Sleep, beautiful sleep!

Sleep feels amazing because it’s the ultimate reset button for our body and mind. After a long day, crawling into bed is like plugging yourself into the nearest charger – you can almost hear the body sigh in relief. It’s that cozy moment when you’re not carrying any weight on your shoulders, both literally and figuratively. As we drift off, our bodies kick into high gear fixing us up, making sure we’re ready to tackle another day. It’s like our own personal pit stop where we get to hit pause on life’s demands, and the comfort of a soft pillow and warm blanket only sweetens the deal.

When we sleep, our body goes into maintenance mode. Think of it as your own nightly tune-up. Your muscles relax, your breathing slows down, and the hustle of your thoughts takes a backseat to calm and quiet. This downtime is when the body does its repair work – fixing the wear and tear of muscles, cleaning up the day’s metabolic mess, and giving our brains the chance to sort and file the day’s experiences. It’s not just about getting rest; it’s about giving ourselves the care we need.

And let’s not overlook the brain benefits. Good sleep can turn a cloudy mind sunny again. It helps with learning, memory, and making decisions. When we get enough shut-eye, we can think more clearly, remember more readily, and choose more wisely. It’s like sleep tidies up the mind, sweeping away the clutter so we can see things more clearly.

What you can find in this post:

What does good sleep mean?

Good sleep, often referred to as “quality sleep,” is characterized by several key factors that contribute to the rejuvenation of the body and mind. Here’s the lowdown:

• Duration: It’s not just about clocking hours but getting the right amount of uninterrupted sleep. Adults typically need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night to feel their best, though this can vary slightly from person to person.

• Continuity: Quality sleep means you’re snoozing continuously, not playing hopscotch throughout the night. Waking up frequently interrupts the sleep cycle and can leave you feeling as if you haven’t rested at all.

• Depth: Good sleep involves cycling through all the sleep stages, including both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep. These cycles are crucial for various functions like memory consolidation and physical recovery. The deeper stages of sleep (NREM) are particularly restorative.

• Regularity: Keeping a consistent sleep schedule helps regulate your body’s internal clock, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up naturally.

• Ease of falling asleep: Ideally, falling asleep should take you about 10 to 20 minutes. If it’s much quicker, you might be sleep deprived. If it takes longer, stress or other issues might be keeping you up.

• Feeling refreshed upon waking: If you wake up feeling ready to seize the day (after a yawn and stretch, of course), that’s a solid indicator that you’ve had some good quality snooze time.

Quality sleep is truly a holistic experience. It asks that body, mind and spirit work in harmony for healing and well being. Let’s look at some common figurative language we use around sleep:

•  Sleep like a log – deep physical rest
• Sleep like a baby – mentally or emotionally untroubled
• Sleep with a clear conscience – being at peace with ethical behavior
• Toss and turn – physically unable to rest
• Fever dream – a mix of a troubled mind and body

How are we doing with getting a good sleep?

The simple answer is – not great. Getting a good night’s sleep can sometimes feel like trying to catch smoke – it seems simple until you actually try to do it. For many of us, modern life doesn’t sync up with our body’s natural sleep rhythms. We’re surrounded by screens emitting blue light, tricking our brains into thinking it’s daytime, right when we’re gearing down for bed. Stress, too, is a notorious bedfellow, keeping our minds churning with to-do lists and worries instead of counting sheep. Plus, with the hustle culture applauding those who burn the midnight oil, our society often views sleep as a luxury rather than a necessity, putting restful nights at a premium. 

Looking at the facts, the average American’s sleep is like a patchy quilt – it’s got some good parts, but it’s frayed in more places than one. According to the CDC, one in three adults don’t get enough sleep, with the recommended sweet spot of 7 or more hours per night often missed. And it’s not just about the quantity but the quality too. The National Sleep Foundation suggests that while 35% of Americans report their sleep quality as “poor” or “only fair,” the reality is a multitude are tossing and turning through the night. It’s a national game of bedtime roulette, with too many of us losing out on the restorative slumber we need to be our best selves.

Yoga to the rescue?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no pose, asana, or sequence that will simply solve our sleep problems. However, there is good news!  If a good night’s sleep is a holistic experience and yoga as a holistic endeavor, one connects deeply  to the other. 

Let’s break down what is meant by yoga.  The vast majority of us thing yoga means poses, sequences, stretching, etc… that yoga is primarily a physical practice. It makes sense that people see yoga this way given all the yoga studios, images in movies and marketing we encounter show yoga as poses.  This is just one piece of yoga and it’s known as asana.  If we look at yoga from the perspective of Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutras (which forms the basis for much of modern yoga), yoga is defined by 8 limbs:

• Yama: These are ethical standards, a way of living in harmony with others, including practices like non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, and non-covetousness.

• Niyama: The self-discipline and spiritual observances you might associate with a yogi lifestyle, like cleanliness, contentment, spiritual austerities, study of sacred texts, and surrender to a higher power.

• Asana: The physical postures of yoga, which are probably what pop to mind when you think of yoga. More than just exercise, asanas are about finding balance and connecting to the body.

• Pranayama: Breath control, the bridge between the body and the mind. It’s all about harnessing the life force in the breath to influence mental, emotional, and physical health.

• Pratyahara: Sensory transcendence, where you learn to draw your awareness away from the external world and outside stimuli, honing your focus inward.

• Dharana: Concentration, or the practice of binding the consciousness to a single point, thought, or object, setting the stage for deep meditation.

• Dhyana: Meditation or contemplation, the uninterrupted flow of concentration. It’s like leveling up from dharana, where the observer becomes fully immersed in the object of meditation.

• Samadhi: The ultimate goal, a state of ecstasy, where the meditator merges with their point of focus and transcends the self altogether. It’s like the union of a drop with the ocean.

  For yoga to be a truly holistic practice, we need to practice in a holistic fashion. We engage the body in asana, but we also look to our ethical guidelines, self-discipline, breath work meditation and more to engage our mind, heart and body.  

  Getting back to yoga and sleep, when our yoga practice supports mind, heart, body and spirit, we can begin to see the ripple effect of practice through all aspects of our life.  This, of course, includes sleep.  

Some yoga to set sail for a better night’s sleep

Let’s take our first dive into how yoga can improve our sleep. This sequence should take about 10-15 minutes (longer is a little better). Take the movements slowly and breath calmly throughout.  I suggest that you prepare for bed before you start. Brush, floss, put on jammies, put your phone away, dim the lights, and start with a few minutes of seated meditation. In a quiet place, just focus on the rise and fall of your breath.  If your mind is racing, don’t get frustrated, just let the thoughts come and go like a bunch of leaves floating down a stream. Slowly, the leaves will become fewer and further between.   Then do the series of poses below.

After you finish the sequence, slip under the covers with as little disruption as possible.

Stay tuned for more

Yoga and quality sleep is a bit of a crusade of mine, so please keep an eye out for more posts with detailed sequences, meditations and more.  Sign up for my newsletter (in the footer) if you want these posts delivered to your inbox once a month (or sometimes twice). 

Sleep well!