A good night’s sleep is valuable for our overall health. Did you ever notice that when you are sick, you’d rather sleep and sleep? This is the body’s natural way of healing and repairing. Indeed, the role of sleep in maintaining the healthy functions of the body cannot be overemphasized. Some people are lucky and fall asleep as soon as they close their eyes. Some are less fortunate and toss and turn on their beds all night waiting for sleep to come.
Whatever kind of sleep difficulty you may be experiencing – yoga asanas and yoga meditation is very beneficial in achieving a restful slumber. Yoga asanas relieve muscle tension from stress and can also lessen common health problems that may interfere with your sleep, such as indigestion and any kind of body pain. Try to avoid intense poses that involve twisting and bending backward too close to your bedtime. These poses are invigorating rather than relaxing. Gentle forward bends will make you relax. As with any of your asana practice, proper breathing is of utmost importance. So breathe right during your asana practice and end your session with yoga nidra to fully experience the good effects of yoga asanas and pranayam to your sleep.
You can find many articles and studies on how to improve and sustain one’s sleep – from drinking warm milk and taking warm showers to taking an array of different drugs, whether natural sleeping pills or heavy sedatives. All these may help you sleep. However, most do not address the problem of a restless mind. A restless mind is one of the most common causes of insomnia. Unless we control and restrain our minds, it will jump from one thing to another, just like a monkey. A restless mind is very troublesome and will never give us rest. Just like our bodies need rest, our minds also need rest and we can do this through Yoga Sound Meditation.
By the regular practice of Yoga Sound Meditation, you can greatly reduce tension and stress and overcome anxiety, worry, and other disturbances of the mind.
So instead of letting your mind trouble you until the wee hours in the morning, I encourage you to do Yoga Sound Meditation. Once your mind is focused on the yoga sound, you’ll notice that you are able to finally fall asleep because your mind is no longer troubling you. You will feel at peace.
So say goodbye to sleepless nights and those sleeping pills by doing yoga.
