Five yoga tools to help you fall back asleep in the middle of the night
By Monica Le Baron
Sleeping is important—more important than we can imagine. But it can be disrupted by anxious thoughts, physical pain, or those tedious trips to empty the bladder in the middle of the night.
Not being able to fall back asleep after waking up in the night can be very frustrating—especially if you need to wake up early the next day or if this is a consistent pattern. Research shows that disrupted sleep adversely impacts health and well-being. Studies have shown links between disrupted sleep and gene expression, hormone imbalance, mood, and even depression.
Photo by Ale Saldaña
For years, worrying and resentment would keep me up at night. Now, it only takes me 5–8 minutes to fall asleep and 10–15 minutes to fall back asleep after waking up at night. This journey toward improving sleep inspired me to become a yoga therapist who specializes in helping others get the rest they deserve. I’m hoping these yoga tools improve your sleep on World Sleep Day and all year long. Let’s get started.
1. Realistic Goal Setting
When I work with a new client we first set a realistic sleep goal. I ask them how they want to feel at the end of our time together and how much time they’re willing to invest. Together we polish their goal and make it measurable, simple, and realistic. Yoga therapy is not about fixing people; instead, we meet clients where they are and work together to create conditions that support the body and mind to heal.
Here is an example of a realistic goal. If you’re waking up at night to use the restroom and it takes an hour to fall back asleep, then a realistic goal might mean taking 50 minutes to fall back asleep instead of an hour. I realize this might seem too simple or not worth the effort, but small steps will set you up for success. If your goal were to fall back asleep in just 10 minutes, this might add more pressure and anxiety to your night. And we don’t want that!
2. Balancing Breath
The nervous system is so vast that, if you were to place all your nerves in a direct line, that line would reach around the world 2.5 times.¹ Breathing skillfully can help balance the nervous system and support relaxation, and if you’re calmer it will be easier to fall back asleep when you wake up at 2 am.
To help you relax, let your exhales be longer than your inhales. This action activates the parasympathetic nervous system (commonly called “rest and digest” mode), the part of the body’s autonomic nervous system that controls our natural ability to relax.
The more you practice this exercise the more your system can register this breathing pattern as something positive, potentially helping you fall asleep faster in the middle of the night.
3. Yoga Nidra
Yoga nidra is the primary tool that got me sleeping again after years of insomnia. Yoga nidra is a yogic method that encourages sleep—a guided deep relaxation that works to release tension from the five layers of the being (in yoga, the panchamaya kosha). Research shows that this practice can help with both sleep and anxiety—and the best part is that you just have to lie down, press play, and listen to receive the benefits! This guided meditation supports your inner ability to heal by setting the stage for your body and mind. Yoga nidra can calm the racing mind, thereby reducing stress in the moment and creating the conditions for falling back asleep.
I recommend trying different yoga nidra recordings during the day to find one you like. Be sure the recording is ready to use upon waking up at night.
4. Calming Mudra
Hridaya Mudra // Photo by Ale Saldaña
Clients I’ve worked with find mudras (gestures) fascinating. They are simple, portable, and can be very effective. A mudra is a symbolic gesture using your body, hands, and/or fingers to stimulate bodily systems responsible for processes like breathing, the flow of energy, and moods.
Hridaya mudra, the gesture of the spiritual heart, offers a calming touch in the moment. This simple gesture directs awareness and energy into the heart center, cultivating a sense of trust and safety. It can help release stress-related tension from the chest. Hridaya mudra is also said to instill a greater sense of confidence in meeting challenges, which reduces the effects of stress and supports the immune system.
To try hridaya mudra now, simply place your right hand across your heart and your left hand on top of your right. Breathe naturally and rest your awareness on the calming touch of hands to heart. Rest here 1–2 minutes and enjoy the benefits your healing hands have to offer.
