Yoga helps better sleep.
Practicing yoga is an excellent remedy for deep, refreshing sleep. There are many reasons for this. They are among the various benefits of the discipline.
It contributes to relaxing and relaxing the accumulated physical, mental and emotional tensions.
It improves breathing and vital energy, the prana. According to a 2012 survey by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, more than 55 percent of the people who practiced yoga before going to bed said they had slept better.
Moreover, more than 85% of participants said that yoga has contributed to reducing stress.
This is mainly because, unlike race, HIIT, or other high-intensity training, yoga calms the mind and body, making it easier for both to relax completely.
How to practice before going to bed
These positions, in particular, contribute effectively to freeing the mind from daily worries and anxieties and the body from accumulated fatigue and muscle contractions. It’s good to keep the position, though difficult, for at least five minutes before changing it. Practice these positions directly on your bed and comfortably in your pajamas (it does not involve sweating but also relaxation).
Yoga positions before sleeping
Sukahasana
The position is particularly simple, to keep on the bed before sleep.
- Keep the spine straight and the body stable and relaxed; put your hands on your knees with your palms up.
- Breathe naturally, standing still and relaxed.
- Free your thoughts from your mind.
Salabhasana
This is a simpler variant of the location of the locust. Salabhasana is an energetic asana, strengthens her back and makes the diaphragm work. It may seem tiring, but it helps to relax musculature and improve digestion.
- Lie down on your belly with a pillow below, from your chest to your pube.
- Wrap your hands behind your back, stretching them to your feet.
- As you breathe in, press the pobe towards the pillow and stretch forward and up, from the chest and head, and back with your legs, holding the neck of the feet pressed on the mattress.
- Breathe deeply and slowly during position.
Supta Baddha Konasana
It helps to achieve deep relaxation of body and mind. It is an asana that helps stretch and decontract the lumbar area and abdomen, opens the chest and hips, stretches the thighs, and improves circulation.
- Place one or two pillows from the bottom and under the head.
- Join the foot plants without pressing them and relaxing their knees outwards.
- Lay your arms down your body with your palms facing up.
- Breathe deeply and slowly.
Balasana
Also known as a folded leaf position or as a variant of the child’s position, it helps to melt the heaviness in the back, shoulders, and head—ideal for solving body and mental tensions.
- Position on your knees, sitting on the heels, with your knees slightly detached.
- Put a pillow between the legs.
- Lengthen forward with your chest, forehead, or cheek on your pillow.
- Relax your arms along your hips with your palms up.
Viparita Karani
This yoga position is one of the most appropriate for favoring sleep and better sleeping. Helps relieve lumbar pain, gently stretches back muscles of the thigh. The more you practice this position and the closer you can reach the hips to the wall, the more your muscles will stretch.
Promote the relaxation of the pelvic floor; It softens the feet and legs contracted and helps release any tension that might have been caused by the seated and/or standing position all day.
It also helps reduce stress, anxiety, and insomnia, thereby creating a therapeutic environment and allowing you to fall asleep more easily on a better night’s sleep.
- Sit down with the left side against a wall. The lower part of the back should rest on a pillow.
- Slightly turn the body to the left and put the legs on the wall. Use your hands to maintain balance as you move the weight.
- Lower your back to the ground and lie down. Place your shoulders and head on the floor (or on the mattress if you do it in bed).
- Move the weight side to side and move the sacred bone to the wall.
- Leave your arms open along your hips, with your palms facing up.
- Let the bones of the thigh release and relax towards the back of the pelvis.
- Close your eyes and try to stay in this position from 5 to 10 minutes, inhaling and exhaling through your nose.
Jathara Parivartanasana
This position is a good ally against insomnia because it stimulates the nervous system responsible for calm. It relaxes the shoulders and the lower part of the back from the accumulated tension, improves digestion, massages the intervertebral disks, and opens the breathing. Here’s the folded-legged variant to get the same effect, but more relaxed.
- Lie down on your back and put your knees to your chest, open your arms to the cross at shoulder height with your palms up.
- Turn the knees to the right with your right hand, while the other hand remains where it was. Keep your shoulders relaxed, open, and in contact with your mattress and, if you can, turn your head in the opposite direction to your knees.
- Breathe deeply and enjoy the feeling of openness and relaxation. Then go back to the center gently and repeat on the other side.
It may also be useful to practice some stretching exercises before going to bed.
Yoga can be added to the strategies indicated to improve memory.