Yoga Asana Sequence to Alleviate Insomnia

For millions of people, strategies such as taking a warm bath, drinking a glass of warm milk, keeping regular bedtime hours, or counting sheep simply don't work to alleviate their insomnia, to help them fall asleep and stay asleep and feel rested & rejuvenated upon waking. The result is an ever-deepening fatigue, and the anxiety and irritation that so often accompanies that, along with an increased susceptibility to illness and injury, as the body's various systems begin to wear down. With very few exceptions (e.g. advanced spiritual practitioners whose meditations are just as rejuvenating as sleep), we all need a good night's sleep! One of the most powerful tools available to support us in accomplishing this is an intelligent sequence of Yoga asanas, performed under the guidance of a qualified instructor.

The term "Ashtanga Yoga" has in recent years become associated largely with the Ashtanga vinyasa form of Hatha Yoga, originated by Krishnamacharya, transmitted to K. Patabhi Jois, and offered now to Western students by well-known teachers such as Tim Miller, Richard Freeman and Eddie Stern. This latter system is characterized by the interlinking (vinyasa), via sun salutation movements, of particular sequences of asanas. The system is composed of seven distinct series, each defined by its own set of asanas, and designed to accomplish a specific goal (e.g. to purify apana, or to cleanse the nadis).