Sleepless in Studio City

Last night was one of those “toss and turn”, sleepless nights which prompted me to do a little statistical research on insomnia. Even though I only have a sleepless night rarely now, I have had difficulty sleeping on and off for as long as I can remember. Only in recent years, have I learned several ways to manage my sleep issues and not feel so alone with my intermittent insomnia.

About a year ago, I entered a sleep study at UCLA to help those of us who had gone through breast cancer treatment and were now experiencing insomnia. There appears to be a connection between breast cancer treatment and insomnia. I met a lot of people who were not meeting their minimum sleep requirements in this study. Additionally, a social worker friend of mine told me that most of her patients report problems with sleep. Why are so many people having trouble sleeping, and what can we do about it?

I have read several statistics on how many people have trouble with sleep (or lack of it). The National Sleep Foundation reports about 47 million adults have trouble sleeping. The National Center on Sleep reports an even higher number of over 100 million people have some symptoms of insomnia during a year. Some people are not sleeping because of medical conditions; others are awake because of stress; older adults and women subject to menstruation, pregnancy and menopause are also subject to experiencing insomnia. Whatever, the cause, we have an epidemic!

If you are one of the people with symptoms of insomnia that can include difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently, irritability to name a few, what can you do? Begin by discussing your symptoms with your physician, then deciding on a course of action.

Part of your plan might include looking at your current sleep environment. In this article I am going to discuss some conditions that you may want to look into as well as some yoga asanas (postures) that you can do as a routine before bed to calm your mind and your body.

Turning first to your sleeping environment, make sure that your bedroom is quiet, dark and on the cool side. Limit your bedroom to sleep and sex only. No TV’s, computers or reading in bed. Since I can hear the din of traffic from my bedroom, I use earplugs to facilitate a quiet environment. Because I have windows on the east side of my bedroom, I bought “black out” curtains to help darken very early morning light. A few changes in your sleep environment,can help you move toward getting the sleep you need.

Another easy change you can make is to add a nightly relaxing routine. There are a number of ways to relax that you can do before going to bed to help your mind and your body relax. Among them are aromatherapy, meditation, guided imagery and yoga.

Yoga, alone or in combination with other relaxation enhancers, can help stimulate your brain which in turn can help with circulation reducing tension in your body. Below is a list of asanas that can produce a state of calm in your body and mind.

• Standing Forward Bend
• Supported Bridge
• Happy Baby
• Legs on the Wall

This is a partial list. I will be elaborating in future posts. I will also try to include directions on how to do each asana and how to organize a sequence that works for you. I would also include some pranayama with your yoga. One of my favorites is Alternate Nostril Breathing. I think you will find it very relaxing especially if you take it slowly and do it with awareness.

Sweet Dreams!!