5 Best Yoga Poses to Sleep Better

Stress, anxiety or just using your laptop or phone too much, living through the Coronavirus pandemic can surely take a toll on your beauty sleep. You may have often heard that we need to sleep for at least 8 hours to look and feel our best. However, if you cannot manage to clock your daily requirement of snooze time, here's help. 

 Yoga and wellness expert Neha Ahuja, the founder of Kaashi Wellness, shares some relaxing and super-easy asanas that can help you sleep blissfully. 

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra or yogic sleep is a powerful meditation technique that is also one of the easiest yoga practices to develop and maintain. For this, the practitioner rests comfortably in shavasana (corpse pose), this systematic meditation takes you through the pancha maya kosha (five layers of self), leaving you with a sense of wholeness. Regularly practicing at least 20 minutes of Yoga Nidra can help improve your quality of sleep.

Benefits
Excellent for dealing with anxiety. Helps calm the nervous system
Eliminates toxins from the body through breath Releases Endorphins

Bhramari Pranayam

Bhramari Pranayama or the bumble bee breathing can be performed anywhere. This breath practice is named after a type of black Indian bee due to the bee-like buzzing sound produced while exhaling. Try doing this for 5-7 minutes to sleep soundly.

Benefits
Calms the nervous system
Oxygenates every cell of the nervous system
Releases endorphins

Anulom Vilom 

This is the alternate nostril breathing practice. Start by sitting in any meditative posture of your choice such as Sukhasana or  Padmasana. Now, using the right thumb, block the right nostril. Then, inhale from the left nostril and close it. Release the right nostril and exhale from it. Continue this alternating cycle for 7-10 minutes.

Benefits
Improves oxygen levels
Remove stagnant thoughts

Child’s Pose

This is an incredibly relaxing pose. Get in position by lowering the hips to the heels and forehead to the floor. Have the knees together or if more comfortable, spread the knees slightly apart. The arms can be overhead with the palms on the floor, the palms or fists can be stacked under the forehead, or the arms can be alongside the body with the palms up.

Benefits

Sleeping in child pose for 5-7 minutes will help you ease the pain and soreness in the body allowing you to sleep deeply for a longer period of time

Makarasana

Lie on your stomach and bend your right leg, creating a 45-degree angle with your thigh and calf. Allow your left leg to lie straight behind you. Place your left cheek on your mat and gaze to the right. Place your hands underneath your left cheek, creating a pillow. Rest in this pose for up to 15 minutes. Breathe deeply.

Benefits

It is an excellent posture to improve the quality of sleep as it removes pain from the back.