By Christine Saari, MA, C-IAYT
You’ve done the sleep hygiene checklist. You’ve cut caffeine. You’ve taken the melatonin. You’ve limited screens, turned down the thermostat, bought a white noise machine, and maybe even a weighted blanket.
And yet… you’re still awake.
Maybe you can’t fall asleep. Maybe you wake up at 3 a.m. and can’t get back down. Maybe you wake up ten times a night and feel like you never really dipped into rest. Or maybe sleep itself feels scary—because every time you let go, your body panics. Relaxation isn’t safe when you’ve lived through trauma.
Insomnia doesn’t show up the same way for everyone. It has layers. And treating it effectively means understanding which layers are affecting you.
What Causes Insomnia?
Mental health conditions like anxiety, PTSD, and depression are often linked with insomnia. So are hormonal shifts: perimenopause, menopause, adrenal dysfunction, and thyroid imbalances. Chronic pain, digestive issues, overuse of stimulants, and grief can also throw your circadian rhythms completely off track.
And sometimes it’s simply this: your nervous system doesn’t trust that it’s safe to rest.
When the body stays in a state of heightened alertness, even after the stressor is gone, the nervous system keeps signaling danger. Sleep becomes disrupted not because you’re doing something wrong, but because your system has learned to stay ready, just in case.
This isn’t a failure of willpower. It’s a survival response that needs recalibration.
What You’ve Probably Already Been Told to Do for Insomnia
Let’s name the usual suspects. If you’ve struggled with insomnia, your doctor or therapist may have told you to:
- Avoid screens for at least an hour before bed
- Cut caffeine after 2 p.m.
- Stick to the same bedtime and wake-up time daily
- Take melatonin or magnesium
- Try CBT-i (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) to reframe unhelpful sleep thoughts
- Avoid alcohol or heavy meals before bed
- Use your bed only for sleep (and sex) to reinforce behavioral cues
- Get out of bed if you can’t sleep to avoid conditioning your brain to associate your bed with wakefulness
All of these are valid. Many are helpful. But for some people, they only scratch the surface.
When insomnia becomes chronic, especially if it’s linked with anxiety, trauma, hormonal changes, or chronic pain, you need something more nuanced. That’s where yoga therapy comes in.
How Yoga Therapy Approaches Insomnia Differently
Yoga therapy works with the whole system: mind, body, breath, behavior, and even your beliefs about rest. It’s not one-size-fits-all. It’s personalized based on the type of insomnia you’re experiencing and what else is going on in your health physically, mentally, and energetically.
It also includes lifestyle health coaching, not just movement or breath techniques. We look at daily rhythms, your relationship to rest, energy patterns across the day, and your body’s stress responses. Then we tailor simple practices to help your system remember how to rest.
Below are four techniques you probably haven’t tried yet, but should.
1. Create a Bedtime Routine That Talks to Your Hormones
Your circadian rhythm is not just mental, it’s biological. Your nervous system and hormones respond to patterned signals. That means your body wants predictable cues that say, “It’s time to wind down.”
Try this:
After brushing your teeth, spend 3–6 minutes doing one of the following:
- Supine Diaphragmatic Breathing in Constructive Rest
Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and knees resting together. Let your heels fall slightly wide. Rest one or both hands on your belly or chest. Start by noticing your breath. Then shift into inhale for 4, exhale for 6 through the nose. Let the belly rise on inhale and soften on exhale. Stay for 5–10 minutes. This gentle breath rhythm signals safety and helps regulate your nervous system before bed.
- Silent “So Hum” Mantra with Breath
Sit or lie down comfortably. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Notice your natural breath. As you inhale, silently say “So.” As you exhale, silently say “Hum.” Let the breath stay natural. Let the words ride the rhythm. When the mind wanders, return to the breath and mantra. This simple practice helps quiet racing thoughts and prepare your system for rest.
This is not about fixing sleep instantly. It’s about training your system to feel safe and grounded at night through repetition, routine, and rhythm.
2. Skip the Nap. Try Yoga Nidra Instead.
For Fatigue Due to Night Waking
If you deal with chronic night waking and then feel drained during the day, napping can confuse your system even more. But you still need a way to restore depleted energy.
Try this instead:
Around 11 a.m., just before lunch, do a Five Kosha Yoga Nidra session (20–40 minutes). This supine guided meditation practice includes:
- Body scan
- Breath or energy awareness
- Observing thoughts without attachment
- Becoming aware of the space between thoughts
- Resting in an expansive sense of connection
This midday practice supports your nervous system without confusing your sleep cycle. It gives you restorative rest without sleep, which helps balance energy and reduce the urge to crash.
