If you want to improve your night’s sleep, you should start practicing yoga. A study conducted by Harvard University has discovered that people who do practice yoga on a regular basis for eight weeks only have better and longer night’s sleep than those who do not. Even if you do not have enough time, you can improve your sleep with exercising just one yoga pose: legs-up-the-wall (Viparita Karani).
This pose is a restorative and gentle inversion and helps your body relax at the end of the yoga class. Once you have relaxed your body, your mind can start relaxing and the sleep may follow. You should do this yoga pose, the Legs-up-the-wall before going to bed, or even in the middle of the night when you have troubles falling asleep and waking up.
You can improve the positive effects by adding gentle breathing. This is a convenient pose even for beginners.
Getting Into Legs-Up-The-Wall
Take a sit sideways and have your right side against the wall. Breathe out and swing your legs easily onto the wall, keeping your shoulders and head lightly down on the floor. You can practice even the way how to come to this pose most easily. The sitting bones do not necessarily have to be against the wall. That depends on the tightness of your hamstrings. Try different placements until you find the one that is the most convenient for you.
You are not supposed to feel stretching in the back of the legs, so if you do, move farther away from the wall. Make sure your lower back is grounded to the floor and make a small roll. You can use a hand towel under your neck if you think that the cervical spine at the base of your neck is too flat. Unfasten your shoulder blades away from your spine. Make sure your hands and arms in general are released on the sides and keep the palms up.
