5 Super Quick Yoga Routines And Poses For Better Sleep And Why You Need Them (With Video)
akhila pemmasani An avid fashion, wellness, and fitness enthusiast, I love everything about Life and living. Adventure sports, art and craft, animals and nature, people and cultures, traveling and history, languages and literature, baking and fine dining, its all in there!Yoga is one of the primary growing interests in my life, and I'd love to share my journey and growing passion for it by writing about what I've felt and learned.
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Get ready to face any day with these five basic yoga workouts and poses that induce restful sleep to revitalize the body, mind, and soul!
Human beings spend 33% of their lives sleeping, and if this activity were to decide the quality of life in the modern world, the quality index would be dismal indeed!
Tremendous amounts of stress and anxiety riddle our lives apart from the multitudinous physical ailments that torment us in our hectic lifestyles. This leads to very poor quality of sleep or sleep deprivation altogether, and most of us end up getting much less than the required eight hours of sleep every night.
Women are especially affected by the lack of sleep, as recent scientific studies show that they need to rest more than their male counterparts – at least 20 more minutes, according to Britain’s leading sleep expert, Professor Jim Horne, who is also the Director of the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University, UK (1).
Effects Of Lack Of Sleep
Major side effects of lack of enough rest or sleep deprivation include:
Physical Effects
- Heightened levels of stress
- Weakened immunity
- Weight gain
- Diabetes
- Chronic heart disease
- Stroke
- Rapid Aging
Mental Effects
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Hallucinations
- Moodiness
- Memory problems
- Impaired cognitive ability
Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Let’s Find Out!
So, now that you know what the harmful effects are in the long run, you need to determine if you are suffering from sleep deprivation already and take action.
Here’s how – Take this questionnaire, and if the answer is ‘yes’ to more than three of these questions, you are suffering from lack of sleep! But don’t worry, we’ll tell you how to remedy that as well.
Let’s get started…
- Do you wake up feeling tired?
- Are you more irritable than you used to be with every little thing bothering you more than usual?
- Do you have difficulty falling asleep?
- Do you wake up often during the night?
- Do you find it difficult to get back to sleep after waking up during the night?
- Do you sleep less than 7 to 8 hours each night?
- Do you forget phone numbers and other things which you never once seemed to forget before?
- Do you have trouble learning new things lately?
- Are you more susceptible to colds, fevers, and infections than you used to be?
- Do you have trouble concentrating and struggle to stay focused for more than 5 minutes?
- Do you frequently have blurry vision?
- Do you feel tired and tend to fall asleep quickly while reading a book, resting or lying down on the sofa or watching television?
How did you fare? Do you get enough sleep?
Read on to find out how Yoga can help you solve your sleeping woes…
Sleep Science And Yoga
Yoga and Sleep have been proven to be connected via scientific research in recent times, and the figures are just a testimonial to what ancient Yoga practitioners have been living examples of; Yoga, is a proven cure for insomnia (lack of sleep) and other mental and health issues of the body, mind, and soul.
Several studies have correlated yoga’s benefits to better sleep cycles, including recent research findings by Johns Hopkins Medicine, USA, showing better sleep among patients who participated in an eight-week yoga program as compared to non-yoga practitioners.
In another experiment published recently in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, researchers studied the effectiveness of yoga in treating insomnia, and for 12 weeks, participants took yoga classes twice a week along with daily sessions at home. The yoga group reported significant improvements both in their physical and mental well-being.
Yoga comes to your rescue! Let’s start with simple yoga workouts and get on our way to a supercharged day!
Yoga For Sleep – 5 Workout Routines
In the following videos, you will find inspiration for some basic stretching and relaxing yoga routines to try.
Don’t forget to read till the end to know about other handpicked asanas specifically helpful for insomnia, and their benefits and precautions prior to practice!
1) Relaxing Bedtime Yoga | The Yoga Solution – By Tara Stiles
An accomplished American model turned actor, Tara Stiles is the founder of Strala Yoga, illustrated as a case study by Harvard Business School. Her tagline, “Be strong, focused and ridiculously happy from the inside out” is extremely positive and her videos are fresh, simple and clearly enunciated step-by-step.
Tara has also been featured by The New York Times, Times of India, The Times (UK), and in major national and international magazines.
2) Routine For A Deep Sleep | The Yoga Solution – By Tara Stiles
In this video, Tara Stiles shows a routine focusing more on a sequence for deep sleep with slightly advanced poses.
Her fluid movements and clear instructions surely make her an instructor to follow. The video is sophisticated, minimal, and devoid of distractions. Seeing her enthusiasm and upbeat approach, makes anyone want to do yoga!
3) Yoga For Bedtime – 20 Minute Practice – By Adriene
Adriene is a yoga teacher from the USA and she is as fun as she is passionate about Yoga. Her videos are a little peppy as she shows very tastefully the simple poses one can do to relax before bedtime to easily fall into deep sleep.
4) Yoga For Deep Relaxation, Sleep, Insomnia, Anxiety & Stress Relief – By Katrina Repman and Meera Hoffman
Katrina and Meera are trained Yoga instructors from the USA, who in this comprehensive and well-made video, share a routine designed to help people with sleep problems get a good night’s rest.
5) 5-Minute Yoga Routine For A Good Night’s Sleep | Class FitSugar – By Chelsea Kruse
Chelsea, a celebrity fitness instructor from Exhale Spa in the USA, in this quick 5-minute workout, tells us exactly how to relax and unwind our body in a jiffy for the perfect night time rest.
She is clear, concise and demonstrates the poses as beautifully as she explains them. She covers all basic asanas to both relax the muscles and soothe the nervous system.
Read further by clicking on individual asanas for more on how exactly each pose benefits you!
- Marjariasana
- Bitilasana
- Adho Mukha Svanasana
- Balasana
- Supta Baddha Konasana
- Janu Sirsasana
- Viparita Karani
- Paschimottanasana
- Uttanasana
- Savasana
With these basic asanas, you will be well on your way to good slumber and a fresh new day, every day!
Follow us for more tips on how to do these asanas, by clicking on the links in the article.
Have you ever considered yoga for sleep or relaxation? How did it help you? Do share your comments and thoughts with us.
We’d love to hear from you!
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