“When the world is itself draped in the mantle of night, the mirror of the mind is like the sky in which thoughts twinkle like stars.” -Khushwant Singh, Delhi

“Not feeling sleepy at night? Watch the sky and stars and not TV.”-Sham Hinduja

My first night in India was difficult. It took us 20 hours to get to Bangalore, and we were dazed when we arrived in the wee morning hours, only to find that our luggage was missing. After nearly two hours of pushing, shoving, and waiting, we finally filled out the necessary forms, met our friends, and checked in to a hotel, where I spent the rest of the night tossing and turning and didn’t sleep a wink. My mind was reeling with worry and self-recrimination, and I wanted to go home. Then I started breathing deeply and imagining I was practicing Ashtanga yoga’s primary series-and fell asleep before finishing the standing poses (read more about my first trip to India in the March/April 2002 issue of Yoga Chicago at yogachicago.com/2014/03/greetings-from-kovalam-kerala-south-india-part-i/).

We’ve all experienced similar bouts of insomnia. There are many ways that people try and deal with insomnia. From sticking to a regular bedtime, cutting out caffeine, limiting the time you spend on your phone before you go to sleep, here are some tricks that have helped me over the years.

Practice
Regular yoga practice keeps the body in good working order, which makes just about everything in life easier, including sleep. Specific poses can also help. My guru, Sri Dharma Mittra, says that doing cobra pose and dhanurasana (bow) helps fight insomnia.

Viparita karani (legs-up-the-wall pose) prepares the body for sleep, and can be done right before bed-even on your bed if it’s against a wall-for at least five minutes. If you’re still not tired, follow it up with a short savasana (corpse pose) and/or pranayama (yogic breathing) and meditation. Child’s pose and other supported forward bends can also have a calming effect.

Calming Breathing, a type of pranayama recommended by my guru, slows down both body and mind. To perform it, sit up tall in a meditative posture with a straight spine. Empty the lungs completely. Then, inhale through both nostrils for a count of eight. Hold the breath for a count of four. Exhale through the nose for a count of eight. Continue for at least five minutes. (If the eight-four-eight count is difficult, inhale for a count of six, hold the breath for three counts, and exhale for six-or eliminate the retention.)

Another helpful practice: Concentrate on a candle flame before turning in. Place the flame at eye level, three feet away. Gaze at it and study it and fix it in your mind. Then close the eyes and continue to visualize the flame. Hold the image in your mind. When you lose the image, open the eyes, recapture it, and close them again, reproducing the image in your mind. Continue for several minutes.

My favorite sleep-inducing meditation is to count back from 30 (which can be done in bed if you wake up in the middle of the night). Visualize each number in any font or color or design that pleases you. If you lose count or get to zero, start again at 30. Continue until you feel sleepy or fall asleep.

Learn a mantra and say it to yourself when you cannot sleep or as part of your before-bed meditation. Swami Vishnu-Devananda recommended “Om Namo Narayanaya” for world peace and inner peace. You can either imagine you are sending the mantra out to the world at large or that it’s comforting you like a warm blanket (learn more about mantras in Swami Vishnu-Devananda’s book Meditation and Mantras and The Mantram Handbook by Eknath Easwaran).

Diet
Going to bed immediately after eating a high-protein meal may cause you to thrash about all night, as can drinking caffeinated beverages after 3 p.m. In the days when I ate garlic, it would keep me up all night, thirsty and irritable.

My guru says to avoid eating heavy food after 6 p.m. Try to stop eating, period, after 8 p.m. Otherwise the body will be busy digesting food when it should be resting.

A completely empty stomach can also keep you up at night. If you are hungry at bedtime, have a glass of warm milk. To make it even more effective stir in half a teaspoon of ginger powder, half a teaspoon of turmeric powder, and a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg. This traditional ayurvedic remedy induces sleep. Vegans may try eating a banana or drinking sour cherry juice; I have also had good results with Medjool dates.

Applying raw sesame oil to the soles of the feet before bed is a time-tested vata (wind)-reducing cure for insomnia. Cover with a light pair of socks, so you don’t make a mess.

Lifestyle
Clear out everything under your bed. “Anything in your energy field affects the quality of your sleep, so resist the temptation to stash junk under your bed,” writes Karen Kingston in her 1999 book, Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui. “If you have one of those beds that has drawers in it, the best thing you can keep in there is clean bed linen, towels or clothing.”

Try to get up and go to bed at the same time each day. This includes eating at the same times each day. Being on a schedule worked when we were babies, and it remains effective at any age. (If you can’t maintain a regular schedule and you have frequent insomnia, go to bed one hour later than usual.)

If what’s keeping you up is noise, use earplugs, get a sleep sound machine, or put a white noise app on your phone. Just make sure you set your alarm clock to go off at full volume.

If there is someone you have wronged or need to forgive, do so immediately; you’ll sleep more soundly (learn more about forgiving in my March 2014 column, “Internal Spring Cleaning,” at yogachicago.com/2014/03/beyond-the-mat-internal-spring-cleaning-time-to-let-go-of-whats-holding-you-back/). Following satya (truthfulness), which includes things such as not cheating on one’s taxes, also makes it easier to sleep at night.

Take a warm bath before bed. Add a few teaspoons of raw sesame oil to soothe the skin.

Watch what you give your mind to play with just before bed. Avoid reading or watching material that is disturbing, thrilling, or frightening. It’s far better to read or view something uplifting or inspiring just before nodding off.

Don’t text before bed, and make sure the phone is off when you retire.

During insomnia
Lie on your right side. This opens the left nostril and activates the ida nadi (left energy pathway), which is associated with the calming, cooling energy that helps induce sleep.

Try to avoid the urge to eat; it’ll only keep you up longer. Avoid checking your phone.

Keep a pen and paper next to the bed and write down what is bothering you. Or copy down scripture. Breathe into your belly. Make the exhale twice as long as the inhale.

Get some Mayan worry dolls. These tiny handcrafted dolls come in a small container that can be kept next to the bed. When you wake up, take them out and tell a worry or fear to each one. Then put them away. According to legend, they will worry about your problems while you sleep, and when you awaken, the problems will have been solved.