Insomnia and Yoga by Meera Watts

Yoga offers many health benefits and one of them includes alleviating insomnia. Through stretching, breathing, and mindfulness yoga improves your strength and flexibility, breathing, reduces stress and enhances brain functions. A recent study has also found that yoga can help you sleep if you have chronic insomnia. The Harvard Medical study looked into how doing yoga every day could affect people with insomnia.

The study conducted began with subjects learning how to do basic yoga. They were then asked to maintain the daily practice for eight weeks. Diaries were kept before the yoga began for two weeks before. They also took notes during the eight weeks of daily yoga. In total, twenty people completed the eight week study. Researchers then analyzed the information given to see if yoga helped with their chronic insomnia.

Types of Insomnia

Primary insomnia is the inability to sleep that occurs on its own. It is dependent on health problems or a sleep disorder. Secondary insomnia occurs as a system when there is another medical condition within the patient. This can be anything from cancer to chronic pain to depression. Some of the medications taken for acute health conditions can also cause insomnia.

How Yoga Helped Patients with Chronic Insomnia

The study found that for those who finished the eight weeks of yoga, they experienced improvements in:

•    Their sleep efficiency
•    Their total time of sleeping
•    Their total waking time
•    How long it took them to fall asleep
•    When they would wake up after falling asleep

While there hasn’t been a lot of research conducted on yoga and how it affects sleep, it is possible that yoga can be used as a treatment for sleep issues.

A Yoga Practice Before Bed

The reason you’re not sleeping could be for many reasons. Some have fibromyalgia so their chronic pain keeps them up at night. Some people just can’t seem to ‘switch off’ and they lie awake ruminating about things. Whatever the reasons, there is a yoga pose for pretty much every issue that is causing you to lose sleep. These basic poses are specifically to calm the body and mind before bed. You may also want to incorporate poses that help your specific medical conditions also.

Start with a Meditation

To get ready for bed, put you pajamas on. Turn the lights down and get yourself comfortable. Sit cross legged or in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and start to focus on your breathing. Do this for a few minutes. When thoughts come up, don’t hold onto them. Go back to the breath. This is to bring you to your center and to quiet the mind.

Simple Spinal Twist

As you sit cross legged, inhale and make yourself as tall as possible. As you exhale, you will twist your midsection to the left. If you have something to grab onto, you can use this to go slightly deeper into the stretch. Remain in the twist while breathing a few times. As you exhale, return your torso back to center. Inhale and then exhale your twist to the right side. Repeat this a few times. Take it slowly.

Cross Legged Bend

With your legs still crossed, bend forward from the hips and stretch your hands out in front of you. If you can get your belly to your feet and your head to the floor, that’s ideal but this may take some time to master. Stay here for a few breaths and notice the stretch your experience in your hips and back.

Seated Forward Bend

Bring your legs out in front of you so they’re straight with a slight microbend in the knees. Sit up high as you inhale. When you exhale, reach your hands out to your feet. You want to keep your back flat which means you may have to bend your knees. This pose stretches out the hamstrings which alleviates pressure in the lower back.

Knees to Chest Pose

Lie down on your back and put your head on your pillow. Bring one knee into the chest and grab your shin to pull it closer to you. Stay in this pose for a few deep breaths. Switch legs and repeat a few times. Then head both your knees into your chest. Rock side to side onto your back, allowing your whole back to relax and release. Knees to chest pose lengthens the extended knee while loosening tight hips. This is where stress lives so releasing it before bed can be quite helpful in relaxing you.

Doing these poses before bed can help you sleep. They are deeply relaxing and help to calm the mind as you are doing something physical. When you do yoga daily, you are also going to alleviate some of the pain or discomforts you’re experiencing that are the cause of sleep loss.

Bio:

Meera Watts is a yoga teacher, entrepreneur and mom. Her writing on yoga and holistic health has appeared in Elephant Journal, CureJoy, FunTimesGuide, OMtimes and others. She’s also the founder and owner of SiddhiYoga.com, a yoga teacher training school based in Singapore. Siddhi Yoga runs intensive, residential trainings in India (Rishikesh, Goa and Dharamshala), Indonesia (Bali)

Website:  https://www.siddhiyoga.com

Back from a yoga retreat in heaven!

