Yoga Nidra for Insomnia

Posted on July 17, 2007 in Latest News

Ayurveda notes that all diseases that the mankind suffers are caused by Indigestion. You must be surprised. Here we are not just talking about physical indigestion but mental or emotional indigestion too. Physically, Mentally and Emotionally, when we don’t extract what is helpful and don’t eliminate what is indigestible – we suffer from Insomnia.

Physically, indigestion may cause problems like heart-burn, flatulence, diarrhea effecting sleep. Mentally, indigestion would be our inability to ‘let go’ stressful and unpleasant experiences, problems or incidents from our mind. Emotionally, the recurrence of the feeling of sadness, anger and agony.

Sometimes we tend to suppress our emotions without completely doing away with them. When the emotion is not sufficiently digested and remains just under the surface, it springs up for no apparent reason. That’s why Mental and Emotional indigestion are known to be the most common causes of insomnia.

Yoga is greatly helpful to alleviate the effects of Physical, Mental and Emotional indigestion and thus cure insomnia. Simple stretching and relaxation exercises of yoga can enhance mental and physical relaxation, increase suppleness, and improve the quality of your sleep.

The quality of your sleep will improve because of the stimulatory effect yoga has on the nervous system, and in particular the brain. The practice of certain yoga postures will increase the blood circulation to the sleep center in the brain, which has the effect of normalizing the sleep cycle.

You can try this Yoga Nidra (sleep) Relaxation for ten minutes.

1. Breathe deeply and evenly through both nostrils for several seconds. Feel the breath flow right down into your abdomen. As you exhale, let any remaining tension in your body flow out with it.

2. Visualize a relaxing scene. Focus on your feet. Tense and release your toes, then flex your feet hard. As you relax them, feel all the tension drain from your feet, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, buttocks, and abdomen and breathe it out.

3. Focus on your hands. Tense the muscles in your arms and hands by clenching your hands into a tight fist, release and let the tension flow from your fingertips up your arms to your shoulders. Breathe it out.

4. Focus on your shoulders. Tense your shoulder blades and relax them three times.

5. Turn your head to right and left to free any tension in the neck muscles and let your neck relax. Finally tense your facial muscles and as you release them be aware of all the tension draining out of the areas of tension, around your jaw and mouth, the eyes, and away from the forehead.

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