HAUTE WELLNESS
Anantara Peace Haven Tangalle
SLEEP SOLUTIONS Y
OU KNOW THE DRILL. EXHAUSTED, YOU FALL INTO bed, but then you can’t fall asleep. Some nights you may fall asleep instantly, then wake a few hours later, your heart racing, your mind going over every conversation you’ve had, and everything that has shamed you since kindergarten. Some nights you don’t even try to sleep—what’s the point? As it turns out, sleep deprivation is serious. According to many studies, it ranks up there with poor diet and lack of exercise. When the situation becomes chronic, it can lead to profound health issues, from diabetes to obesity. Further, some research has shown that when you experience a 24-hour period without sleep, your body responds as if you’ve got a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10. That makes you illegal to drive in most states—let alone work, get the kids to school, or live your life. The ongoing pandemic has brought sleep issues to the forefront. Various studies report that nearly 40 percent of the world’s population has fretted their way through the agony of wakeful nights during the disease’s tenure. We all have our remedies to fight sleeplessness: hot milk, chamomile tea, aromatherapy, a boring book, melatonin, or magnesium. For me, it’s this: When I studied yoga in India, a teacher taught me
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BY BECCA HENSLEY
a cure. He told me to stop worrying about when I might fall asleep by putting myself into shavasana, that corpse-like pose that ends every yoga practice. Ideally, it’s an hypnotic place between wakefulness and sleepiness. “Do this, and you won’t need to sleep,” he said. “Do this and you will get 80 percent of the benefits of the best sleep you’ve ever had.” I don’t know if his method has been scientifically proven, but for me, the shavasana trick works like a charm. When I find myself restless, I lie still and engage in corpse pose, letting images of waves on the sand wash over my brain and clear any intruding thoughts. When I do that, I either fall asleep after a short spell or I lie semi-awake all night, but without the agony that comes from obsessing over my lifelong list of misdeeds or plans for a better tomorrow. Miraculously, as my teacher promised, after a night of shavasana, I do feel well rested when I leave bed and start the day. While that yogic trick amounts to just one suggestion, a slew of spas and hotels have begun to address the world’s ubiquitous sleep problem and woven sleep aids into their repertoire, from bona fide spa treatments to in-room amenities. We’ve rounded up a few for your reference. Here comes the sandman!
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANANTARA PEACE HAVEN TANGALLE
These Hotels Know a Good Night’s Snooze Makes a Difference
