Go to sleep

October 2015

By Saraswati Vasudevan

Sleep is one of the biggest casualties of our speeded up and hypersensory lifestyles. Saraswati Vasudevan offers tips from yoga

When was the last time you woke up feeling fresh and rested?

If you have trouble going to sleep, yoga practice is an excellent therapy.

In yoga, sleep (nidra) is an important activity of the mind. When all other activities have ceased and the heavy energy of tamas takes over, nidra ensues.

When do you go to bed? Is it at least two hours after your dinner? Are you able to sleep within a few minutes or are you awake for more than 30 minutes? Do you wake up in the middle of the night? How often, and are you able to go back to sleep soon or not? How many hours do you need to sleep or stay in bed? Do you feel fresh when you wake up in the morning, or groggy and irritable? Do you tend to doze off during the day or have the need to take day naps?

There may be many reasons for sleep deprivation – illness, pain, ageing, stress, worries, excessive physical activity… Or what is more common nowadays – a sedentary lifestyle with a hyperactive mind that cannot switch off from the external world, especially social media and the resultant sensory overload!

Many of these known causes can be minimised or eliminated by modifying your food habits, lifestyle, with a little help from yoga.

If you have a physically active lifestyle, you will have to wind down your activities towards the evening. A relaxing evening practice with seated and lying postures with focus on long exhalation during asanas and pranayama will help the body and mind to relax.

If you have the sedentary lifestyle that most of us have, start the day with a rejuvenating morning practice. Dynamic asana sequences with conscious breath regulation, keeping inhalation equal to exhalation with a few seconds of breath retention after inhalation in postures, will help clear out tamasic energy.

An early evening practice which is again active with long inhalation and exhalation in a slow dynamic asana practice with a longer pause after exhalation, will shift the focus from mind to body and release stagnant energy. This can be followed by some seated and lying postures that involve staying with long inhalation, exhalation and retention after exhalation. This is best done before dinner.

Please avoid watching TV, using the computer, or checking your social networks late at night. Avoid arguments and discussions on sensitive issues at night.

Viparita Karani (half-shoulder stand) is an excellent posture for promoting relaxation and sleep. Here is a modification of the posture which anybody can do.

Place a few floor cushions against the wall and sit on the cushions one side of the body touching the wall. Turn around, lie down facing the wall with your hips on the cushions and head and chest down on the mat (use a small cushion for the neck and head if needed), stretch the legs up on the wall. Keep your arms open in the most relaxed position. You can inhale with a soft hissing sound in the throat (ujjayi) and exhale long and deep with a humming sound (bhramari) or chanting OM – keeping exhalation as long as possible. Stay in this posture for 10-20 breaths. You can do this even at bedtime about two hours post dinner.

About the author :  Saraswathi Vasudevan is a yoga therapist trainer in the tradition of Sri T Krishnamacharya. She specializes in adapting yoga to the individual. (www.yogavahini.com)

Source: Life Positive