Yoga for Teens: Relaxation & Sleep

Sleep

Did you know that teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best? And that most teens do not get enough sleep — one study found that only 15% reported sleeping 8 1/2 hours on school nights.

In order to sleep well, you need to plan a bedtime routine so you can relax and go to sleep:

  • Phones off at least one hour before bedtime
  • Three regular meals a day
  • Exercise in the daytime
  • Actively do practices to help you relax at bedtime

Wellbeing

Over-thinking, excessive worry and anxiety, being under pressure and having too much to do keeps us in fight or flight mode and stops us from relaxing. In addition, having our phones on before or at bedtime can also stop us from getting a good night’s sleep. Phones and computers emit blue light, which our body thinks is daylight.

Lack of sleep leads to poor memory, concentration and recall and a feeling of being ‘unwell’. It can interfere with our emotions, our eating patterns, affect our digestion, cause weight gain and lead to anxiety and depression.

Yoga Nidra: A Guided Relaxation

Newark Academy Year 11 Success Day 1 cropped

Relaxation is what our body does when our fight & flight system calms down: our heart rates slows, our blood pressure drops, breathing deepens, sleep happens and healing occurs.

We need practices to help our bodies and minds relax; in today’s world, we cannot expect it to happen on it’s own!

To help teens relax, let go and get better sleep, we teach a particular kind of guided relaxation called Yoga Nidra.

Yoga Nidra can be used before sleep and is meant to be done lying down.

It takes you on a rotation of different parts of the body and some simple visualisations, while you lie on your back, covered with a blanket.

In a recent workshop at a local secondary school for Year 11 students preparing for their exams and their parents, we experienced a 12-minute guided Yoga Nidra. Within a short period of time, parents and teens began to feel calmer, happier and more relaxed. Students were encouraged to take back home the yoga nidra script and record it on their phones, to play back to themselves at bedtime.

The positive effects demonstrated in this simple experiment are no surprise to yogis, who understand we need daily practices that can become part of our lives, to be well.

For more information on Yoga Nidra :: CLICK HERE ::

For more information on our program of Yoga in Schools :: CLICK HERE ::

If you would like to get in touch to discuss Yoga for Teens, please email Katie at: info@samyecentre.com