5. Feet Focus
Mindfulness practice can reduce stress, and one way to practice mindfulness is by focusing on an area of the body. I find that because the feet are relatively far from the brain, focusing on them offers a nice buffer against distraction from all those stories that can keep one up at night. Breathe naturally and focus on your feet, letting yourself rest instead of trying to fall back asleep immediately. Sense your feet, bringing your attention back to your breath and feet any time you get distracted by thoughts.
As you integrate these tools into your sleep routine, give yourself time to explore, mixing and matching the tools that feel right.
Monica Le Baron, MBA, C-IAYT, helps ambitious women simplify their wellness so they sleep better and have more energy to enjoy life.
1. Parker, S. (2013). The human body book. Munich: DK.
Interested in yoga therapy? Find an IAYT-certified yoga therapist here.
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Love these great tips for sleep promotion! Simple and easy to incorporate. Thank you
My pleasure, hope they support your sleep.
Great work Monica
?
Thank you, my friend!
Great article! Love these simple and easy tools for a better sleep. I wouldn’t never thought on focusing on my feet but now I can’t wait to try them! Thank you for sharing such helpful information.
I loved this article! It explains very clearly the yoga tools that can be used to fall sleep. It shows that there is research and a lot of experience behind it. This was both enjoyable and useful. Thank you!
I’m glad you found it helpful, Mariela. =)
Totally agree on the importance of quality sleep. I am going to give a try to the tools which kind of look simple. I knew the app from before and it is a big yes. Thanks for the article.
great! let me know how it goes.
Sleeping is important, great tools to get to sleep and to stay asleep! Can’t wait to share this article with my students and colleagues.
I never thought of focusing on my feet when I can’t sleep, but I’m eager to try it! Thanks for all the helpful information!!
Simple but effective suggestions. Thanks for a great article!
This is wonderful work Monica! It’s so important to be able to connect with ourself and our health.
Wonderful tips! I’ve been trying to improve my sleep quality so excited to try these out!
Love this article, at first thought I was going to be more complicated, simple. Going to share with clients.
Thanks Monica
Thank you for your recommendations Monica. Always great to see KIYT grads here 🙂
Breath (long exhales), guided yoga nidra and feet focus (for grounding)… great summary!. Thanks for sharing your yoga therapy wisdom. ??
Thank you so much for these!!! I love bringing awareness to the feet. So simple and effective. What wonderful tools you shared.
Even Reading this article is calming. Great tips, very doable and not overwhelming! Hope for the sleep deprived.
Sleeping is like life itself; it can be heaven or it can be hell. For some people sleeping is like a medicine that restore our body and mind, for some others sleeping represent pure pain, like being trapped in a jail. These advices from Mónica should really be taken into consideration to help people that are suffering during night. Hope everyone can find peace in sleeping.
Great – simple – ideas. Thank you!
Gracias! Have you try any???
nice tools to use and great ideas; thank you!
off course!! Happy World Sleep Day!
Monica I have been following your methods for some time now and these details are cherry on top! Thankyou for making a difference on people’s life l
Great and informative article!
Amazing and very helpful tips! Thank you so much for taking the time to educate yourself and share your knowledge to help me improve my life??
Love this! Thank you! 🙂
off course! =)
Love these. I especially like the opening segment about realistic goal settings. Breathwork always works great for me.
Excellent tips and informative article!
Glad you enjoy it, Jen! =)
After having shoulder surgery a couple of weeks ago I’ve been struggling to sleep. Glad I found this article soon enough. So simple to try! ?
Amazing Monica! All is very helpful! I tried and discovered this simple actions before thanks to you!
I’m so happy to hear this! Keep up the great work, lovely! ?
Very helpful! Thank you for all your information. Look forward to applying some of these practices.
You’re very welcome!
Wow super good and I am agree with you ! ???
Hugs ?
Great tips. Thank you. ?
Love these simple and powerful tools! Sleep is very important and we sometimes take it for granted. Thanks Monica for these tools that will help me sleep better!
