Do you suffer from insomnia and always wake up in the middle of the night? Instead, do you want to have deep sleep and wake up fresh and calm? Worldwide, between 35 and 50 percent of adults report having insomnia symptoms. Insomnia is real but so is sleep meditation. You deserve to have a good night’s sleep and so this article is for you. Before delving deep into the techniques of sleep meditation, let us explain to you what sleep meditation is. Sleep meditation is a technique for calming your mind and relaxing your body before going to bed.
Now, you might have asked yourself how meditation improves sleep. Well, meditation can increase melatonin (the sleep hormone), increase serotonin (precursor of melatonin), slow down your heart rate, decrease blood pressure, and finally, it can activate parts of the brain that control sleep. To prove this, researchers examined how mindfulness meditation affected 49 adults with moderate sleep issues in a 2015 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine Trusted Source. The participants were randomly assigned to sleep meditation for 6 weeks. The meditation group had fewer insomnia symptoms and less daytime fatigue at the end of the study.
Are you ready to go through this journey with us? If so, place a tall glass of water and other nighttime preparations on your bedside table. Once you have settled into bed, you can start your meditation and unwind your entire body. You do not need to put up any bells and whistles for bedtime meditation; you are just taking a few minutes to connect with your feelings, thoughts, body, and perceptions. You finally fall asleep as your meditation comes to an end, spending the rest of the night allowing your body to recuperate.
You get out of bed with fresh insights, fresh goals, and a physique that can help you get through it all. Be gentle with yourself as you experiment with meditation for sleep. Just like anything else, meditation requires practice. Spend three to five minutes in meditation before going to sleep. Increase the duration to 15 to 20 minutes gradually over time. It will take time to learn how to quiet your mind. So, let us begin!
Visualization is a popular sleep meditation technique that involves imagining yourself in a relaxing environment. If you find yourself lying awake at night, fighting anxious thoughts, this technique can help. You can find below the steps for better visualization meditation.
The idea is to simply pay attention to your breathing, its natural rhythm and flow, as well as how it feels on each inhale and exhale. Focusing on the breath is especially beneficial because it acts as an anchor; something you can return to at any time if you begin to feel stressed or carried away by negative emotions. And here are some steps to follow that would help you:
Guided meditation is when someone else walks you through each step of the meditation process. They might tell you to breathe or relax your body in a specific way. They may also ask you to visualize images or sounds. This method is also referred to as guided imagery. Now, a question has popped into your mind: “How is guided meditation done?” Well, you can follow these steps.
Body scan meditation involves focusing on each part of your body. The goal is to become more aware of your physical sensations, such as tension and pain. The act of concentrating promotes relaxation, which can aid with sleep. Embrace the following steps to have better sleep.
Play some soothing sleep meditation music before you go to bed, which can effectively reduce stress and lull you to sleep. The best part is there is plenty of soothing music on YouTube or Spotify that you can choose from.
Here is a guided meditation that will help you fall asleep in those moments when you’re lying in bed wide awake. Have a good night! Zzz…
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