Yoga Health Secrets

Yoga for insomnia and fatigue 

Next your clothing. It would seem unnecessary to mention this, but I am certain that far too many people wear too much clothing when they go to bed. Jumpers, cardigans, bed-jackets and socks are piled on over pyjamas and nighties, and heads are tied up in all kinds of scarves. But why? In winter why not one warm, cosy nighty or a pair of pyjamas, high necked and long sleeved, and in summer a wisp of nylon is all you need. Let your body b-r-e-a-t-h-e while you sleep. If you are cold add more blankets but do not, please, choke yourself to death.

It is often said that for most people the best sleep is before midnight. I do not necessarily agree with this and would gladly trade four hours of really deep natural sleep for eight hours of tossing, fitful dozing which for many people passes for sleep. You can easily work out for yourself how many hours of sleep you need in order to work at your maximum efficiency the next day. And do not make the common mistake of imagining you need more sleep than you actually do. Eight hours is what most people take to mean a good night’s sleep but many people need only five or six, others need nine or ten. So make sure that you are not one of the former, as you may be getting your five or six hours of good sleep that you need and tossing about for the other two or three thinking that you suffer from insomnia. Do watch yourself carefully before you decide whether you need a cure for insomnia at all.

I find it restful to keep a book on my bedside table. No thrillers or ghost stories please. We are dealing with insomnia in this chapter and we cannot have you afraid to go to sleep being convinced that someone, or worst still SOMETHING has come to ‘get you’. There is some controversy about plants and flowers being left in bedrooms overnight. My advice is to remove them if you can, for the carbon dioxide they give off at night will not help you one bit in this battle against your insomnia. Do sleep in a well-ventilated room with at least one window open, and if possible the door as well. A stuffy, overheated bedroom causes more headaches and insomnia than can be estimated.

Finally, place your bed so that you sleep with your head to the north and your feet to the south, or if this is absolutely impossible, sleep with your head to the south and your feet to the north. What you must avoid, you see, is sleeping across, instead of parallel to, the magnetic force lines of the earth. If again you accuse me of being fanciful, I can only tell you that I have known many people who have cured their insomnia, and its resulting stress ailments, simply by altering the position of their bed so that they lie parallel to the magnetic force lines of the earth. If you are skeptical (and you are a chronic insomniac) why not try it? You may be agreeably surprised.