‘It is the eye that discovers the mystery of light, not only the moon and the stars and the vast splendours of the Aurora, but the endless changes the earth undergoes under changing lights’ - Nan Shepherd

I’ve just come back from teaching in an amazing 7 night yoga retreat in Chamonix, France. This year we’ve teamed up with Bluerise Retreats and organised a yoga, hiking and spa holiday in a luxurious chalet with a stunning view of Mont Blanc and the Bossons glacier.  The weather was so great that we practiced yoga outside overlooking the magnificent mountains next to a stream with lots of wild flowers. Spring is so magical in Chamonix!

The chalet had large outdoor Jacuzzis, a steam room and sauna which was especially nice after the alpine hikes. Suzi, our hike guide was lovely and very knowledgeable about the local wildlife. I even managed to see ibex and a golden eagle! We also practiced yoga in the mountain during one of our hikes.

We had a lovely mix of people from different age groups, nationalities and experience of yoga. Some people were training to be a yoga teachers but we also had a beginner that’d never practiced before. He said he really enjoyed yoga and wanted to do some more when he got home. We did an energetic class in the morning and restorative session in the evening. We had time to explore different practices such as Yin yoga, Yoga Nidra, Pranayama, chanting and mudras. I really enjoy teaching mixed abilities students and knowing that everyone can do yoga together.

The food at the retreat was exceptional. Lisa, the chef is a vegetarian and lovingly prepared 3 course meal for us every night even though she was heavily pregnant with twins. You could see that she loved cooking! I don't think I've had such a creative and delicious vegetarian food before. Her breakfast, lunch and snacks were equally exciting and tasty.

Bluerise retreat team made every effort to make us all feel at home. They were so friendly and delightful people to be around. They even arranged a luxurious Spa day out in Italy and a movie night with popcorn!  

There were lots of organised activities but we also had free time to do other things. Some people went climbing together or just relaxed and enjoyed the Spa facilities!

On the last day of the retreat, we had an air hockey tournament and they organised some live music for us too! Eleanor, the founder of Bluerise Retreat, is a well known musician in Chamonix and sang and played guitar for us. Anna who looked after our every need also had a fantastic mesmerising voice too. It was such a perfect way to end an amazing holiday. Suzanne, one of the retreat goers said ‘this has been the best yoga retreat I’ve been on and I’ve been on quite a few!’ Uta, another student said ‘thanks for all the laughs!’

We talked about doing another yoga retreat in Sri Lanka together so watch this space! It will be lovely to work with Bluerise Retreat again.

In the meantime, Bristol Yoga Centre has organised another wonderful yoga retreat in France from 20-27th June 2018. We are currently offering 10% off, please see here for details.

Therapeutic Yoga

“The success of Yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships.” - TKV Desikachar

We have just started a new therapeutic yoga class at Bristol Yoga Centre. Therapeutic yoga is a slower pace class, which focuses on mindful movement, breath awareness and relaxation practices. Space is given to explore postures and to encourage a deeper awareness of body and breath - which has many benefits for physical and psychological health and wellbeing.

One regular student commented, ‘Since I started yoga classes, I have gained more mobility, can deal with my painful joints better and am sleeping better at night’.

Therapeutic yoga class is great for beginners as well as those returning to yoga after a break. It’s also beneficial for people with injuries and those wishing to improve energy levels and combat insomnia. Regular practice can help to reduce pain, lessen worry and manage stress levels.

Rather than pushing and forcing, more gentle purposeful movement is used to heal the mind and body. Relaxation is the key to opening and letting go, and it’s one of the most important aspects of yoga practice. When you’re relaxed, you are able to remain calm and focused, and pay greater attention to your alignment and posture. As Josie’s student Roz commented:

‘When I go to a yoga class I don’t just want a work-out, I want to connect my mind and body. After Josie’s classes I can tell that I’ve stretched and toned pretty much every muscle in my body, but at the same time I’m totally relaxed from the inside. I don’t know how she does it but it feels amazing!’

By practicing slowly and mindfully, you will naturally get incredible results and bring progress to your practice. It’s a lovely safe method to release tension and learn how to manage pain in a compassionate way. We believe that everyone will benefit from learning to practice in this way.

Therapeutic Yoga class with Josie is on every Tuesday from 10 – 11am. She is a qualified Yoga Nidra teacher and is currently undertaking a two year course in Yoga Therapy for mental health with the Minded Institute. Please feel free to get in touch with her for more information.

Winter Yoga Practice

Now that the Christmas season is over, people are eager to start something new and to try and stick to their New Year’s resolutions. There is a buzzing in the air that’s hard to ignore!

