Can Pilates Exercises Help Me Sleep Better?

It used to be thought that exercising 3 to 4 hours before bed made it difficult to fall asleep, but if the only time you exercise is on the way home from the office, don’t worry.

Evening exercise does not negatively affect sleep, according to a report published by Swiss researchers. “If exercise at night had any effect on sleep quality, it was a positive, albeit slight, effect,” they wrote.

Joseph Pilates, the founder of the Pilates Method of Exercise, had a holistic approach to fitness and he wrote tips for getting better sleep. In his book, Return to Life Through Contrology Joseph Pilates provides definite advice on how to sleep better.

What is Pilates?

As a movement that relieves the muscles of the whole body and improves the control of the human trunk, Pilates combines the flexibility of the East with the fortitude of the West. Its movements are slow and clear, and each posture must be coordinated with the breath, so Pilates Suitable for any age, especially those who lack exercise and need to be in touch with the computer for a long time.

Joseph Pilates

The Pilates couple created a total of more than 500 movements during their lifetimes, most of which were taken as photos or documentaries, including mat exercises and equipment invented by Mr. Pilates.

Keep Your Mind Calm by Exercising for Better Sleep

But beyond those recommendations about the physical sleep environment, Joseph Pilates says the most important factor for better and deeper sleep is mental calm.

Problematic nervous systems can be relieved with exercise, Pilates says. Experts often recommend regular exercise as a natural way to overcome sleep problems, but what if you’re still having trouble falling asleep? Pilates has this advice: Get up and exercise. This isn’t the tip you hear from many other sleep experts.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting: Joseph Pilates specifically recommends spinal rolling exercises for better and deeper sleep. Rolling and spreading exercises massage the spine, relax the nerves, help cleanse the body, and restore the spine’s natural flexibility, he says.

This quote encapsulates Joseph Pilates’ views on sleep and exercise: “Better to be tired by physical exertion than to be tired by the poison of tension while awake.”

Benefits of Pilates – Spine Health

“If your spine is stiff at 30,” he once said, you are old. If it is flexible at 60, you are young.” Pilates develops the deep muscles of the back and abdomen to support your spine, and focuses on breathing to promote better posture.

One of the best things you can do to help manage stress in your life is to get restorative sleep at night, but the National Sleep Foundation reports that as many as 33 percent of adults don’t get enough sleep at night, and that has more of an impact than just making you tired – it can hurt your spine.

Pilates Exercises for Better Sleep

Here are some easy Pilates rolling and unrolling exercises might try before bed or if you have trouble sleeping during the night:

1.Cat Stretch

Starting position on hands and knees with arms under shoulders and knees under hips, knees hip-distance apart. Pelvis and spine neutral.

-To prepare, inhale…

-Inhale maintain starting position.

-Exhale initiate by rolling ASIS away from front of femurs and sequentially articulate spine into flexion from tailbone to head. Allow scapulae to protract without tensing upper trapezius.

-Inhale keep abdominals engaged and expand back of rib cage, keeping head and shoulders relaxed.

-Exhale sequentially articulate spine into slight extension from tailbone to head.

Complete 3–5 repetitions.

2.The Roll Down

Stand with feet hip width apart with correct posture.

-Breath in to prepare the body then breath out and start with dropping the chin to the chest and slowly roll down hanging the arms and relaxing the shoulders (imagine the arms are rag doll arms and they are just hanging there).

-Roll down as far as you can go, keeping the legs straight and both feet on the floor (if you feel very stiff, use the wall)

-Breathe in as you hang there and breathe out pulling the tummy in and slowly come back up to the start position making sure you use your abs to bring you up not your back!

You can do as many as you would like of these.

Complete 3–5 repetitions.