I have helped a lot of people overcome Insomnia with the regular practice of the following yoga poses.
Bhramari Pranayama or called Humming Bee Breath is very effective for insomnia as it is calm breath practice that helps to calm and massage your brain with the humming sound of practice. It can also help people who have been taking sleeping pills as it directly affects with the humming sound. Releasing of dopamine will help you to release tension from your body and help get sound sleep.
Tadasana helps to release blockages from the joints. This is also balancing asana
Any balancing practice is good for your brain and release of stress. If you release stress, you will get sound sleep.
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Bhujangasana yoga asana helps to activate all your chakras, endocrine glands, thyroid, adrenal gland as well as affect your spine. This is very good for insomnia, excellent for people who might suffer from mild depression as well as well as very good for the back and spine.
Tree Pose helps develop your personality and balance your emotion. It also helps release all thoughts from brain and help to concentrate.
Savasana helps to receive tension in your mind.
Studies Prove Yoga And Meditation Can Help Insomnia And Sleep Disorders
Did You Know Sleep Disorders Are On The Verge Of Becoming Global Epidemic?
As per INDEPTH WHO-SAGE study conducted on o0ver 40,000 adults belonging to 8 different countries from Asia and Africa, 16.6% of the subject group reported facing severe sleep related disorders.[1] While the percentage might not seem to be too alarming, sleep disorder cases are growing at a steady rate, nearing an epidemic state.
As As per statistics available on the CDC website, 35.2% of all adults in the United States of America alone are getting less than 7 hours of sleep, which is the bare minimum in order to ensure good health.[2]
See: Yoga Helps You & Your Baby For Gestational Diabetes
Are You Suffering From Sleep Disorders And Other Modern Lifestyle Related Issues?
Modern day lifestyle has come under scrutiny time and again. The stress and pressure a person has to undergo at various stages has taken its toll on the mental as well as physical wellbeing of almost every person, children and adults alike. While there are numerous medications available for various medical issues, it has been proven time and again that none is as effective and safe as yoga, when it comes to improving the physical and mental health, combating issues such as depression, insomnia, loss of hair, and such other, that are linked to modern lifestyle problems.[3] And, the best part is, practicing yoga does not have any side-effects. Today, yoga has been proven to help with all the aforementioned issues, as well as more.
Insomnia Cases Are On The Rise And You Might Not Be Aware That You Are Suffering
Sleep is an important part of our daily life. It is the natural mechanism to keep the body healthy and functioning in the perfect manner. However, with modern lifestyle taking precedence over the need of sleep, various sleep deprivation issues and other linked health issues have become quite common among the general population. As per a study carried out among OPD patients visiting a hospital in Bengaluru in India, 33% of the adult population participating in the study were found to be suffering from chronic insomnia, and 27% of insomnia patients actually did not even perceive the problem for what it is.[4]
Data from the CDC shows that 10% of the adult US population is suffering from chronic insomnia. The worst part is that insomnia causes numerous other ailments as well. While there are medications available, they do come with various side effects. However, as per research conducted in recent years, mind-body therapies have had great success in ensuring improvement of sleep quality and treating insomnia. Mind-body therapies included various methods that include meditation and yoga for insomnia treatment.
Researches And Case Studies On the Effectiveness Of Yoga In Dealing With Insomnia And Related Ailments
A case-study[5] on a group of 4506 participants included carrying out 49 case studies using various mind-body therapy methods. The group was a heterogeneous mix of healthy individuals as well as clinical patients. While the benefits of the treatments were more prevalent among the healthy individuals, there was considerable improvement in terms of treatment of insomnia and sleep disorder of the entire group. Using various sub-groups and control groups, the study clearly established the benefits of yoga and meditation in treating insomnia and sleep related disorders. This, in turn gave way to studying the effects of yoga and meditation on various other ailments linked with sleep deprivation, such as stress, high blood-pressure, hair loss, and such others. One of the primary and known reasons behind hair loss among many individuals is irregular sleep, resulting from stress or other factors. Today, even doctors are recommending yoga for good sleep and stress relief. Quite clearly, yoga is a great way to ensure arrested hair loss.
Another study carried out on medical professionals specifically, due to the demanding nature of the profession, provided clear and promising indications that meditation yoga for stress relieving is one of the best available treatments, and helped treat various issues related to these.[6] Given the nature of work any healthcare professional have to undertake, there is a need for them to remain in their best shape. Meditation and yoga have helped the observed group of medical professionals keep their focus constant and ensure a better lifestyle even while handling high priority and stressful cases.
See: Best Sleep Disorders holistic providers near me (or online)
Outcome: Good
Summary
Yoga and meditation are great and highly effective mind-body treatment means. They have numerous positive effects, as is evident from the case studies carried out by researchers on various groups. Since there is no known side-effects, it is also one of the best means to counter the modern-day ailments such as insomnia and sleep deprivation, and related issues.
References
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Stranges, S., Tigbe, W., Gómez-Olivé, F. X., Thorogood, M., & Kandala, N. B. (2012). Sleep problems: an emerging global epidemic? Findings from the INDEPTH WHO-SAGE study among more than 40,000 older adults from 8 countries across Africa and Asia. Sleep, 35(8), 1173–1181. doi:10.5665/sleep.2012
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Watson NF, Badr MS, Belenky G, et al.; Consensus Conference Panel. Joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society on the recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult: methodology and discussion. Sleep. 2015;38:1161-1183
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Woodyard C. (2011). Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality of life. International journal of yoga, 4(2), 49–54. doi:10.4103/0973-6131.85485
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Bhaskar, S., Hemavathy, D., & Prasad, S. (2016). Prevalence of chronic insomnia in adult patients and its correlation with medical comorbidities. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 5(4), 780–784. doi:10.4103/2249-4863.201153
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Wang, X., Li, P., Pan, C., Dai, L., Wu, Y., & Deng, Y. (2019). The Effect of Mind-Body Therapies on Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2019, 9359807. doi:10.1155/2019/9359807
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Cocchiara, R. A., Peruzzo, M., Mannocci, A., Ottolenghi, L., Villari, P., Polimeni, A., … La Torre, G. (2019). The Use of Yoga to Manage Stress and Burnout in Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(3), 284. doi:10.3390/jcm8030284See: Ashwagandha for sleep before bed