Yes, so many people take it for granted and is incredible how just by sleeping better your whole life can change. Happy sleeping ? !
I’ve struggled with sleep problems for a long time and have tried basically every over the counter remedy with little to no success. Then, my therapist helped me understand that the racing thoughts that keep me from falling asleep are caused by anxiety, which is our mind’s reaction to tension accumulated in the body! Using the techniques described in this article really help you relax your body which in turn relaxes your mind and allows you to fall asleep quicker (instead of getting frustrated and doomscrolling on your phone until 3 am lol). Brilliant!
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Lucero. I’m glad that you’re getting support in your sleepy journey and found tools like these ones to get the rest you deserve.
Avocado hugs,
Monica
Thanks for sharing, it’s inspiring to watch you grow on your journey.
Thank you, sis! =) I adore you.
It has been an amazing experience using this tools!! It was so calm and easy getting to my sleep!! Thank you Monica!!!
It is great that you share your knowlwdge and help people with it!!
Yoga nidra??? You’re very welcome! ?
Excellent information! Thanks for sharing your valuable knowledge, I will put on practice all your tips, congratulations for this beautiful mission ?? kisses!
Love this!! Im definitely going to try some of these ?
Thank you
Thank you, Monica! I like the idea of trying yoga nidra practices during the day to find what I like and have it ready to play. (No more scrolling in the middle of the night trying to find one that works well for me!) And focusing on the feet—great idea.
Sleeping is important, great tools to get to sleep and to stay asleep! Can’t wait to share this article with my students and colleagues.
Monica has such great tips. I follow you on IG and am always inspired.
Great tips, Monica!
The tips in this article are so important! Monica has given us some easy to use, effective tools that can help anyone get better sleep. So much healing takes place during sleep. We woud all benefit from a deeper more restful sleep. Thank you Monica for this gift to the world!!!
Love it! Such a great reminder! You’re great at what you do!
There’s nothing like getting good REM levels of sleep and the tips of this article are so helpful for anyone and everyone especially since we live in a high stress culture where everyone is go-go go all the time.
Very nice article! Easy to read with some very helpful tools clearly laid out.
Love these tips. So simple and easy to do. Thank you for sharing
These are excellent tips from a profesional in the industry. Thanks hoy helping us to sleep better!
Love this tip thank you for sharing as mom of 4 kids & work this a wonderful tip thank you
Very interesting information.
That helped me for a good sleep.
Thanks for sharing!
I’m such a bad sleeper. Can’t wait to try these tips. They’re so easy and they make the most sense. Thank you.
I love all of these tips Monica. Thank you for sharing you’re knowledge!
I’ve been having trouble sleeping, and I can’t wait try these tips tonight! This is a really great article and I am finding it so interesting. Sleeping is the most important thing in the world so I hope you keep writing articles!
This is a great article, I’ve used some of these tools to recover my sleep and I would recommend to anyone who is struggling with sleep disorders.
sleeping well is so important, thank you very much for your generosity in sharing your knowledge !!!!
Very good tips, thank you! I specially love yoga nidra and the mudras. I use them regularly, not only for sleep, but also for calming my nervous system.
Monica, thank you very much for your technical teaching and pure heart to support our sleeping. We are both grateful with you
Great article! I am definitely adding the calming mudra to my routine!
I love Monica’s simple tips!! Especially the realistic goal one. It’s easy to stress myself out about not sleeping, which of course does not help me sleep. She puts things in a fresh perspective that’s easy to understand and use in today’s busy world. I am also very grateful to have learned about Yoga Nidra from her!! It has been the best way for me to give my brain the rest it requires.
Hi dear Monica ! Is amazing and very helpful tool. Thanks to you!
Is a good help now when I prepare my next exhibition of 200 portraits of people painting in the pandemia in Beijing.
¡Fabuloso, estimada Mónica!
