YOGA AND INSOMNIA

YOGA AND INSOMNIA

Dr. Priyobarta Maibam, Lecturer, Maharishi Aurobindo Subharti College & Hospital of Naturopathy & Yogic Sciences, Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut

WHAT IS INSOMNIA?

Insomnia is often defined as sleeping difficulties—difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep or sleep of poor quality. Various causes contribute to insomnia, such as use of psychoactive drugs, caffeine, nicotine, cocaine; hormone shifts (including menstruation and menopause); life events including fear, stress, anxiety, emotional or mental tension, work problems, financial stress; certain neurological disorders.

 

Physiologically, major depression leads to alternations in the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, causing excessive release of cortisol which can lead to poor sleep quality. Sleep studies using polysonography have suggested that people who have sleep disruption have elevated nightmare levels of circulating cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone. They also elevate the metabolic rate, which does not occur in people who do not have insomnia but whose sleep is intentionally disrupted during a sleep study. This may be a contributing factor of long-term insomnia.

 

Potential complications of insomnia include lower performance, slowed reaction time, risk of depression, risk of anxiety disorder, poor immune system function, high blood pressure, risk of heart diseases, risk of diabetes and obesity.

 

Medicines such as sleep tablets and other sedatives are available to induce sleep.

BENEFITS OF YOGA THERAPY FOR INSOMNIA

Yoga therapy brings numbers of benefits to people suffering from the insomnia. Various techniques of yoga are available. Patients receive total relaxation and positivity through yoga therapy. Although those sleeping tablets may help to induce sleep, there may be risks of side effects. In addition, they work on the “symptom of the body, but not eliminate the “cause” of it. On the other hand, yoga has no side effects. It is also possible to change the life style through yoga. The causes of insomnia will be removed by the continuous practices of yoga.

 

DIFFERENT YOGA TECHNIQUES FOR INSOMNIA

In this section, the following five techniques of yoga are presented, namely, yoga nidra;Omkar and mantra chanting; Asana, pranayama and shatkarma; Meditation; and life style & diet.

YOGA NIDRA

1.YOGA NIDRA

One of the most important and effective practices of yoga for insomnia is yoga nidra (or yogic sleep) as it brings deeper relaxation on both mental and emotional levels. Half an hour practice of yoga nidra is equivalent to four hours of deep sleep. The great aspect of yoga nidra is that there is no contraindication, anyone can practice it. It is also possible to remove stress, pain, emotional blockages, and even bad habits through the practices of yoga nidra. Also, some experiments showed the increase of memory function and learning capacity. Yoga nidra has been applied for treatments of various diseases, including cancer, chronic diseases, psychological disorders, drug addiction, alcoholism and so on.

 

The process of yoga nidra is as follows:

 

  • Relaxation of the body
    Resolve
    Rotation of consciousness
    Awareness of the breath
    Feelings and sensations
    Visualization
    Ending (with remembering the resolve)

The important processes of yoga nidra in this case are: resolve and visualization:

 

Resolve (or sankalpa)

The purpose of resolve is not to fulfill desires, but to create strength in the structure of mind; and to influence and transform the whole life pattern physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. For insomnia patients, it will bring positive effects if they could have a positive and clear resolve and plant it in their mind. It is important to make sure that the patient takes this sincerely as the result depends on their sincerity to attain the goal of the resolve. Also, it should be planted when the mind is relaxed and ready to accept and absorb it.

 

Visualization

Visualization is essential as it relieves pain by stimulating the pituitary gland to release its own potent pain—suppressing compounds. Visualization has to take place when the patient is in sub-conscious level. It is important that the instructor brings the patient to the sub-conscious level by the time of visualization, e.g., the processes of the above rotation of consciousness, awareness of the breath, and feelings and sensations are also important in this regard. The visualization should be created following the sequence of the below three phrases:

 

The first part of visualization: “Before the tsunami event”

 

Description of “before the tsunami”, including happy memories with their family and friends should take place first. It is ideal to draw their happy memory with their lost ones during the initial counselling with the patient and create the script accordingly.

 

The second part of visualization: “Actual description of the tsunami”

 

The description of the tsunami event follows after the description of the happy memory. It is again, ideal to receive the information of the patient’s experience of the tsunami during the counseling and incorporated it into this visualization part.

 

The last part of visualization: “Let ‘it’ go and focus on the present”

 

Lastly, it is important to ensure that “it is all over now” and “let it go”. It encourages them to remove their sad memories of tsunami from their sub-conscious mind. After this ensuring part, the visualization must finish with an image that evokes profound feeling of peace and calmness.

 

In case of the patients suffering from insomnia, it might not be necessary to repeat visualisation. It will be ideal to conduct yoga nidra before they go to bed as they can totally relax themselves during the practice of yoga nidra, which is necessary to fall into asleep. The instructor also has to make sure to arrange the ideal environment before the practice (light, temperature, noise, etc.).

 

OMKAR CHANTING

2.OMKAR AND MANTRA CHANTING

Omkar chanting brings positive effects to the patient. The vibration of this sound brings calmness in the mind. The cells of the body would be harmonized as each cell of the body is made by various atoms which carry electrons—vibrations. Even listening to the chanting helps to reduce blood pressure.

PRANAYAMA

3.ASANA, PRANAYAMA AND SHATKARMA

All asanas, pranayamas and shatkarma are beneficial for the treatment of insomnia. A brief introduction and benefits of each practice are presented below.

 

Benefits of asana practices

In the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, asana is defined as “comfortable and steady postures (sthiram sukham aasanam)”. In this contest, one can develop control of the body through the asana practices and further enable to control the mind as well. More importantly, insomnia patients can develop awareness on their body and mind, which is beneficial for the treatment of insomnia.

 

Benefits of pranayama practices

Pranayama is generally defined as breath control. The ‘prana’ means ‘vital energy’ or ‘life force’; ‘yama’ means ‘to control’; and ‘ayama’ means ‘extension’ or ‘expansion’. As such, pranayama utilizes breathing to influence the flow of prana or life force. Through the practices of pranayama, patients gain great benefit of controlling their mind. However, it is important for patients to start practicing deep breathing for preparation of pranayama. Deep breathing practices bring patients various benefits—calmness, relaxation, more oxygen to organs, massage effects on inner organs and so on.

 

Benefits of shatkarma

‘Shat’ means ‘six’ and ‘karma’ means ‘action’; the shatkarma consists of six groups of purification or cleansing practices to attain physical and mental balance. It is also used to balance the three doshas or humours in the body (kapha, pitta and vata). According to both ayurveda and hatha yoga, an imbalance in the doshas will result in illness. It is essential to be personally instructed as to how and when to perform them, according to individual limitations and needs. For patients of insomnia , vaman dhauti (regurgitative cleaning) is especially recommended as it helps to release the suppressed emotional stress along removing excess mucus and accumulated acidity from the stomach.

MEDITATION

4.MEDITATION

Meditation practices harmonize our perceptions, thinking, emotions and behaviours. It is good to make a balance between the body and the mind. Ideally, the patients sits in any comfortable meditation posture and practice meditation.

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *