Sleep is essential to our quality of life and how we feel on a day-to-day basis. In addition, when we sleep our body repairs itself on a cellular level and removes toxins. It is crucial to our bodies and our minds; therefore it is necessary to get at least six to eight hours of sleep daily. If you’re not getting a good enough sleep at night, yoga can help. Regular yoga practice is known to cure many ailments, including insomnia or abnormal sleeping habits. Yoga helps you to unwind stress at the end of the day and get a much better sleep at night. People who practice yoga fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and have an overall improved quality of their rest. The following yoga stretches can help you to relax and enjoy a peaceful sleep:
Standing Forward Bend: Exhaling and bending forward with your knees locked and arms down as far as they go, helps to stretch the back muscles and increases the blood supply. It also helps to calm your brain and relieve stress and back pain.
Seated Forward Bend: Folding into this pose sitting down helps distract your mind, stretches out your hamstrings, and helps you to unwind.
Plow Pose: Putting your feet all the way behind you behind your head while stretching out your arms in front of you reduces backache and can help you get to sleep easier. If your feet don't go all the way back, thats okay just put your legs out behind you as far as you can.
Cat Pose: A great stretch for the spine’s flexibility. By supporting yourself on your hands and knees and pushing your chest and head outward, this pose helps massage the digestive organs, improving digestion, and therefore helping you sleep. The improved blood circulation also helps to relax your mind.
Child's Pose: This is a great, relaxing stretch for the back by curling up your legs in front of you, laying your torso down on top of them and stretching out your arms all the way in front of you. This position also helps to calm the nervous system so that you can sleep peacefully.
Butterfly Pose: This pose can help remove fatigue from long hours of walking or standing and is also a good stretch for inner thigh muscles, the groin, and knees. All you have to do is sit with your spine straight and bring in your feet to make your legs bent like wings.
Legs-Up-The-Wall Pose: This is a great pose to relieve legs and feet that are tired from a long day. It also helps to increase blood supply to the brain and relieves mild headaches, calming the mind.
Extended Puppy Pose: A cross between Child’s Pose and Downward Facing Dog, this pose lengthens the spine and calms the mind, relieving stress.
Corpse Pose: Lying down in this pose after meals helps relax your entire system and can signal your body that it’s time to prepare for sleep.
Practicing these yoga poses every day or before you go to sleep will ensure that you fall asleep, stay asleep, and get a quality rest for your body and mind. Now go and practice your poses and live a happier, healthier, more rested life! Namaste.