Around this time, we get lots of new students joining and although it’s a good time to start new classes, it’s important to slowly build up your practice. You may feel attracted to active yoga classes but it often makes sense to take your time and work more gently in the winter.

In nature, everything slows down: many animals hibernate and plants even die back to prepare for spring and the activity ahead. It makes sense to take a leaf out of nature's book and practice in a way that honours the season.

This should help to avoid ‘Blue Monday’ which falls around the third Monday of January and is said to be the most depressing day of the year. It’s believed that Blue Monday occurs because of a combination of factors like cold weather and failing our New Year’s resolution, but I believe one of the main culprits is exhaustion. Many people end up feeling like they need to accomplish lots of things at the start of the year and end up burning out. Instead of (literally) running around trying to do everything, it's best to slow down and focus on things that energise us.

After the festivities, I’ve also been feeling tired and dispersed. It was a lovely break with plenty of socialising with family and friends, but once I was back at work there was lots of catching up to do! I felt like I should be doing more, but deep down I knew that I first needed to slow down and rejuvenate.

So recently in my practice, I’ve been focusing on restorative postures and slow long held sequences that encourage concentration and grounding. I’ve also been doing more breathing and relaxation techniques to revitalise.

It’s really important to observe and adjust our practice to honour where we are. This can be challenging as we often end up doing things that we think are right rather than really listening to ourselves. Spending some time at the beginning of the practice to feel and reflect on our experience is essential. Our practice can then help us achieve more balance throughout the changing seasons.

What is your original nature, snow man?

- Natsume Soseki from Zen Poems

5 Yogic Principles for a healthy balanced lifestyle

‘Health is wealth. Peace of mind is happiness. Yoga shows the way’

– Swami Vishnu Devananda.

Here is a great 5-point guide to help us apply yogic teachings to our everyday life. Devised by Swami Vishnudevananda,it allows us to harness yogic philosophy in a simple and practical manner.

The five basic principles are:

• Exercise
• Breathing practice
• Relaxation
• Healthy diet
• Positive thinking & meditation.

All of these points are essential and they all work together to allow us to live healthy and balanced life.

1. Exercise (asana)

Swamin Vishnudevananda recommended daily asana (posture) practice to build strength and flexibility. A balanced asana practice stretches and tones every part of the body. It also helps to keep our joints and spine mobile, and improves our circulation. It’s a great way of releasing tension and revitalising the body and mind.

When you practice yoga regularly, you will become stronger and flexible in both the mind and body. Asana works not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. You will feel more balanced in everyway.

2. Breathing Practice

A regular breathing practice is recommended for encouraging slow, deep and rhythmical breathing. This way of breathing utilises the maximum capacity of the lungs and profoundly relaxes the mind and body. In yoga breathing practice is referred to as Pranayama or extension of vital energy, and helps to clarify the mind and rejuvenate the whole body. Pranayama is excellent for stilling the agitated mind and teaching you to be grounded.

3. Relaxation

Full relaxation helps to balance our nervous system and revitalise our entire being. It’s extremely beneficial for our mind and body to rest completely and let go of tension and stress. Full relaxation pose or savasana is an important posture to practice regularly in yoga. In recent years, I have really begun to appreciate the importance of learning how to relax completely.

4. Balanced Diet

Yogis recommend a vegetarian, Sattvic (balanced or pure) diet that is simple, natural and nourishing. Sattvic foods are typically fresh and nutritious like organic vegetables and fruit. They are easier to digest so that you can be light and healthy. It’s advised to avoid eating stimulating or heavy foods and drinks such as caffeine, alcohol, processed meals and meat.

I personally found that I naturally gravitated towards a healthier diet over the years as I started to feel how different food affected my mood, energy level and overall wellbeing.

5. Meditation & positive thinking

Meditation practice enables us to understand ourselves better and be more contented and settled. Our concentration will vastly improve as the mind become less agitated. We become less lost in our thoughts and more present and focused.

One of the most beneficial effects that I received from a regular meditation practice is a feeling of acceptance and abundance. I feel whole, like I don’t need to improve or change anything. It is a very special experience that occurs for a fleeting moment but with practice comes more regularly.

In a well-structured yoga class, you will be taught asana, pranayama, relaxation and meditation. Regular yoga practice will help you to feel more energised and relaxed. As you become more content, you naturally want to look after yourself better by eating healthier foods and leading a more balanced lifestyle.