Asana Practice Week Ten

I have been having one of those weeks where it is very difficult to fall asleep at night. All my tricks -- podcasts, reading books, rolling over more times than I can count -- have not been working. So I got desperate, and thought of the yoga techniques we have learning over this semester. I thought about how Dr. Schultz said she does some poses when she cannot sleep. But alas, I forgot which poses she said and I am too comfortable in my bed (and lazy) to get up. So I moved to another technique that we have talked about: breathing! 

I started to focus on my breathing, counting down from ten as I inhaled and exhaled. Contrary to my contorted, fetus-like position that I normally sleep in, I laid flat on black, with my arms next to my sides. I kept repeating the breathing and the counting until I finally drifted off and fell asleep. It was very similar to the experience I have at the end of class when I seamlessly move from laying down on the mat to being semi-conscious. Thankfully, this technique has given me a few extra hours of sleep this week.