by Nina

In my last post Better Sleep Tips, Part 1: Winding Down, I wrote about how helpful it can be for those who have insomnia to have a nighttime routine. And I stand by my recommendation! But the truth is—and I know this from personal experience—during particularly difficult times there are nights when just getting into bed can “undo” all the relaxation you so carefully cultivated before bedtime. Once you’re alone with your thoughts, you can find yourself stressing out again about some difficulty you’re experiencing or some challenge that lies ahead. Or, you might start worrying about your ability to sleep that night, thinking, what if I can’t fall asleep tonight? Or what if I wake up in the middle of the night like I did last night and can’t go back to sleep? The problem is that just having those types of thoughts can trigger your fight-flight-or-freeze response because your nervous system can’t tell the difference between imagined and real danger. And this then makes it harder to go to sleep because your nervous system is now on the alert for danger even though you’re actually safe in bed.

So that’s why doing a little “yoga in bed” to quiet your mind can be very helpful at this point.  When move your mental focus from troubling thoughts to, for example, relaxing your muscles, sensing your breath, or mentally reciting a mantra, this tells your nervous system that you’re in safe circumstances now, which can move you into a state of relaxation again. If you’ve been having trouble falling asleep, quieting your mind can help you ease you gently into sleep. This is one time when falling asleep in the middle of practice is a good thing! And if your problem is waking in the middle of the night, quieting your mind before you initially fall asleep can help you sleep more soundly. If you fall asleep when you’re stressed, your nervous system stays on the alert, even while you are sleep, which can cause you to wake up frequently. But if you relax before you fall asleep, your nervous system gets the message that you’re in safe circumstances and so doesn’t wake you up frequently to check for danger.

In addition, if you think of the nighttime rituals we use for children, there is both the getting ready for bed part and the being in bed part (the bedtime reading or lullaby time). So by doing a yoga practice every night when you get into bed, you’ll be adding to your nighttime ritual for winding down, which can train your body to move into sleep mode.

I personally find practicing “yoga in bed” this way extremely helpful for preventing insomnia. So today I’m going to make some suggestions for practices you can do right after you get into bed to prepare yourself for sleep. First, because being physically comfortable can help promote better sleep, I’ll start with some suggestions for how to make yourself as comfortable as possible by using bed pillows as “props.”  I’ll then suggest some

Getting Physically Comfortable

You’ve probably learned a lot by now about how to make yourself comfortable in yoga poses by using props. Have you ever thought about using the same techniques when you settle into bed to go to sleep? Using props to make yourself physically comfortable in bed is helpful because when you have minor aches and pains, this can make it harder for you to fall asleep. And if you’re feeling physically restless or squirmy, you can do a progressive relaxation practice by tensing and releasing various parts of your body, which will help to relax your entire body.

Here are some ideas for “propping” in bed, based on your chosen sleep position. The “props” are generally extra bed pillows.

On Your Back. Try a pillow behind your knees so your lower back rests comfortably on the bed, the same way you use a bolster under your knees in Savasana. Try an eye pillow or sleep mask over your eyes.  The pressure of an eye pillow or mask on your eyelids actually causes your heart rate to slow, encouraging relaxation.

On Your Side. Try using a body pillow between both arms and legs, one pillow between your legs and another between your arms, or just a pillow between your legs. I sleep on my side and always use a pillow between my legs because otherwise my bony knees rub against each other. This is similar to a Side-Lying Savasana.

On Your Belly. Because sleeping in a prone position can overarch your lower back, you could try placing a folded towel or throw under your lower belly to reduce the backbend. This is similar to Prone Savasana (Crocodile pose). I don’t have any more ideas about this position, so if you do, let me know!

If you’re feeling physically restless or squirmy, you can start by lying on your back and doing either a guided (recorded) or self-guided progressive relaxation before you get into your sleep position. Choose one where you move through your body, one area at a time, tensing and then releasing that part of your body.  Barrie told me that she found this particularly helpful when she was having trouble falling asleep due to feeling very physically restless—tensing and then relaxing her legs was especially beneficial.

Quieting Your Mind

After you’ve made yourself physically comfortable, you’re ready to quiet your mind. You can do these practices in your final sleep position or on your back for a while until you feel ready to move into your final sleep position. Some of these are the same as practices I suggested for a winding-down routine in LINK. However, I’m not mentioning doing any yoga poses at this point, because moving around is a little stimulating. You’re in bed now, might as well get down to business!

Breath Awareness. A traditional way to quiet your mind is to practice breath awareness. By turning your focus to your internal sensations, you signal to your nervous system you are in safe circumstances and this can trigger the relaxation response. See A Balm for the Soul: Practicing Simple Breath Awareness for information on how to practice breath awareness or use any technique you’re already comfortable with. If you’re lying on your side or your belly, you could try watching how your breath moves in your back body. I have to say, however, that for me, simple breath awareness is hard for me to do when I’m feeling stressed or anxious. I need more of a mental challenge. So I either do a structured calming breath practice or a meditation that combines a mantra or counting with breath awareness.

Calming Breath Practices. If you’ve had any experience with pranayama, in bed you can practice any calming breath practice (any practice that lengthens your exhalation) that you like. If you don’t yet have experience with this, it’s probably best to start by getting familiar with the calming breath practices when you’re not trying to go to sleep before you use them in bed. See Calming Breath Practices We Recommend for options.

Meditation. Yogic concentration meditation is an excellent way to quiet your mind in bed—after all, quieting your mind is what it is is for! Recently that’s what I like to do when I get into bed and also when I wake in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep. Although meditating on your breath is the most common technique most of us learn, I actually think for sleeping it’s better to choose another focus, such as mantra or counting your breaths. There are two reasons for this. The first is that I think it is harder to concentrate at night in bed than during the day, so choosing something less subtle than the breath is easier. And I also I think it’s best not to use the same technique you use during the day—when you want to stay awake—to avoid confusing your nervous system. See Yoga Meditation Techniques for information about yogic concentration meditation techniques. But a simple beginner’s technique that I use is to count your exhalations from 1 to 10 and then start over again from 1. So even if you don’t yet have experience with meditation, you could try that. (Mindfulness meditation isn’t the best technique to use in bed because it’s not always calming. See All Good But Not Equivalent: Meditation Types for a comparison.)

Guided Relaxation. To quiet your mind rather than your body, you can do either a guided (recorded) or self-guided progressive relaxation practice where you bring your awareness to various areas of your body, starting with your toes and moving up your body, and intentionally relax them. You can also use any other guided relaxation, such as yoga nidra or a generic visualization practice, to help you relax into sleep. Many people find that they never reach the end of the recordings because they drop right off into sleep during the middle. When you’re using a guided relaxation, be picky about which one you choose. If the voice irritates you in any way, even if the teacher is famous—been there, done that—look around for another recording that has a voice you find calming and easy to listen to.

 

You can find the rest of this series on yoga for better sleep at Better Sleep Tips, Part 1: Winding Down Before Bed, Better Sleep Tips, Part 3: It’s the Middle of the Night!, and Better Sleep Tips, Part 4: Day to Night.

 

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