Insomniac? Sleep Like You’re Doing Yoga

In this post: 3 sleeping positions that hurt! … Try yogic breathing to help you sleep better … 3 ways to sleep more comfortably on your side

For much of my life, I woke up from a night of sleep in a pool of drool. And no, I was not drunk. I was a belly sleeper and a mouth breather and a pre-adolescent snorer. It wasn’t until I began practicing yoga as a pre-teen that I became aware that my sleeping habits were unhealthy (and gooey!) Yoga, with its emphasis on body alignment, and its use of props to achieve that alignment, helped me learn how to establish a new perfect sleep posture that helped me sleep more soundly (and soundlessly) through the night.

The human body can fall asleep in almost any imaginable position. Just look around your fellow passengers while on a long flight to see the astonishing variety of sleep postures! As I write this blog, the young woman sitting next to me on my cross country flight from NYC to L.A. is out cold with her face on the tray table!

But you can tweak the ergonomics of your sleeping posture to be conducive to deeper sleep and to optimize an easy flow of breath through the nose. If your nose gets congested, mouth breathing and snoring are likely to ensue.

3 sleeping positions that hurt!

Belly Sleepers: If your body chooses to sleep facing down, your face must turn to one side or the other in order to breathe. This places torque on the neck, and a lot of pressure on the delicate nerves running from the skull through the upper spine. Belly sleepers can often wake up in a pile of spittle and spastic neck muscles.

Flat Back Sleepers: Low back pain is the most common complaint with this posture, caused by the rigid holding of the limbs in this “corpse-like” shape. When the body lays for hours on end with the knees and hips “locked open,” the weight of the legs can actually pull the lower back bones and muscles out of alignment and put undue stress on the lower back vertebrae and discs.

Side Sleepers: Even though this is the safest choice out of the three for the back muscles and bones, the weight of the body collapsing the shoulders up and in towards the neck can be very painful and cause muscle spasms in the upper back, shoulders and neck.

3 ways to sleep more comfortably on your side

By modifying the side sleeper position with a few simple household items, you can create a brand new supported side sleeping posture that prevents neck compression and ensures ideal symmetry throughout the night for all the joints of the body.

Properly placed pillows prop up your joints in just the right places for supportive sleep.

1. Roll up a beach towel (or use a buckwheat hull cylindrical pillow) so that it is about one foot long and 8 or 9 inches in diameter and place it on front of your favorite pillow. This will keep the cervical bones from collapsing and bending to the side, giving them support and keeping the neck long throughout the night.
2. Place two other pillows on either side for your arms to embrace as a “hug pillow.” This will keep the shoulder joints spacious throughout the night and prevent the weight of the arm bone from compressing the precious brachial nerves that stream underneath the collar bones.
3. Place a light blanket or towel between your knees and attempt to keep it in place throughout the night as you toss from side to side. This will keep the hips spaced apart enough to prevent the lower back or hip bones from slipping out of alignment. It also prevents bone bruising between the knees.

It may seem like a lot of extra “stuff” in bed, and you may have to practice for a few weeks until your body adapts to holding the hug pillow and hanging onto your knee blanket, but the sound sleep you’ll experience is worth the inconvenience of a crowded bed.

Try yogic breathing to help you sleep better

Follow this Yoga Tune Up breathing technique we call the “Nudge” breath:

1. Begin by watching how your body is naturally breathing, watching the behavior of your breath
2. Once you feel that the breath is “happening” and you are not controlling or manipulating it, then add an additional exhale after the body has finished its automatic exhale. This extra exhale is a little nudge, not aggressive at all.
3. After the nudge, watch for the natural inhale and exhale, then add the gentle “nudge.” Repeat until you drift off into slumber … Sweet dreams!

For deeply relaxing “yogic sleep” you might also try listening to a guided Yoga Nidra CD or music CD designed for deep relaxation to help you drift into bliss.

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