{"id":6031,"date":"2020-11-03T11:16:26","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T05:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/news\/?p=6031"},"modified":"2022-03-12T14:54:10","modified_gmt":"2022-03-12T09:24:10","slug":"yoga-for-stress-related-insomnia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/yoga-for-stress-related-insomnia\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoga for stress-related insomnia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/<\/p>\n

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(CNN)<\/cite>Are you finding yourself tossing and turning in the middle of the night, unable to stay asleep? Or maybe you’ve always struggled with falling asleep, but now it’s taking hours instead of 30 minutes for shut-eye to kick in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

With a\u00a0high-stress\u00a0environment caused by the pandemic, the US presidential election and a world constantly evolving with debates and quarantine rules, it’s no wonder why many people are suffering from insomnia.<\/div>\n
The definition of insomnia is “persistent difficulty with sleep initiation, duration, consolidation or quality,” according to the\u00a0American Academy of Sleep Medicine. I know this battle all too well. Prior to becoming a certified yoga instructor and health coach, I had my own struggles with\u00a0insomnia\u00a0and was on sleep medication.<\/div>\n
Determined to change my habits and improve my sleep, I took up a yoga class on a whim after a recommendation from a friend. It was a weekly class that focused on slow, deep breathing; self-acceptance; and connecting breath with movement.<\/div>\n
After two months of doing the class, I no longer needed my sleeping medication to fall asleep. It was as if my insomnia was cured, so to speak. It has been almost 20 years since I started my yoga practice. Insomnia, however, has crept its way back at different points in my life. This reminds me to recommit to my yoga practice and deep breathing, as I had experienced its transformative results firsthand.<\/div>\n
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In fact, a regular yoga routine helps with not only insomnia but also improved total sleep time and sleep efficiency, according to\u00a0research.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Perhaps you’re a skeptic on yoga, or you don’t know where to begin. I designed this insomnia yoga routine just for you to focus on poses that bring inward calm to your nervous system and allow your body to relax. Whether you do this routine right before bed, during the day or in the morning, a regular practice is what’s most important in order to help with insomnia.<\/div>\n
Breathwork and mindfulness is also a major part of this yoga routine. Breathing in through the nose and out through the nose helps calm the nervous system. As you hold each yoga pose, think of breathing in and filling your body up with air, and breathing out to release deeper into the pose. This mindful attention to your body and to your breath,\u00a0studies\u00a0have shown, helps improve sleep, too.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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