A good night’s sleep equals a healthy and balanced life. We have heard about this countless times. However, when it comes to people struggling with insomnia, most of them can only daydream about enjoying this mystical good night’s sleep. If you are one of them, and you have tried lots of techniques without satisfying results, it’s time to give yoga a shot.
A Harvard Medical School Trusted Source study found that if you practice yoga on regular terms, you will improve your sleep efficiency, increase sleeping hours, and also lower the time it takes you to fall asleep. The poses you need to practice to get better sleep are the calm and restorative ones. Follow our suggestions and get yourself started today. You may be amazed at what yoga can do for your insomnia insomnia issues and your well-being in general. All you have to do is trust the process and be persistent in learning a couple of poses we have chosen for you.
- Forward Fold
This pose activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the system that slows down bodily processes. It will help you to release the tension from your body and fall asleep more easily. It engages the following muscles: latissimus dorsi, teres minor and major, erector spinae, gluteus Maximus, and hamstrings.
What you need to do: Stand upright with your feet hip-distance apart. Then, take a deep breath and raise your arms up and out for them to meet above your head. As you breathe out, pull your knees up along contracting the fronts of your thighs, and then just bend forward from the waist.
Let yourself sink in the stretch by breathing softly and seizing opposite elbows. Let your arms hang straight beneath your head. Take in 10 to 15 slow, deep breaths before you stand up. Be ready for sweet sleep to take over you.
- Child’s Pose
This pose focuses on stretching the hips, thighs, and ankles. In the meantime, it also stretches the back torso and gently relaxes the muscles of your front body. It is used to reduce stress, stimulate melatonin, and soothe your mind. It engages the latissimus dorsi muscles, lower back, shoulders, and hips.
What you need to do: Get yourself on all fours, and set your big toe side by side so they are touching, widen your knees to at least hip-width, and then sit back on your heels. As you exhale, put your torso down between the thighs. For greater comfort, you can widen your feet or lay a long, narrow cushion down between your legs to support your torso. Stay like this for at least 10 breaths. When you rise from it, do it while you inhale and use your hands to support you if you need them. Enjoy the treat of the dreams that follow this pose.
- Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose
The pose that we have here is completely passive, it is ideal to prepare your brain and body for sleep. It stretches the hamstrings and the neck, and the front of your torso.
What you need to do: Place yourself near a wall and sit parallel to the wall. Lie down with your feet on the ground, and with your knees bent. While resting on your lower back, lift your feet and softly swing your torso so it will be perpendicular to the wall. Locate your sitting bones up against the base of the wall and your legs up the wall. Make yourself comfortable by moving your torso and inching your lower back closer to the wall. Spread your legs up the wall. We recommend you put a cushion or folded blanket under your lower back while doing this. Relax your arms out to your sides at whatever angle feels best, palms up. Stay here as long as you want, breathing deeply and releasing the tension from your body.
Practicing these yoga poses will bring you instant results in falling asleep faster and enjoying more sleeping hours. If you do them every night before you go to sleep, you will witness an astoundingly positive effect in your sleep hygiene, and of course in your whole life. You will feel calmer, more relaxed and more energized.