Asanaverse

Phase 2 · The Sleep Problem That Stays

Part of the 4 Week Yoga Program for Cannabis Withdrawal

25 Minute Evening Yoga Sequence for Sleep Without Cannabis

Weeks two and three, when the other symptoms have settled and sleep has not.

Most of the withdrawal symptoms fade within a week or two. Sleep is the one that does not, and for a lot of people it is still difficult a month later. That is the specific problem these two weeks are for. This is a longer evening practice built the way the sleep research builds them: gentle movement early, supported forward bends in the middle, and a long stretch at the end with nothing to do at all.

25 min · Level 1

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Wann hilfreich

For weeks two and three, in the evening, ideally about an hour before you want to be asleep. Twenty-five minutes. A blanket, two cushions, a strap and a wall. This helps with the symptoms of stopping, particularly sleep and restlessness. It is not addiction treatment and it does not replace medical or specialist support. Coming off alcohol or benzodiazepines at the same time can be medically dangerous and needs a doctor.

Sleep

Built around the same order the sleep trials used: anything with effort early, nothing at all in the last ten minutes.

Physical effect

Hips, hamstrings and the back, in supported positions throughout.

Expectation

Sleep after stopping tends to come back gradually rather than at once. A few better nights in a bad fortnight is what progress looks like here.

Move first

Everything with any stimulation in it belongs at the start of an evening session, not the end.

KatzenposeMarjaryasana
01
1 min

Katzenpose

Hands and knees, rounding the back on the out breath.

The gentlest start there is, and a check on what the day left behind.

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Kuh HaltungBitilasana
02
1 min

Kuh Haltung

Chest forward on the in breath. Eight rounds.

Movement tied to the breath.

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Dem weisen BharadvajaBharadvajasana 1
03
1 min each side

Dem weisen Bharadvaja

A seated twist, unhurried, turning from the ribs.

The most stimulating thing in the session, and the reason it comes third rather than tenth.

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Fold, with the head down

Long supported forward bends. Two minutes each is much longer than it sounds.

Einbeinige sitzende VorbeugeJanu Shirsana
04
2 min each side

Einbeinige sitzende Vorbeuge

One leg out, one foot in, forehead resting on a cushion or a stack of books.

A supported fold held for two minutes is a completely different pose from an unsupported one held for thirty seconds.

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Supported, then nothing

Twelve minutes with everything held up by props or the floor.

SchulterbrückeSetu Bandha Sarvangasana
05
2 min

Schulterbrücke

Supported Bridge: hips resting on a block or a firm cushion, so you are lying on it rather than holding it up.

Supported rather than lifted. The chest opens and the legs do nothing.

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Die liegende DrehungJathara Parivartanasana
06
1 min each side

Die liegende Drehung

On your back, knees drawn in, then falling to one side with a cushion underneath.

A twist where the floor does all of it.

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Liegende Hand Fuß PoseSupta Hasta Padangusthasana
07
1 min each side

Liegende Hand Fuß Pose

Strap around one foot, knee bent as much as you like.

The last thing that asks for anything.

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Das Siegel der UmkehrViparita Karani
08
4 min

Das Siegel der Umkehr

Legs up the wall.

Four minutes, and the longest single stretch of doing nothing in the program so far.

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Knie zur BrustApanasana
09
1 min

Knie zur Brust

Knees in, arms loose.

Small and closed, on the way to the floor.

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TotenstellungSavasana
10
4 min

Totenstellung

Flat, covered, warm. Then get into bed.

Four minutes. Falling asleep here is not a failure of the session.

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Integration

Most evenings through weeks two and three. Keep the ten minute one for the nights that go wrong anyway, and expect the improvement to be uneven rather than steady.