Yoga techniques to sleep well and manage jet lag on your holiday
If you find it hard to fall asleep in an unfamiliar holiday environment or you’re travelling across time zones, here’s a few yoga practices and tools to fall asleep more easily and manage your jet lag.
Let’s take a look at jet lag first as there’s plenty you can do before you go on holiday!
Jet lag happens when travelling to another time zone while our bodies are still in the original time zone. This disruption to our internal 24 hour body clock or circadian rhythm (which regulates when we feel sleepy or awake, when we produce hormones and digestive enzymes), will cause us to feel sleepy or hungry at odd times in our ‘new’ country.
3 Tips to minimise jet lag disruption before you leave and on the plane:
Start to adjust your sleep and wake times to your destination time zone and eat your meals closer to your destination time zone as soon as is possible (and practical)!
If you’re travelling east try to get morning sunshine and if travelling west try to get late afternoon sunshine, because morning light speeds up the circadian rhythm and afternoon light slows it down.
Use the plane journey to start adjusting to your destination time: most airlines now control light exposure by closing blinds so that the plane environment aligns with the destination time zone…. and that unwanted middle of the night breakfast trolley is there to help you!
How to manage your tiredness when you’re in your destination time zone:
While taking a short naps of 20 - 30 minutes is a recommended protocol, a restorative yoga practice* will allow you to rest and feel replenished and is less likely to affect your sleep drive. Although you’re probably going to drift off to sleep due to extreme tiredness, it’s likely to happen more slowly than if you were to crash out on a bed. (*Restorative yoga is the use of props to support you in positions of comfort to facilitate deep rest and relaxation).
A simple restorative yoga position while on holiday is to lie on your back on the floor on a duvet or blanket with a pillow for head support, another under your knees, a sock over the eyes (preferably a clean one)! and cover yourself with a blanket.
Set a timer of 20-30 minutes so that you don’t go into deep sleep, which is in the latter part of part of your 90 minute sleep cycle.
One thing to note is that if you’re on a short trip moving back and forth across time zones , it may be better to stay in your original time zone.
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One of the most common sleep problems on holiday is struggling to get a good night’s sleep on the first night away.
Unfamiliar surroundings alert our sense of safety (which is controlled by our autonomic nervous system) and even though everything is okay, our sense of vigilance may be heightened which prevents the natural process of sleep taking place.
While being in a cool quiet room, taking a relaxing bath, going to bed at your usual time, wearing a mask and taking your own pillow will all be very helpful, avoid trying to sleep, as this in an approach that rarely works: the more we think about sleeping, the less likely it is to happen.
Relaxing activities like reading in low light, listening to an audio book or getting up and doing something undemanding will occupy your mind without overstimulating it, so that tiredness can settle in naturally.
My Top 3 Yoga Tips to fall asleep in an unfamiliar place:
A basic yoga sleep pose like lying on your back and hugging your knees towards your chest may feel comforting and settling. By noticing how your body feels, it’ll take your attention away from your overstimulated, over tired & unsettled mind.
A yoga nidra sleep meditation to relax and help your drift off to sleep. Yoga nidra practices include a ‘body scan’ which is a form of progressive relaxation.
A simple breathing relaxation technique that does not involve a long holding of the breath as this is challenging for most people! A simple inhale of 2 counts, a breath hold of 1 count, and an exhale of 3-4 counts is more accessible and sustainable. If you lose track of where you are, gently return to where you were and continue until you drift off …….
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Sources:
Life Time, the New Science of the Body Clock, Russell Foster 2022
Sleep Recovery, Lisa Sanfilippo, 2020
Yoga Therapy for Insomnia and Sleep Recovery, Lisa Sanfilippo, 2019
Navigating Sleeplessness, Lindsay Browning, 2021