is why you should take a notebook with you. I still prefer the “old fashioned,” spiral bound notebook, with a pen in hand.

Getting back to your competitors: Don’t waste time on bad thoughts. You can easily co-exist in harmony with them, become friends, and learn from them. There is enough opportunity for everyone. This should be your mantra: Observe other studios and teacher, learn from their mistakes, and when possible, copy their success.

Everyone has a niche, make sure you cultivate yours, and develop your own identity, in life. Always remember, the sky is the limit and you are only restrained by your own thoughts.

© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

To see find out more about yoga or to see our selection of affordable courses, including our online 500 hour yoga teacher training intensive program, please use the yoga resources on the right side of this page.

If you are a teacher, yoga studio manager, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is. Namaste!