2 Restorative Yoga Poses to Improve Your Sleep
A study published in the International Journal of Yoga titled Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality of life found that practicing restorative yoga “...resulted in a significant decrease in the time taken to fall asleep, an increase in the total number of hours slept, and in the feeling of being rested in the morning”. Additionally, a Harvard study on insomnia found that those who practiced yoga regularly for eight weeks experienced better and longer sleep compared to those who didn’t. Read on to learn more about this, and find the most simple ways to incorporate restorative yoga into your nighttime routine.
Incorporating some basic restorative yoga into your nighttime routine can shift the body into the parasympathetic nervous system, activating a natural state of calm. This creates an optimal state to fall asleep with more ease, and enhance slow-wave sleep (deep sleep). Research suggests that finding this relaxed state prior to falling asleep naturally increases melatonin production in the body and enhances our circadian rhythm.
When the body enters slow wave sleep, amongst many things we regenerate cells and strengthen the immune system, and trigger growth hormones to release which is a vital process for tissue repair and bone health. Without adequate and effective deep sleep, countless vital processes in the body are hindered and can have detrimental effects on our everyday life (mood and irritability, emotional regulation, fatigue, skin health, brain fog, and so on), as well as our long-term health (inflammation, reduced insulin sensitivity, dysregulated appetite and weight management, immune system health and so on).
How can you use restorative yoga to improve your sleep?
Incorporating some restorative or Yin poses into your nighttime routine is so simple. You only need to save 10 minutes before sleeping, and don’t need any fancy yoga props. The two restorative poses that I would recommend to anyone wanting to improve their sleep are:
LEGS UP THE WALL (sanskrit: Viparita Karani)
Legs up the wall is a simple pose that essentially uses the support of the wall to elevate the legs above the heart. As an alternative, you can do this without a wall and just place a pillow under your hips, then elevate your legs straight to the ceiling.
This is arguably the best yoga pose to calm your nervous system (exactly what you want to do before going to sleep) as it stimulates the vagus nerve, communicating to the body that it can relax. It promotes lymphatic drainage, which is an important function to filter bacteria, whilst also stimulating the glymphatic system which essentially removes the bacteria and other harmful cells that the lymphatic system has filtered.
2. BUTTERFLY POSE (sanskrit: Baddha Konasana)
Butterfly pose is such a widely known stretch that most of us will have done many times. I recommend it as a restorative pose before bed because it is a very gentle hip opener and can be adjusted easily (move the feet away from the groin for less intensity). As well as opening the hips, it encourages decompression of the lower back. This posture calms the nervous system, and it also promotes hormonal health (especially for women, as the relaxation of the pelvic area may relieve some painful menstrual symptoms) and digestion as well by relaxing and compression the abdomen.
When incorporating these poses each for 3-5 mins before bed, try to focus on deep belly breaths for even inhales and exhales. You can start by relaxing in the stretch for 10 slow breaths each, and perhaps extend this over time.
