Snooze In Peace: Mastering The Art Of Yoga For Sleep With 5 Asanas

Habits like late-night scrolling, post-dinner snacking, or an irregular sleep cycle can lead to irritability and fatigue the following day. If you want to enjoy a truly peaceful sleep at night, bedtime yoga can help! Aditya Birla Health Insurance presents #YogaBAE or Yoga Before Anything Else, focusing on yoga for sleep as a part of our week-long campaign, creating awareness about yoga on and even after the International Day of Yoga.

What you need to know:

The science behind yoga for sleep
Benefits of bedtime yoga
What is Balasana
What is Supta Baddha Konasana
What is Viparita Karani
What is Supta Matsyendrasana
What is Savasana

Yoga for sleep comprises simple, calming poses that ensure relaxation for the body and mind. Today, Kamya Sidana, a certified yoga instructor, takes you through these poses, their steps and their benefits.

The science behind yoga for sleep

Given below is the science behind yoga for sleep –

Impact on stress hormones

Yoga plays a beneficial role in managing stress related mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. Regular practise of yoga supports physiological changes such as reducing your blood glucose, blood pressure and cortisol levels and improves your general well-being. Yoga reduces the levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) in your body.

Improving sleep quality

Yoga is a gentle and restorative way to wind down your day. It improves both how quickly people fall asleep and how deeply they stay asleep. This is partly due to the aftereffects of exercise and the mental calming and stress relief provided by yoga for sleep specifically.

Promoting relaxation

Yoga reduces stress and promotes relaxation. Yoga poses may help you release physical blockages like muscle knots, helping release emotions and tension. They also promote the release of mood-boosting endorphins. They are the feel-good hormones that can positively affect how you handle stress.

Benefits of bedtime yoga

Given below are a few benefits of doing yoga before bedtime which you all can benefit from –

Reduces anxiety and promotes calmness

Yoga may help to put your body in a calm state. Doing calming yoga poses may help you enter a lower state of arousal. This may cause you to have lower blood pressure and lower amounts of cortisol. A routine may help to alleviate stress-related concerns such as weight gain, anxiety, and insomnia.

Improves flexibility and blood circulation

Bedtime yoga improves flexibility by improving your stability. Improved flexibility can prevent you from getting injured. Slow deep stretching and mindful breathing before bed improves circulation which lowers blood pressure, helps prevent blood clots and balances out your energy levels. Healthy circulation also strengthens the immune system, detoxifies the body, and encourages cell regeneration.

May aid in falling asleep faster and experiencing deeper sleep

Good sleep is vital. Yoga is a natural alternative to pharmaceutical sleep aids. Bedtime yoga helps you to fall asleep quicker, sleep for longer, and go back to sleep after waking up at night. This improves your mood and makes you more productive during the day.

What is Balasana

Yoga for sleep - Balasana

Balasana, or the Child’s Pose, as the name suggests, consists of bending into a fetal position.

How to do Balasana?

Make sure your toes are pointing in the same direction when you kneel. Bend forward until your forehead touches the mat and your chest touches your thighs, then spread your knees until they align with your hips. Put your palms up on either side of your feet while keeping your arms straight. While taking deep breaths, maintain the posture for one minute.

Balasana benefits

This yoga pose helps calm the nervous system and reduce anxiety. Other benefits of balasana are as follows –

Relieves tension by stretching the lower back and hips
Promotes deep breathing and relaxation to prepare the body for sleep
Relieves fatigue and reduces stress, both physical and mental

What is Supta Baddha Konasana

Yoga for sleep - Supta Baddha Konasana

The Supta Baddha Konasana is a restorative yoga pose for sleeping and body realignment. Also known as the Reclined Bound Angle Pose, it helps end the day on a more relaxed note.

How to do Supta Baddha Konasana?

Lie on your back, bring the soles of your feet together and let your knees fall open to the sides. Gently recline and support yourself with props such as blankets or bolsters for comfort and relaxation. Breathe deeply and allow your body to release tension as you hold the pose for a few minutes.

Supta Baddha Konasana benefits

Doing this pose before sleep releases tension in the hip and groin area. Other benefits are as follows –

Activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which ensures deep relaxation
Reduces the signs and symptoms of mild depression and sleeplessness
Calms the mind, lowering stress and fostering serenity

What is Viparita Karani

Yoga for sleep - Virparita Karani

The Viparita Karani, sometimes called the Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose or the Inverted Lake Pose, is a minor inversion.

How to do Virparita Karani?

Sit close to a wall with one hip touching it, and place your hands slightly behind your hips. Slowly lean back, lowering your back to the floor while sweeping your legs up the wall. Bring your hips close to the wall and relax your legs. Rest with your arms by your sides for 3 minutes or more, enjoying the soothing benefits of this pose, often used for relaxation and to get good sleep. Optionally, you can use a folded blanket beneath your spine for extra support and comfort.

Virparita Karani benefits

You can rely on this pose for complete relaxation. Additional benefits of Viparita Karani are as follows –

Relieves stress

Promotes healthy blood circulation

Alleviates swollen and tired feet after long and strenuous days of standing or sitting

Balances the body’s energy

What is Supta Matsyendrasana

Yoga for sleep - Supta Matsyendrasana

Supta Matsyendrasana is a gentle spinal twist that lengthens and strengthens the spine while purifying the internal organs.

How to do Supta Matsyendrasana?

Lie on your back with arms outstretched. Extend your left leg and bend your right knee, hugging it into your chest. Exhale as you twist, crossing your right knee to the left side, keeping both shoulder blades grounded. Feel the stretch and hold for a few minutes. Return to the center and repeat on the left side.

Supta Matsyendrasana benefits

The simple stretch of this pose can have multiple benefits for the body. It can help you –

Relieve pressure on the lower back, hips, and spine
Experience relaxation by stretching and massaging the muscles along the spine
Eliminate any abdominal discomfort and enhances digestion
Relieve tension and anxiety by calming the neurological system
Increase the spine’s total flexibility and mobility

What is Savasana

Savasana, or the Corpse Pose, is another important practise in yoga for sleep. It is usually performed at the end of a yoga session for ultimate relaxation.

How to do Savasana?

Yoga for sleep - Savasana

All you have to do is lay on your back with your palms facing up and keep your arms close to your sides. As you breathe in and out while paying attention to your breath, let go of every tension in your body.

Savasana benefits

Choosing this pose for your yoga sleep routine can have multiple benefits, which include –

Complete relaxation and unwinding of the body and psyche
Lower heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension
Relieving fatigue, insomnia, anxiety and depression
Increased awareness of the mind-body connection and fostering tranquility

These are five simple asanas that have a positive impact on overall well-being and sleep quality. Make sure to take additional precautions like avoiding screen time before bed to make the most of your yoga for sleep sessions.

Disclaimer: In case you feel uneasy during any exercise/activity, please stop immediately. Do not strain yourself. Do the exercise/activity only if you feel comfortable and on the basis of your existing health conditions.

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