Best Yoga Exercises to Help You Sleep Better

A good night’s sleep is important for both physical as well as mental health, but many people today suffer from sleep-related problems. The prevalence of these problems suggests that people are discounting the importance of sleep.

An estimated 50 to 70 million adults in the United States have sleep or wakefulness disorders, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trouble sleeping can be due to stress, a change in location, a side effect of medication, an illness, pain or other factors. When poor sleep is a regular occurrence, it can take a toll on your mood, energy, productivity, and ability to handle stress.

Popping one sleeping pill after another is not the solution. Your body becomes addicted to such drugs, and you will soon find that you are unable to go to sleep without them.

For a natural approach to ensure sound sleep, yoga is very beneficial. This traditional form of meditation and exercise therapy helps calm you and relax your body, so that you can easily go to sleep in a peaceful state of mind.

It’s a good idea to do these poses on a soft carpet or yoga mat to reduce strain on your body.

Here are some great yoga exercises that can help you sleep better.

1. Child’s Pose (Balasana)

This simple yoga exercise helps you focus your thoughts and energies inward, while drowning out sounds and concerns of the outside world. It has a calming effect on the whole body.

This pose stretches and relieves tension in the muscles of the lower back, hips and thighs.

This restorative pose also helps release stress, one of the main causes of poor sleep.

• Kneel on the floor with your knees hip-width apart and hands on the floor.
• Touch your big toes together.
• Take in deep breaths and slowly exhale. Focus on your breathing as you let all worries and thoughts slip away.
• With your final exhalation, slowly lower your upper torso.
• Rest your upper body on your thighs and let your forehead touch the floor.
• Stretch your arms out in front of you, keeping them in line with your shoulders and placing your palms flat on the floor.
• Maintain this position for up to 1 minute.
• Inhale and slowly raise your upper body, keeping your arms stretched out.
• Exhale as you lower your arms.

Do this once as a part of your daily regime before going to bed.

Practice this yoga pose at least 3 hours after your last meal, as your stomach and bowels should be empty for this exercise.

Caution: Pregnant women and those with recent or chronic injury to the knees should not practice this pose.

2. Standing Forward Fold (Uttanasana)

This is another stretching pose that helps relieve stiffness in your back, hip and thigh muscles, while freeing your mind from daily stress and anxiety.

This pose is an essential part of Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskar Pose.

• Stand up straight, with your hands by your side and feet shoulder-width apart.
• Take in a deep breath as you slowly raise your hands toward the ceiling.
• Exhale while slowly bending your upper body from your hip joints.
• Keeping your knees straight, stretch out your fingers and try to touch your toes. In the beginning, just try to stretch down as much as you can.
• Maintain this position for 5 to 10 breaths.
• Inhale as you gradually return your upper body to starting position.
• Exhale and lower your arms to your sides.
• Repeat 5 to 10 times for restful sleep.

Caution: Those who have had recent back or knee surgery should not do this yoga pose.

3. Sitting Forward Fold (Paschimottanasana)

This is another effective yoga exercise that helps you to sleep better. You can perform it right before going to bed.

It helps stretches the spine, shoulders and hamstrings, thus releasing tension and relaxing your body.

• Sit on the floor, keeping your back upright.
• Stretch your legs out in front of you, keeping them together and pointing your toes upward.
• Maintain the position such that your body forms a 90-degree angle.
• Take a deep breath and raise your arms toward the ceiling.
• Exhale and slowly bend from your waist, keeping your arms stretched out.
• Continue bending down until your fingertips touch your toes.
• Stretch out your upper body, including your head, neck and ribs.
• Stay in this position for 1 to 3 minutes.
• Inhale and slowly raise your upper body back to its original position.
• Exhale as you lower your arms.
• Repeat the process 10 to 12 times for a restful, long night’s sleep.

Caution: Those with asthma or diarrhea issues should not practice this pose.

4. Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani)

This pose is a must for those suffering from insomnia. It helps increase the blood flow to your heart, enabling you to relax and sleep better.

It also helps reduce stress and calm your mind and body. In addition, it helps relax the lower back muscles and alleviate mild backaches that can affect your sleep quality.

• Place a lightly padded mattress, blanket or yoga mat on the floor next to a sturdy wall or door. You may place a pillow or cushion under your butt for comfortable positioning.
• Lie down and practice deep breathing.
• Exhale, bend your knees and slowly move your legs up on the wall, while keeping your spine straight.
• Place your arms by your sides with palms facing up and stretch your legs upward.
• Take deep breaths for 10 minutes.
• To release this position, bend your knees.
• Turn your entire body sideways, take a few deep breaths and then exhale as you slowly rise.

Caution: This yoga pose is not suitable for people suffering from glaucoma or high blood pressure.

5. Cat and Cow Stretching (Marjaryasana and Bitilasana)

A combination of Cat Pose and Cow Pose is often used as a warm-up exercise, as it stretch out your entire body and help you sleep better by relaxing all your stiff muscles and joints.

It can be particularly helpful when you cannot sleep due to an achy, sore back.

Doing this on a daily basis also exercises your stomach muscles and improves digestion.

• Get into a tabletop position on your hands and knees.
• Place your knees hip-width apart and your hands directly below your shoulders.
• For the Cow Pose, inhale as you drop your belly and gaze atthe upper portion of the wall in front of you, stretching your head, neck and chest upward.
• For the Cat Pose, exhale and gradually move your chin toward your chest.
• Arch your back until you form a downward semicircle. You should look like a cat stretching its back.
• Repeat 5 to 10 times, then finish with the Child’s Pose to relax your body.

Caution: Pregnant women should only do the Cow Pose.

6. Supine or Lying Down Spinal Twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)

This yoga posture helps you sleep soundly at night by improving your circulation, releasing abdominal gas and easing tension in your spine and neck.

This reclining twisted pose can easily be performed in bed before going to sleep. It relieves tension throughout the whole spine and also improves digestion.

• Lie down on your back and stretch out your arms in line with your shoulders.
• Bend your knees, keeping your feet flat on the floor.
• Bring your heels closer to your hips and take a deep breath.
• Exhale and slowly lower your knees tothe left side, until your left knee touches the floor.
• Turn your head to the right.
• Maintain the position for about 1 minute, then return to the starting position.
• Repeat the steps with the opposite side.
• Perform the whole cycle 4 to 6 times on each side.

You can rest your knees on a yoga block on either side, instead of pressing them to the floor.

Caution: This pose is not suitable for people who have back pain or degenerative disk disease, as twisting can make back pain much worse.

7. Corpse Pose (Savasana)

This pose should ideally be performed at the end of your before-bed yoga session. In fact, no yoga session is complete without this pose.

It is an extremely easy position that helps relax the entire body. As you take deep breaths, it clears your mind of all tension and worry. You learn to simply let go, and as a result, you are rewarded with a good night’s sleep and a calm and free mind.

Doing this pose on a regular basis lowers your blood pressure and heart rate as well.

• Lie down on your back on a semihard surface. (You can use a neck pillow if you must.)
• Place your legs at a comfortable distance apart and keep your toes pointed sideways.
• Keepy our arms at your sides, at a slight distance from your body.
• Close your eyes and direct your thoughts inward, focusing on each and every area of your body starting from your right foot and so on.
• Inhale deeply and slowly exhale, relaxing your body as you do so.
• Let go of your body completely and just focus on breathing for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Slowly return to your senses and open your eyes. Go straight to bed for a good night’s sleep.