Gracias por compartir estos conocimientos y su aplicación práctica.
Ahora sí, ¡A dormir sin problemas de sueño!
Wonderful article full of practical tips to apply for a better sleep!
Monica’s writing is clear and concise. All that she wrote makes good sense and they are very usable tools for falling back to sleep. These are easy things one can do to improve their sleep. Monica taught me Mudras and I use them each and every night. Sleep tight and be well…
Very helpful info! Thank you, Monica, for sharing – ?
Great article! please share more tools with us
Beautiful article! Beyond the very helpful and simple yogic tools you offer in this article, you speak from authentic experience which makes us all feel understood in a struggle that is so real for so many! Many thanks for sharing your gifts and your love for yoga therapy!
Monica I really really like your article, its Easy and effective
Thank you so much for this article. I wasn’t even aware how much I needed it. Love the simple techniques – with a twist. I’m familiar with focusing on the body, but the feet was a refreshing point of view and one very effective. Expecting to only improve back to sleep time, by 10 mins rewrites all stories remain expectations ??
So many amazing tips. I struggle with sleeping and this advice is very helpful.
Thanks Monica! I didn’t know about the mudras & although I’d heard about the importance of the breath, I didn’t know how. Super useful, thank you!
Very helpful tips! Can’t wait to try them out. Thank you for sharing!
Monica is so passionate and knowledgeable! Loved reading this article.
Very well written and informative article! Thank you!
Great info. Thank you Monica. Very helpful. The body focus is especially helpful as it helps the mind settle for me. Thank you for your work.
This was a great article and amazing tips on how to sleep better! We sometimes forget the importance of sleeping when our days are chaotic but your tips are easily and helpful!
Thank you so much for these brilliant tips. I never thought to focus on my feet to sleep. I never used mudras but I’ll give it a try. Having a good and qualitative sleep is essential for our wellbeing, thank you very much.
I love how you have simplified these tips and given concrete examples as well as clear personalized instructions. Assessible techniques that my students will really appreciate.
Great tips, thank you for sharing! Sleep is crucial for good health, though these steps might sound simple, they are very important for people who struggle with insomnia. Well done!
Love it!!! I always love to read all your advises!! Love this kind of methodology, thank you Monica
Great article! I love how easy these tips are to follow and implement in your life!
Ohh wow! Lots of great tips on how to fall asleep after u wake up at night! So far I’ve only been using the breathing technic and writing down those crazy thoughts down on my notepad to get rid of them and fall asleep faster ?but now I will try the feet exercise and calming mudra!
Thank you Monika for your great article
Amazing resources ! Yoga Nidra and the breath are essential ??thank you for these beautiful reminders ?Melissa
Amazing resources ! Yoga Nidra and the breath are essential . thank you for these beautiful reminders Melissa
Wonderful article Monica! Thank you!
So grateful to have this article as a resource to share with my students. Plus I learned some new things myself! Thanks Monica!
What a great article, Monica! I love how you mention setting realistic goals and taking small steps – and that each of the tips you share here are small easily implementable ones we can test out for ourselves to get started. Thank you!
Excellent article! At a time when doctors are quick to prescribe medications, these tips and resources are critical to our well being!
Great tips! I’m so busy during the day that it’s important I get good sleep at night. Helps me to feel refreshed.
This is an excellent article! Well written and full of clear, accessible tips that anyone with sleep issues can use. On the rare occasions – and I’m blessed that they are rare – when I have a sleep issue, my go to tip is yoga nidra. I’ve done it long enough in my classes and written a few myself so I can self guide. It always works. Thanks, Monica!
Excellent information, thank you very much Monica for your great effort to make us have a better sleep. ??
Great article! I have been struggling with sleep recently and am always looking for tips to sleep better. I am grateful to Monica for sharing her knowledge. I look forward to reading more from her.
This article gets right to it! These are real tips that I can really use – and I’m going to start tonight. Thank you for this!