Do you have insomnia? Read on to find out more about Yoga for Insomnia.
Sleep is essential and a good night's sleep can help you feel good, look good and think clearly.
But sleep does not always come easily. If you sometimes have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, you are not the only one. A 1991 Gallup study found that more than a third of all Americans suffer from either occasional or chronic insomnia.
More recent studies have shown that nearly a quarter of the population regularly cannot go to, or stay asleep at night, and every year doctors write out more than 14 million prescriptions for sleeping tablets.
The causes of sleeplessness are many and varied. 'It can be due to a medical condition, such as chronic pain from rheumatism or arthritis,' says Professor Jim Horne, who runs the Sleep
Research Laboratory at Loughborough University. 'Or it can be chemical, as a result of drinking tea, coffee or alcohol. Chronic or long-term insomnia is often associated with depression or anxiety, and environmental factors certainly contribute.'
Immediate relief is available, in the form of hypnotic agents, for persons who have difficulty in falling or remaining asleep or who cannot obtain restful, restorative slumber. However, long-term improvement usually involves behavioral therapy. These therapeutic approaches must be integrated if the patient's short- and long-term needs are to be addressed.
Yoga can help you if you are an insomniac. The benefits of yoga include less stress, a greater sense of well being, more oxygen in the blood stream and so the list goes on. The breathing techniques and relaxation techniques that you use in yoga can help you to fall asleep more quickly and certain yoga poses also help insomnia as they increase the blood circulation to the sleep center in the brain.
