One of the main reasons I practice yoga is to manage my insomnia, which can be very severe at times. I have had episodes of total sleeplessness that have lasted 3-4 days. Seriously. When my anxiety goes through the roof like that, nothing helps, not a hot bath, or a boring book, not even sleeping pills. I needed to find a natural, long term solution. Yoga has helped me more than anything else, as long as I don’t practice too vigorously before bedtime. (Sun Salutations are meant to be done when the sun is up!) A good, sweaty power yoga session in the morning, and then calming forward bends and spinal twists at night are my best defense. Here is an article from Yoga Journal about the benefits of yoga for insomniacs.
Leslie Bradley remembers lying awake as a child, unable to sleep. “I’ve been something of an insomniac my entire life,” says the 56-year-old owner of Blue Spruce Yoga in Lakewood, Colorado. But after she contracted West Nile virus in 2004, her sleepless nights became intolerable. “I was in really bad shape,” Bradley says. “I couldn’t sleep at all without taking drugs like Ambien.”
After the prescription sleeping pills became less effective, Bradley decided to explore an alternative route, making an appointment to see Ayurvedic doctor John Douillard, director of the LifeSpa School of Ayurveda in Boulder, Colorado. He put Bradley on a regimen of herbs, tea, self-massage, and breathwork. He also helped her understand the best bedtimes for her body type and encouraged her to make changes to her lifestyle, such as eating a bigger lunch, and not teaching evening yoga classes.
Drawing on her yoga background, she began doing Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), Halasana (Plow Pose), and restorative poses before going to bed. Within three months, Bradley was off the drugs. “All those things combined have basically cured my insomnia,” she says. “I feel much stronger and more solid, more vibrant.”
