For a long time I wasn’t able to switch off at the end of the day, I did more and more things, chores, watched some stuff on TV and went to bed way too late only to lay awake thinking about everything and everyone. This has changed and besides some more conscious wind down routines, I discovered Yoga Nidra meditation, a guided mediation that can teach you to wind down.
Sleep is vital for our health & wellbeing- but why exactly?
Sleep is a state of unresponsiveness. We spend a third of our lives asleep and this unresponsive state gives our body the opportunity to restore, to repair tissue, to synthesise hormones etc.
Ongoing research is diving deep into the mystical world of sleep which seems to predominantly affect our brain - for example sleep is playing an important role in memory consolidation.
Another hypothesis suggests that during sleep, a pruning of excess connections (synapses) in the brain happens, a kind of cleaning up. A study result published in the journal Nature indicated that the brain utilises sleep to flush out toxins. This waste removal system might play an important role in protection from neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers.
Poor sleep has devastating effects on our health, performance and emotional wellbeing. Most often, it is our mind that keeps us up as we haven’t given ourselves enough time to wind down or to process our thoughts.
What affects your ability to fall asleep with ease?
Stress - feeling of overwhelm, constantly high cortisol levels and a tense body
Irregular bed times, naps during the day
Blue light emitting devices
Worrying at the end of the day - the inability to switch off, to mentally digest the day and let go
Full stomach/ too late dinner / digestive systems still active
Stimulants such as too much/late coffee (chocolate contains caffeine too!) or alcohol
Certain medications
How constant stress can mess with your ability to fall asleep and/or sleep through the night
The body clock works best if there is a regular sleep routine- you wake in the morning, move through your day and you will start to feel sleepy around bed time- which is ideally between 9 and 11pm.
If we look at our biochemistry for a moment, two major hormones play a role in our sleep/wake rhythm: cortisol and melatonin. In the morning hours, there is a peak of cortisol release into the body, which slowly decreases over the course of the day –like a slow release pill that wears off just in time for bed. That is when the sleep promoting hormone melatonin kicks in to make you drowsy, switch off and find sleep.
So the ideal scenario in a simplified way looks somewhat like this:
graph adapted from bepure.co.nz
When chronically stressed, the body is urged to pump out cortisol most of the time and this release does not decline towards the evening as it should. With no time to unplug and let go of the day, it is hard to switch off at night, you have difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep.
This can stem from the fact that you can’t switch from a busy, actively thinking brainwave state to a relaxed brainwave state - you are kind of stuck in the overthinking, highly alert brainwave states that you used all day.
Yoga Nidra prepares your body & mind for sound sleep
A regular Yoga practice and especially Yoga Nidra (Yogic sleep) meditation are great ways to find back to a place of stillness amidst mental overwhelm and a stressed and tense body.
This guided Yoga Nidra meditation has scientifically been shown to slow brainwave activity.
It teaches you to switch from the highly active, thinking state to a relaxed state. This goes hand in hand with relaxation of the body and mind. It is a gradual letting go to a stage of almost falling asleep.
Yoga Nidra can be used as a tool to teach you to unwind and let go of your day (with all those judgments, opinions, to do lists etc), and is therefore an effective preparation for sound sleep.
Have you tried it yet?
Deeply restore and find your peaceful place with this free guided 25min meditation:
The bottom line is- you need to find what gets you out of the mental hamster wheel and allows you to return to yourself. That might be Yoga, meditation, a walk, drawing etc. Make that a routine, so you can wind down, mentally digest your day and sleep better!
If you would like to try Improve your relaxation response and help regulate your nervous system with Yoga and Yoga Nidra, check out this Yoga toolkit: Rest and Restore.
Rest & Restore: online
Do you want to explore Yoga Nidra and Yoga practices at home, to consciously wind down and release stress & tension from your day?
Get this Yoga toolkit for your home practice!
Take action to reduce overwhelm and stress, you will be rewarded with a feeling of wellbeing and ease. And this makes us a better person to be with in this world!
Take care of yourself and your sleep,
Simone x