WH ICH C OM E S F IR ST : R E ST F U L S L E E P OR A NO U R ISH I NG YO GA P R AC T I C E ? By Michelle D. Williams
I
have this goal to get up early to do my yoga practice. I envision about 20 minutes of pranayama, followed by a half hour break for tea and kitty pets, then another 30–60 minutes of asana practice. It seems simple on paper,
If you don’t jump on the sleep train when it comes to your station, it will take off and leave you behind.
especially since I work at home for myself and have no kids to get out the door. to miss out on things. If friends are going out or having a dinner But I continually fail at this goal. And it’s often because I’d
party, I want to be there. If there’s an interesting performance
rather sleep a little longer. Sleep has been a lifelong issue for
to be seen or a few in one week, I’ll try to fit them all in. I take
me—falling asleep in particular. Even as a kid, I’d lie awake at
dance classes and poetry classes and join book groups and
night, first listening to the low murmurings of Johnny Carson
work on crafty projects in the basement.
coming from the living room, and then, after my mom went to bed, listening to the furnace shutting on and off, or the crickets
Other things can interfere with my ability to fall asleep, like
singing outside, or the trains coming and going in the distance.
having a huge dinner or drinking too much alcohol, working past my bedtime, or messing around with Facebook and email.
But sleep is just as important to our overall well-being as eating
Also, I slept in the same bed as my mother until I was seven
healthy foods and getting plenty of exercise. According to the
years old, which was wonderful in many ways. But I remember
Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, sleep
that adjusting to sleeping in my own bed was a challenge, so on
plays a critical role in immune function, metabolism, memory,
some very deep level, I think going to bed and falling asleep
learning, and other vital functions. Sleep gives the body an
strikes fear of being alone.
opportunity to repair and rejuvenate itself. New research shows that many of the major restorative functions in the body like
Over the years, as I became more proactive in taking care of my
muscle growth, tissue repair, growth hormone release, and
own well-being, I made positive changes to my diet, began to
protein synthesis occur mostly, or in some cases only, during
exercise more, and developed a yoga practice, but I still found it
sleep. Other rejuvenating aspects of sleep are specific to the
difficult to focus on my sleep habits. After all, sleep is a passive
brain and cognitive function. A recent study revealed a link
activity. Even though I knew I struggled with insomnia, I still
between sleep and brain plasticity, which is the brain’s ability to
thought I should be able to get into bed, close my eyes, and
change and restructure itself. The benefits list goes on.
sleep would just happen. Of course, when I was younger, I could get by on less sleep.
So why, then, do so many of us neglect our sleep? Many people get by on just five or six hours of sleep a night. We live such
But these days, a poor night’s sleep takes its toll. For me, that
busy, amped-up lives that it’s difficult to get to bed early. We
means not getting out of bed quite as early as I’d like to, so I’m
work long hours and then pack our evenings full of
groggy. My yoga practice gets cut short, or I’m late to start work.
extracurricular activities, meetings, projects, and chores. Or we
It can also mean that I’m fatigued throughout the day, or I don’t
sit on the couch watching episode after episode of our favorite
think as clearly and creatively as I’d like to, or I don’t have the
cable TV (or BBC—Downton!) shows late into the night.
energy to work on the more challenging asanas in my practice.
Once we do crawl under the covers, our minds are still active,
Does Poor Sleep Disturb My Practice?
going over interactions from the day and planning for
I decided to consider my difficulties in getting good sleep—or
tomorrow or next week—or next month even. So we end up
my resistance to working on my sleep habits—in the context of
with insomnia or just a very truncated sleep cycle.
the obstacles outlined in Sutra I:30. Patanjali’s obstacles get in
Sleep Interferes With Life
the way of attaining a calm mind, which has a huge impact on sleep. Mr. Iyengar groups the obstacles into four categories:
My own difficulties in going to sleep have stemmed from different issues at different times in my life. I’ve always had a
PHYSICAL
very active, analytical brain and a nervous system that does not
• Vyadhi (illness). When I’m sick, I often don’t sleep well.
quiet down easily. Also, I’m a person who definitely doesn’t like
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Even if my physical being is just a little out of balance, I can
Yoga Samachar Spring/Summer 2014
