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Yoga is an ancient practice that has been performed for thousands of years!
The art of yoga binds the body, mind, and soul together in perfect harmony, making it one of the most beneficial physical activities ever created.
Incorporating poses, stretches, breathing exercises, and elements of meditation, yoga is one of the most effective natural activities for general health, and for when it comes to promoting a good night’s sleep.
Sleep is arguably one of the most important things we do for our bodies.
Healthy sleep has tons of health benefits. What is more, one thing is for sure:
GOOD SLEEP IS ESSENTIAL and incredibly important PART of your lucid dream journey, yet many of us fail to get enough of it.
A lack of sleep can:
– increase your risk of illness
– can shave years off your life
– it can lead to psychological health issues such as stress, anxiety, depression,
– it can make lucid dreaming impossible
Yoga offers the perfect solution to getting a healthy night’s sleep, and much more besides.
In this article, we will go through the several spiritual and physical health benefits of yoga and also the yoga benefits for lucid dreaming!
By the end of this article you will find out about:
How can yoga actually help with your sleep?
What is Tibetan Dream Yoga?
The connection between Yoga and ”the sleeping molecule” (melatonin)
Yoga and Meditation
Conclusion
How can yoga actually help with your sleep?
The truth is that for those of you that struggle to sleep at night, yoga is the ideal choice.
The practice of yoga evokes feelings of calmness, relaxation, and peace.
Combine all of these elements together and you have the recipe for the perfect night’s sleep!
Yoga helps you to calm your mind.
While practicing, you won’t feel that your mind overly active, and you won’t have thoughts racing through your head.
It is very similar to meditation!
The poses, and most specifically the breathing, help to free your mind of stress and worry, so you can relax and unwind after a long day.
You can see some of my favorite yoga classes for good night sleep at the end of this article (free youtube videos).
Furthermore, you can check the FREE trial classes at YogaDownload!
What is Tibetan Dream Yoga?
Tibetan Dream Yoga has been known as the yoga of dream state, as well as Yoga Nidra. The idea is to awaken your consciousness in a dream state.
People experience it in the trance between Dream and Sleep!
Tibetan Buddhists who developed dream yoga, believed that instead of falling asleep each night we can use that time to practice waking up.
Usually, it is taught by qualified teachers. The idea is that the person actively engaged in the dream yoga understands their dreams, too.
Tibetan Dream Yoga has a healing and meditative effect! It transfers the practitioner into a deeper state of relaxation.
All in all, Yoga Nidra is:
a soft, relaxing meditation that will help you unwind every part of yourself
ultimate relaxation and rejuvenation experience
the evidence-based transformative practice of deep relaxation
aid for getting rid of negative thoughts and emotions
Tibetan Dream Yoga is arguably the most relaxing form of yoga currently in existence, and it is becoming ever more popular by the day!
The connection between Yoga and ”the sleeping molecule” (melatonin)
When you lack sleep, you become tired, irritable, lethargic, and you produce stress hormones like cortisol, which only make you feel down even further.
Yoga, however, has been proven to improve a person’s mood in a number of ways.
Primarily it promotes the production and secretion of endorphins such as melatonin and serotonin, which not only make us feel happy, but they also help us feel relaxed and can promote a good night’s sleep, therefore – lucid dreams too.
So, not only do produce endorphins, but you also benefit from getting to sleep easier and quicker, so the more sleep you get, the higher is the probability to reach the lucid dream state.
Yoga and Meditation
When people struggle to sleep at night, it is often due to the fact that their minds are racing, thinking about all kinds of things.
Meditation is a part of yoga and yogis have been practicing meditation for thousands of years.
Yoga poses are a great way to prepare the body for meditation.
Furthermore, there is another factor, that is undeniable! The connection between lucid dreaming and meditation.
Meditators have been found to have very high levels of lucidity in sleep.
By improving your attention to the present moment by doing meditation, your awareness will rise, and this whole state of being conscious will increase the likelihood of experiencing lucid dreaming!
But lets’s go back to Yoga and Meditation!
Yoga is not only strengthening the body but also the mind.
Yoga postures were created to systematically prepare the body to meditate, though breathing exercises combined with the poses.
Conclusion
As you can see from the above, yoga provides a number of physical and psychological benefits to practitioners of all ages, genders, shapes, and sizes, and we haven’t even yet scratched the surface.
Whether you wish to work on your lucid dreaming, get a better night’s sleep, become more flexible, or simply enjoy a healthier way of life, yoga is an activity which we can all benefit from.
My favorite yoga class on youtube for better sleep HERE (20 minutes) or here (5 minutes, just before going to sleep).
Or check the endless possibilities that YogaDownload is offering. They have plenty of free videos, as well as a TRIAL subscription for just 1$!