Yoga for a Good Night's Sleep

If insomnia is keeping you up at night, try a few relaxing poses before bedtime.

By Sally Eauclaire Osborne

Consider this your wake-up call. Fewer than half of all Americans sleep long enough or well enough, according to the National Sleep Foundation. So many of us complain of fitful sleep, insomnia, and workday drowsiness that William Dement, M.D., Ph.D., author of The Promise of Sleep (Delacorte, 1999), calls it a "national emergency." Sleep deprivation depresses the immune system, increases irritability, and slows reaction time, increasing the likelihood of car crashes and other accidents. Even worse, a recent study confirmed that losing sleep actually accelerates the aging process.

The message is clear: You must get enough sleep. What's less clear is the ideal amount of sleep—most people need seven to nine hours—or even the best time to sleep. Anthropologist Carol M. Worthman of Emory University in Atlanta has found that traditional societies have surprisingly different sleep customs than ours. Other maverick researchers have also come out of the woodwork to report that it's quite common for people in non-industrialized societies to go to bed early, sleep for a few hours, then wake up in the middle of the night to record dreams, meditate, contemplate, make art, or make love. Then it's back to bed for a final few hours of slumber. Yet another apparently sound way of getting sleep is to spend less time in nighttime rest but nap more during the day—the pattern of Thomas Jefferson and Winston Churchill.

If falling asleep is the problem, stress is the likely culprit. An active yoga routine during the day might be the answer.

"Regular asana practice can squeeze out the tension," says John Schumacher of Unity Woods Yoga Center near Washington, D.C. Try winding down with calming poses such as forward bends, twists, simple inversions (such as lying with your feet up the wall), and gentle breathing. Carol Dickman of Yoga Enterprises in New York recommends deep belly breathing. "Lying on your back with your eyes closed, gently place your hands on your belly," she says. "Inhaling, feel your belly expand and rise up to the ceiling. As you exhale, feel it contract, visualizing your belly button coming closer to the spine." Or try her audiotape "Bed Top Yoga" (888-937-9642), which has developed a cult following among former insomniacs.