Is Yoga the Solution for Insomnia?

Has University life turned you into an insomniac? Many University and college students claim to suffer from insomnia, also known as a sleeping disorder. I’ve come across friends tweeting late at night with hash tags “insomniac” or “sleep-deprived” every so often. With the juggle of schoolwork, exercise, work and a social life, it is not surprising that a number of students are having difficulty sleeping. I personally feel that my mind is constantly working and thinking about things I need to do, especially at night when its time for bed.

Insomnia. Image: sese kim (Flickr Creative Commons)

Is there a cure for insomnia? Many over-the-counter or prescription pharmaceutical drugs such as sleeping pills are available and can do the job for you, but is it the right solution? There are always side effects when taking any type of medication and as a student; you don’t want to be relying on drugs in order to get a decent night sleep.

Sat Bir S. Khalsa, a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School, performed a study on subjects with insomnia and found that after eight weeks of breathing, meditation and asana exercises, the participants showed improvement in their sleep time and quality of sleep.  This research also showed that by practicing yoga for 30-40 minutes, people fell asleep 30% faster and their night-time waking was reduced by 35%.

Yoga can be portrayed as a complicated practice, with all its different poses and techniques. However, it can be as simple as just breathing. An example of a breathing exercise is alternate nostril breathing. We tend to breathe mainly out of our right nostril when we are stressed out.  The right nostril connects to the left-brain which activates our sympathetic nervous system, responsible for our fight or flight response. The sympathetic nervous system and stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol increase blood pressure and heart rate during stressful situations. In contrast, the parasympathetic system slows the heart rate and lowers blood pressure allowing one to recover from an overwhelming situation. Yoga poses can increase blood circulation and slow breathing can increase the oxygen level in the body. Both of these practices can increase the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system allowing for mental relaxation. This stimulatory effect of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, can help your sleeping pattern.

The video below gives a brief recap of how yoga can help you get a better nights sleep and introduces some basic yoga poses.

So next time you’re laying in bed having difficulty sleeping, try out a yoga pose or breathing exercise. It might just help you sleep like a baby!

– Jessy Duhra

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-michael-j-breus/yoga-insomnia_b_1939696.html

http://www.womentowomen.com/fatigue-insmonia/yoga-for-insomnia/

http://www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/2016