With regular practice, Yoga Nidra trains the brain to enter theta and delta states. These are the same brainwave patterns associated with deep sleep and cellular repair. Over time, you may find your system gets better at slipping into these states quickly, giving your cells and immune system the recovery time they’re missing at night.
It doesn’t matter if you fall asleep during Yoga Nidra or not. These brainwave states can be accessed in a hypnagogic, trance-like state, even without full sleep. If you do fall asleep, that’s okay. It means your system needed it. With time, your brain learns to relax without shutting down, making it possible to restore energy without sleep. Some people, with practice, can reach these states in as little as 10 minutes.
These cumulative effects can help restore depleted energy reserves, even when nighttime sleep is still irregular.
For Fatigue Due to Difficulty Falling Asleep
If your main issue is falling asleep, use a longer Five Kosha Yoga Nidra in bed. Look for recordings that last 60 minutes or more, have minimal guidance toward the end, and offer long, silent pauses. These are designed to fade you into sleep rather than wake you up.
Knowing When and How Long to Use Yoga Nidra Is Where Yoga Therapy Comes In
Most people use Yoga Nidra as a general relaxation tool. And it works. It’s widely known for helping with stress, fatigue, and even sleep. But in yoga therapy, we go a step further.
We look at the timing of the practice:
- For night waking, we use a shorter midmorning Yoga Nidra to restore energy without disrupting circadian rhythms.
- For trouble falling asleep, we use longer, more spacious recordings at bedtime to gently guide the brain into sleep.
We also consider the duration and pacing of the practice, and how it aligns with your nervous system’s state at different times of day.
This kind of precision is what makes Yoga Nidra a therapeutic tool, not just a wellness trend. When used strategically, it helps retrain your brain to shift gears, re-access deep brainwave states, and restore what chronic insomnia has taken away.
3. No Intense Workouts After Dark. Try Ratio Breath with Gentle Movement Instead.
You may have heard that exercise can benefit healthy sleep patterns. But evening workouts, especially ones that raise your heart rate, can stimulate the sympathetic nervous system (your fight-or-flight response) right before bed.
Instead, try this:
Do gentle breath-led movement for 10 minutes. For example:
Move slowly between open-hip prep pose and Warrior II, matching your breath:
- Inhale for 4 counts (move into open-hip prep pose)
- Exhale for 6 counts (return to Warrior II)
Let the breath lead the movement. This brings your system into a parasympathetic state, which supports sleep hormone release and calms mental activity.
4. Woke Up at 3 a.m.? Don’t Reach for Your Phone. Reach for the Floor.
Night waking is especially frustrating because it’s easy to spiral into stress, problem-solving, or self-blame.
Try this instead:
Set up a yoga mat or rug near your bed ahead of time. When you wake up, go there gently and try this mini-sequence:
- Tabletop to Child’s Pose with the breath
- Inhale for 4 counts (come into tabletop)
- Exhale for 6 counts (sink back into child’s pose)
- Add 4:0:6:2 Ratio Breath
- Inhale for 4 counts
- No hold
- Exhale for 6 counts
- Pause after exhale for 2 counts
Stay low, keep the lights dim, and use minimal effort. You’re not doing yoga for fitness. You’re using movement and breath to signal safety and downshift the system. You’re getting out of the mind and into the body.
Then return to bed with as little stimulation as possible. No scrolling and no “catching up on sleep” pressure. Just a gradual return to rest.
Yoga Therapy for Insomnia Is a Toolkit, Not a Pill
Insomnia is a complex symptom. It’s not solved by a single solution. What yoga therapy offers is a toolkit, built on a conversation between you and your nervous system. That toolkit can include breathwork, gentle movement, rest practices, and lifestyle rhythms that match your specific needs.
You don’t need to be flexible. You don’t need to be spiritual. You don’t need to “earn” rest.
You just need support that treats you like a whole person, not a broken sleep schedule.
If You’re Ready to Try Something Different
We offer one-on-one yoga therapy via telehealth and in person at our Connecticut locations. We’ll help you identify the type of insomnia you’re dealing with and guide you toward a personalized plan that’s gentle, effective, and supportive of your overall wellbeing. Meet our yoga therapists and book your intake today.
You don’t have to power through sleepless nights. Let yoga therapy help you rest differently.
⚠ This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before starting a new movement or wellness practice.
