The first thing to determine is what causes the inability to sleep. The answer is simple. The most common reason for people to be unable to sleep is stress. This stress can be physical, mental or emotional. Even when you are tired there are things that will cause a physical, mental or emotional response that can prevent your body from being able to rest properly. Even something as simple as watching the evening news can cause this type of reaction. Stresses from the day, bills, economic conditions, housing issues, or family problems even work related issues can come back to create a situation that prevents sleep. Questions like could this or that have been handled better, what to do about upcoming deadlines, where is money for this, that or the other going to come from, fights with partners, friends and family also can create a situation that prevents sleep. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to get rid of what is actually causing the issues with your inability to sleep that will not leave you feeling drowsy and drugged the next morning and will provide you with a sleep that is truly restful.

The first thing to do is establish a routine that is going to relax the body, the mind and the spirit. This should be something that can be done everyday and that both works the body and relaxes it. For this yoga is one of the best practices that can be used. Yoga is designed to work the body. This releases tension from the muscles and tissues of the body which is then easily removed from the system. This is facilitated by the use of breathing techniques as well as the postures and poses that are involved with the practice of yoga.

Yoga also has a meditative aspect. This meditative aspect not only helps to relieve the stress within the body but also helps to center the spirit and calm the mind. Certain yoga practices also bring up self awareness and emotions which may have been suppressed. It allows you to deal with these issues and emotions and put them aside. Once these situations have been dealt with the mind will automatically start to calm and relax itself.

This also helps to relieve stress within the body since mental and emotional stress can be reflected directly within the body. The release of tension causes the body to naturally seek out rest. This is especially true if it has been under pressure for an extended period of time.

The first thing to do is make sure that the area you will be doing yoga in is spacious enough that you do not have to worry about where arms and legs are going and that the area is quiet and free of distractions. If you prefer music something gentle and light that helps to promote relaxation is a good choice. There are even cd's that are designed specifically for use while doing yoga.

Begin with which ever style of yoga works best for you. If you are not trained in yoga and are doing self taught or self managed it is best to stay within the Hatha techniques when it comes to breath control. This is usually best for beginners. Follow each of the postures or poses that are involved in the style of yoga you have chosen. Some people mix and match based on personal preferences or abilities. The purpose of yoga at this time is to relax the body and mind so avoid anything that will strain the body or that requires excessive concentration. Movements need to be smooth and flowing as this helps to promote relaxation.

Once you have completed the set of postures and finished the routine pause briefly to drink water. This will help to continue the removal process of both stress and toxins. For some this will be enough and they will be able to find a restful sleep. For others it may not be so easy. For the people who are still experiencing difficulties with sleep a short meditation can usually help to facilitate falling asleep. In fact, it is not uncommon to fall asleep during meditation.

It is best not to do deep meditations at this time. Deep meditations need to be short and guided however a light meditation can be quite relaxing and allow for retrospect. It will take some practice to sort through and learn how to clear your mind so that you can reach the meditative state. However, this usually allows for a great deal of reflection done without the stress that is normally present within the body. This allows for distance to be created between the mental and emotional issues that are causing stress. This distance is what allows individuals to look at and resolve the issues.

If you want to pull yourself from the meditative state and then sleep set a small quiet timer that will go off just loud enough for you to hear and respond too. This will help you to pull free of the retrospective meditation and allow you to enter into a position of sleep. Some people fall asleep during the meditative process or use a mediation that is designed to lead a person into sleep, or they find that they receive a more restful sleep if they are in meditation when they fall asleep. This is not the same for all people. You will need to take some time and find the process that works for you however yoga is a great way to remove the stress from the body and allow it to reach a state that encourages sleep.