Sleep is very important a known fact.Β It is integral and essential part of our daily routine. Nature is designed in a way that we work during the day when there is light and rest/sleep when itβs dark.
I remember the days when I was stressed, and my sleep was affected. Many nights I struggle to sleep, even tried different things like listening music, reading the book, counting but in vain.
It affected my work, energy and my mood the very next day.
Do you feel drowsy and tired during the day?
Do you feel angry and irritated?
Then it might be your disturbed sleep.
As a health coach, I hear a lot of people, who suffer from disturbed sleep.
Everyone knows the value of good sleep. An adult need on an average 7-9 hours of sleep. But many people can manage with 5-6 hours and they are healthy. It is he number of hours and the quality of sleep that matters
How can we check quality of sleep? Ask yourself
- Do you have difficulty in falling asleep?
- Do you wake up very often in between sleep?
- Once you wake up, is it difficult to sleep again?
- Even after long hours of sleep, do you still feel tired?
If all answers are YES,that means your quality of sleep is not good
What affects sleep?
Our fast and busy lifestyle is major contributor to this. Along with following things affects sleep majorly
- Depression
Do you still dwell on your past or past events? Are you unable to forgive yourself or someone else? If you constantly keep thinking about past and unable to get over about the things that had happened and it remains over a period, then you might be depressed.
- Anxious?
You keep thinking about some task, worried and anxious about future, if you can perform well, achieve your goals or anything which keeps you on toes all the time. I have seen people who are anxious for very small things like taking bus, going up or down of accelerator etc. This also affect your sleep
- Social media?
Are you addicted to Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram or any social media,it keeps you awake. One of the biggest sleep distraction is 24 hours internet access and too much influence of social media.
Along with this our eating habit and TVs make it worse.Β
- Stressed?
Are you stressed due to work pressure, relationship problem or health issues or any sudden event in your life. Professional stress can cause long working hours and constant pressure.Personal stress due to instable relationship, finance or sudden events.
If you have sound sleep, it can cure many health issues and it is the best medicine for physical, mental and emotional problems.
But why sleep is so important?
Our body is a sophisticated machine. It is a factory. Even though we sleep, our brain, heart,liver is working without breaks. It does number of vital things like
- Building up /regenerating damaged cell
- Boosting immune system
- Recharging heart and cardiovascular system
- Hormone growth
- Memory consolidation
So if we get good sleep, all these activities happen without any disturbances and in this state there is balance on Nervous system.
Do you want your day to be productive, energetic and happy?
Then you need to follow below tips to better sleep
Yoga is the best way to release stress or negative energy and it makes your body relaxed and helps in better sleep. Yoga has added advantage as there are specific (aasanas) poses if done, helps to bring blood flow to head region, which will help to bring calmness in mind and hence body will be relaxed. There are many poses like Childs pose, shanshakasana, shoulder stand etc.
Best pose to get better sleep is Vipritkaraani(as shown in pic), which relaxes instantly and helps in better sleep
- Know the root cause
If you often suffer from sleeping problem. It is happening consistently over long period of time and you are insomniac, then you need to check for the patterns and as well as root of the problem. Is it your work? Is it the health? Is it any relationship issue? orΒ the past events holding you back? What is the root of the problem.
Just check if its really a problem? Or it is just cooking up in your head. Most of the time it is due to overthinking.
βI think too much. I think ahead. I think behind. I think sideways. I think it all.
If it exists, I just keep thinking.
- Go for brisk walk in the evening
You can go for brisk walk in the evenings. This will help you physically tired and make you sleep. Best time is during 6-8 pm time .
- Bhramri pranayama:
This pranayama has helped many people to get better sleep.
In this pranayama, you need to generate sound mmmm. As you do this, you can feel the vibration at your head.
These vibrations help to clear your mind, clear all the thoughts and helps for better sleep.
You can practice 2 hours before sleep and upto 27 rounds.
Another benefit of Bhramri is it helps to relax your mind and balance nervous system. See this video on βHow to do Bhramri pranayamaβ
- Meditation
Everybody is aware of benefits of Meditation, still most of us fail to implement. Read about Meditation. But if you keep that consistency and patience, you will at least reach to a state where you can analyze your thoughts, bring clarity on which thoughts are giving you negative emotions and which thoughts are making you happy.
So there is no right and wrong method, as long as you close your eyes, calm down your mind.
- Talk about your problems
Sometimes just talking or pouring your heart out helps to solve a lot of issues. Talk to your close friend or family members whom you can trust. If not, take help of therapist, who can help you to go to the root of the problem.
A Good laugh and a long SLEEP are the two best cures for anything.Β
So if you want to face the challenges of tomorrow in a better way ,then you need to have a GOOD NIGHT SLEEP.
If you are facing issues with disturbed sleep or insomnia, reach us .We are here to help you. Yoga, Meditation and healing helped many people to sleep better.
