Yoga For Better Sleep

By Nancy Wile

The ability of yoga to reduce muscle tension, slow your heart rate and calm a racing mind provides the perfect recipe for a good night's sleep. There is growing evidence that small behavioral changes in the evening can make a big difference in getting a restful sleep. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that participants who made modifications, like learning relaxation techniques, improved their sleep more than those who took drugs.

Certain yoga exercises will help your body and your mind relax more and prepare for sleep. Here are a few postures and exercises that are particularly helpful:

1) Supported Standing Forward Bend

This gentle yoga posture helps relieve tension in your neck and shoulders while quieting your nervous system.

Steps:

• Fold a blanket and place it on a chair

• Stand facing the chair (about 1 to 2 feet away) with your feet parallel and a little wider than hip width apart

• Fold forward from your hips (keeping your back flat - reaching forward with your chest)

• Place your forehead on the blankets

• Place your hands towards the back of the chair with your forearms resting on the chair (you can also hold onto opposite elbows with your forearms touching the top of your head)

• Let your arms, shoulders, head and face relax completely

• Breathe slowly and deeply through your nose for 12-15 breaths

• Slowly come back up, using your hands to help push you back up

2) Legs Up the Wall

This gentle yoga postures triggers the relaxation response, slowing the heart, breath and brain waves.

Steps:

• Place a mat or blanket flush against a wall

• Sit with your right side next to the wall (legs out in front of you)

• Lean onto your elbows

• Swing your legs up the wall as your head moves away from the wall

• Place your hands at your sides and close your eyes

• Move your head from side to side 4-5 times

• Relax your belly and breathe deeply into your belly - breathing through your nose

• Stay in this position for 2-3 minutes

• Bring your knees to your chest and roll onto your side

• When you are ready, come back to sitting

3) Child's Pose

Child's pose relaxes the back and neck, while gently stretching your spine. It also provides a gentle massage to abdominal organs leading to greater relaxation.

Steps:

• Kneel down and sit back towards your heels as much as you can

• Fold forward from the hips, bringing your upper body to your thighs and your forehead to the floor

• Place your arms on the floor next to your legs with your palms up

• Breathe into your belly, allowing it to expand into your thighs as you inhale and relax as you exhale

• Remain in this position for 8-10 breaths

• Raise your upper body and return to kneeling position

4) Diaphragmatic Breathing

Traditional yogic breathing provides a natural stress release and helps the heartbeat to slow down as the diaphragm stimulates the vagus nerve.
Steps:

• You can start sitting or lying on your back. Since you are trying to sleep, start on your back.

• Place your hands on your belly

• Begin breathing slowly and deeply through your nose

• Breathe into the lower part of your lungs first, allowing your belly to rise on inhale, fall back on exhale

• Allow your belly to naturally rise and fall with breath (no pushing)

• Focus completely on your breath, letting go of other thoughts or distractions.

• Complete 10-12 breaths, then let your breath become natural again

5) Manage your stress

Pay attention to your stress level. Excessive stress can lead to tight and knotted muscles, as well as a racing mind. Taking a yoga class is a great way to not only relieve stress, but to also learn how to manage your stress levels throughout the day. Yoga teaches you how to find peace in every day life, as well as during more stressful times.

To learn tips and yoga exercises for better sleep, visit: http://www.yogatg.com/ys-stress-headache-1.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Wile

Yoga Stories - God's Love Channeled Through Me

By Devidas Varga

I was in a Yoga retreat during an evening program and was watching the evening program remotely with a small crowd of people as the main hall had overflowed. We were standing, watching and listening to the video monitor.
I became aware of a young girl a parked few feet from me, about seven years of age that appeared to be permanently confined to a wheelchair. Her legs were atrophied and she was on oxygen support.

I was half watching the monitor, and half aware of her when a group of kids her age came running around the corner, almost bumping into her as they passed her and disappeared into another room. They did not even look at her. I switched my attention to her and could tell from her face what she was feeling.
She wanted to be able to play but she knew she would never be able to and I knew that she might not have many friends. Her mother obviously loved her, but she needed more than that. I looked at her and could see her eyes were very full of sadness.

My state suddenly changed. It was like a window that opened and I saw into her heart and I sunk into my heart and the only thing that I was aware of was her. Her sadness was my sadness. Her yearning was my yearning.

My heart was so full of love for her that I felt that I could even sense how her body felt to her, as she sat strapped to her wheelchair.

With this compassion blazing in me and while looking at her from the side, she became aware of me and all this energy coming her way. She swung her head towards me, but did not directly look at me, she looked just to my side.

That is how we looked at each other for a while. Me looking into her eyes, she looking just to the side of me. Her eyes were beautiful, clear, and full of feeling.
This drama happened in a small crowd of people, only her and I knew what was going on, even her mother right next to her was not aware.

For that brief period of time I did not exist, all there was, was love. I loved her fiercely, like a father, a mother, a protector, a best friend. For that brief period of time, God’s love channeled through me.

Devidas Varga is a yoga enthusiast and publisher of TakeTimeYoga.com, which is all about how to begin yoga. He has maintained a practice of yoga and meditation for 30 years, living in Ashrams in India and the United States for a decade. He has immersed himself in many styles and promotes the life affirming effects yoga offers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Devidas_Varga

Yoga tips for irregular shift workers

By Arun Goel

Several professionals have a very demanding routine in terms of night shifts. Due to the altered 'body clocks' they end up suffering from several health disorders.

Such kinds of jobs are on the rise with a continuous emphasis on increasing productivity and lowering costs. Most common examples are call center workers, specially those that are serving clients half-way across the globe.

The two most common disorders related to this are Sleeplessness and Constipation

Sleeplessness or Insomnia

This is one of the most common complaints and not surprisingly so. Sleeping during the day is difficult and the general noise and distraction level is high.
It is well known that continuous use of sleeping pills may be detrimental to health. Also, the body develops a progressive resistance to them. Therefore, they should be avoided.

A yoga technique that can be of very great use is the technique of 'Yoga Nidra' or psychic sleep. When practiced correctly, this method produces such deep relaxation that one hour of yoga nidra is equivalent to 4 hours of deep sleep.
This technique can be learned from a yoga teacher or even from a book or tape. To read more on yoga nidra, click here.

Constipation

Although this is a universal problem, it is more common among shift workers.
After midnight, the automatic regulation of metabolic processes has an effect of slowing down the heart rate and the blood circulation. In a person on night-shift, as he sits upright, the blood accumulates around the pelvis, lower abdomen and legs. This causes the blood vessels around the colon to dilate, thereby constricting the passage and resulting in constipation. Prolonged effect of this condition can result in piles.

The yoga solution for this problem is a position called 'Sarvangasana'. This is an inverted position in which the legs are slowly raised up while lying down. In the final position, only the head and neck rests on the floor while the entire torso and legs lie vertical to the ground in the inverted position.

This position helps the accumulated blood in the lower abdomen and legs to move towards the lungs. This helps in the oxygenation of impure blood and the normalization of the colon.

Five minutes of Sarvangasana should be sufficient to counteract the problem of blood stagnation in the lower part o the body.

This is an example of how yoga, as a therapeutic system, can help in relieving several health disorders. If you feel inspired by this article, feel free to publish it in your Newsletter or on your Website. Our humble request is to please include the Resource Box as follows:

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