In the past two years, the pandemic has been impacting the lives of millions of people around the globe. From lockdown to self isolation, habits have been changed drastically, confronting people with a new definition of “normal life”. Amongst the many impacts monitored and reported by scientists, sleep disturbances are one of the many effects of this pandemic, leading to the creation of the word “coronasomnia”.
Sleepless nights seem to be one of the most common symptoms of our never resting society or maybe our new norm. CEO of Netflix, Reed Hasting says: “Netflix’s biggest competition is sleep”. Sleep is one of our most natural basic needs and yet one of the most critical ones. In the past 2 years, I’ve encountered a numerous amount of people complaining about their sleep. From not being able to fall asleep, to waking up multiple times during the night or waking up too early in the morning, it felt like everyone I was meeting had a bad relationship with their sleep.
So what can we do?
Recent studies have shown very interesting results on the long term treatment of insomnia. According to the article, Yoga, CBT provide long term improvement in Insomnia, Worry, released last September, the study shows the link between insomnia and anxiety/worry but also how CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and yoga have a positive impact in treating insomnia on the long run. Both having equal results 6 months after the treatment.
As a yoga therapist and insomniac in recovery, I wanted to say "makes sense, duhhh"!!! Treating insomnia is not only addressing sleep issues but most importantly understanding what is bothering our clients at night. To do so, it requires to investigate some of the main pillars of yoga therapy:
physical body: is there any physical issues that needs to be addressed by medical specialists? For exemple: sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, any other pathologies, ...
mind and emotional body: is there any mental health issues to be addressed by a counselor or mental health professional ? Is insomnia related to any mental health issues? Anxiety and/or running thoughts during the night? PTSD? Depression? Trauma?
breath: is my client breathing efficiently? Can they perform functional breathing? Do they know any breathing practice that can induce relaxation?
lifestyle: how stressful is the life of my client? What is their bedtime routine? Their coffee consumption? What and when do they eat? Do they move during the day? Do they have a snoring partner or young children? How do they manage their energy level during the day?
Working towards sleeping well again doesn't happen overnight. But one thing is sure, yoga therapy has a lot to offer for those who can't switch off at night.
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