The Yoga of Sleep

September 6th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

“There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.”

My dog, Archie, a cute, white, 10 pound Bichon Frise, has no problem sleeping. He takes naps all day long. When it’s time to play or go for a walk, he’s all there, ready to go, jumping in 360-degree circles and full of life. My cat, Suzie Q, a black, demure being who we sometimes feel has shamanistic qualities, also has no problem sleeping. Last time I checked, most other animals like the birds out my window or my horses at the barn, don’t have any problem sleeping either. Our family enjoys deep slumber on a regular basis as well. I realized that I took sleep for granted.

That’s why, when I heard that Michael Jackson paid massive, unthinkable amounts of money and took dangerous risks just to get a good night’s sleep, I began to take a closer look at what’s going on.

About 60 million Americans a year (that’s 1 in 5) have insomnia frequently or for extended periods of time, according to the National Institute of Health.

Hmmm … the yoga teacher in me diagnoses this as a matter of mind. Mind in this context is everything from all the thoughts a person has to every feeling and emotion connected and in between. The whole enchilada. What I found is that most people don’t understand the difference between their mind and themselves.

The mind is a mechanistic muscle. The current paradigm fosters, demands and rewards 24/7 machinery. It doesn’t have infrastructure to support us to slow down or even pause. Adjectives like he or she is “driven, passionate, tough, committed, dedicated, or expert in the field,” seem to stoke the fire that fuels a person’s mind to be going 24/7. As a yoga teacher, I’m aware that the body and mind need to be cleared and cleaned out, just like you do with your car. You don’t leave the engine running all the time, and neither are we designed to do that with our minds. When your car takes a blow or gets into an accident, you take the time to repair.

When upsetting or traumatic events interrupt one’s life, there’s not usually time to digest the experience. For sure, the existing paradigm does not support an individual to emotionally or physically digest such disturbing events. In 1998, I found out my mother was diagnosed with cancer and was told she had 6 months to live. The experience was as if the ground beneath me had given way. During the 6 months of her dying, I couldn’t feel any emotional stability, at least not coming from the outside world. I took to my yoga mat as if my life depended on it. During this time, other family members took anti-anxiety drugs in order to cope with the loss of our Mom. I experienced crippling, burning, shattering grief. I gave myself the time to “be with” these sensations every time I did my yoga, and the experience was one of slowly, tediously and successfully digesting life/death.

It takes great strength to tell the current paradigm, “F* off! I’m going to take some time out for me, to digest and repair.” Many times the universe uses trauma or upsetting events to get you to pay attention. The momentum of society, however, is so strong that even with red flags like these, we usually don’t notice the signs. The end result, which needn’t come as a surprise, often shocks us and stops us in our tracks. One way or another, we have to digest life, to clear and repair.

My favorite class to teach is sunrise yoga. I get up at 3 AM in order to teach a 6:15 AM class. Everyone else gets up around 5-5:30. The feedback from my students is that after this outrageous class their day is filled with light and buoyancy. And … that night they have the deepest sleep of the week! Interesting.

I invite you to exercise your right to take care of yourself regardless of what your mind thinks, your boss thinks, your family thinks or your friends think. This is tough, because you have to slow down enough and pay attention to what you really need. What do you need at this time? If you can’t rest your head on a pillow at night and go to sleep easily, your mind needs to be cared for. Pills or alcohol won’t do for your mind what you can do for it.

I’ve often told my students that as they practice their yoga moves, they’re flossing between the thoughts and emotions. Dentists say, “Floss only the teeth you want to keep.”

I say, floss your mind if you want to stay sane, and sleep well!

“If the inner mind has been tamed, the outer enemy cannot harm you.”  –Atisa, 982-1054, Tibet