It’s 11:00pm, and you’re wide awake. You’ve been tossing and turning for hours, but can’t seem to fall asleep. If this is a problem that you are experiencing on a regular basis, it may be time to look at the way meditation can help improve your sleep quality and duration.
Meditation is a simple form of exercise that anyone can do for good health. Meditation has many different benefits, including improved sleep quality. But does meditation really help you sleep better? That’s the question we’ll be answering in this article.
What is Meditation for Sleep
People who experience sleep problems often suffer from anxiety, stress and depression. It is very difficult to fall asleep when you are stressed or anxious. Meditation for sleep helps you relax your body and mind so that it’s easier to fall asleep faster.
With meditation for sleep, you can finally get the restful night of sleep that will restore your energy levels so that you can function at a high level during the day. Meditation have helped thousands of people overcome their sleeping issues while also learning how to live a happier life overall. It also help you learn how to let go of negative emotions like anger, jealousy and fear which could be keeping you up at night as well as techniques for relaxing tense muscles before bedtime including breathing exercises that calm your nervous system and reduce stress hormones such as cortisol which interfere with falling asleep quickly (and staying asleep).
The good news is that there are steps you can take to improve your sleeping habits and make time for meditation before bed.We’ll explore those in detail below, but first here’s a brief overview of
What Sleep Deprivation does to the Body?
You know that feeling when you’re exhausted and just want to sleep, but can’t? That’s the problem. Not getting enough sleep will make you feel like crap and increase your risk of developing serious health problems.
The average person gets less than the recommended 7 hours of sleep each night, which is not nearly enough to stay healthy and productive.
Sleep deprivation has been linked to so many health problems including obesity, diabetes, depression, anxiety and even heart disease. Other Risks of Sleep Deprivation include:
- Your immune system starts to suffer when you’re not getting enough sleep so it becomes harder to fight off infections
- Your body produces more of the hunger hormone ghrelin and slows down production of leptin which tells you when to stop eating. So sleep deprivation leads to overeating, weight gain, high cholesterol, hypertension and an increased risk for heart disease
- When you’re tired your reaction time is slower so it’s harder for you to drive safely
- You’re more likely to work longer hours and take on tasks that are outside of your job description .
Related: Sleep Deprivation and Obesity
Reasons for Sleep Deprivations
Half of us in today’s time face sleep deprivation. It is not that we want to stay awake for long time but the reason is we don’t fall asleep when we go to bed. This is Sleep deprivation. There are many reasons of sleep deprivation such as stress, anxiety and depression.
- Stress is a very common reason of sleep deprivation which leads to high blood pressure and increased heart rate
- Anxiety has an effect on the quality of your sleep due to hyper vigilance and worry about what might happen in the night or next day
- Depression can lead to insomnia because it affects how we control our thoughts and regulate our mood.
All these three reasons affect the quality of sleep.
Sleep deprivation is a serious condition that can lead to many health issues such as insomnia, depression, obesity or high blood pressure because it decreases natural hormone called melatonin in body which plays an important role in regulating sleep cycle.
So How Do We Deal with these Problems?
Meditation for sleep is a new concept introduced by some experts. As we know that meditation has many health benefits so it can also help us to get better sleep at night. It will improve the quality of sleep and make you more relaxed to fight against stress, anxiety or depression.
There are two ways how you can mediate before you sleep. One is by doing it in day time and another one is right before going to bedtime.
During the daytime, meditation helps us to regulate our moods so at night we can have a good quality of sound sleep without any disturbance from stress or anxiety.
If you want to mediate just before going to bed time, then it will help you to fall asleep faster and also get a better sleep at night.
How do we mediate before going to Bed?
Meditating just before going to bedtime needs some preparation for example each day before you go to bed try reading your favorite book or listening to soothing music. It will make the experience of meditation more calm and peaceful.
How Sleep Meditation can Help?
You can’t sleep at night. You’re tossing and turning in your bed, but you just can’t fall asleep. Your mind is racing with thoughts about work, family, or even the upcoming day. It’s hard to turn off that busy brain of yours when it’s time for bed.
Sleep Meditation will help you let go of those distractions so you can get a good night’s rest .
Meditation is a simplest form exercise for good health. Meditation has many health benefits. It can help you sleep better, be happier and more content with life, relieve stress or anxiety. Meditation helps you get sound sleep.
Studies have shown that meditation can improve the quality and efficiency of sleep, how quickly you fall asleep, and your daytime alertness.
The benefits of improved sleep have often been uncovered in studies. These include the reduction of Alzheimer’s risk and a better sense of well -being.
Time When you can Meditate
When is the best time to meditate and what are some ways you can do it? There’s no right or wrong answer for when you should meditate. You might find that morning, noon, night, evening – just before sleep or any other time works well for your schedule. The most important thing about meditation timing is consistency. You want to meditate as steadily and consistently as you can.
If evening is your favorite time, first try doing it for 15 minutes every day then slowly increase the amount of time by five-minute increments until you’ve reached a half hour or more each night. If mornings are better for your schedule, set an alarm on your phone to go off at the same time every day for your meditation session.
The best times will be when you feel most energized and refreshed, but if it’s a struggle finding these moments on your own, consider scheduling them into your daily routine. Consistency is key in getting positive results from any practice of mindfulness or meditation.
How to Meditate Before Sleep (Technique)
Getting enough sleep is important to anyone’s health and happiness. But, it can be hard to do this when you have a busy lifestyle that keeps you up late or wakes you early.
It’s not just your body that suffers from lack of sleep; poor sleep habits affect your mind too. You might feel groggy and irritable during the day if you don’t get enough rest at night. And, while taking naps helps with fatigue, they aren’t as good for your overall health as getting a full night’s rest because they disrupt normal sleeping patterns.
A meditation before bedtime may help improve the quality of your sleep by helping reduce stress levels and anxiety so that you fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer without waking in the middle of the night (or morning).
Question here is how to meditate. You can follow these steps to meditate before you go to sleep:
1. Setting Your Environment for Meditation
Right environment for meditation before sleep is important.
Find a Calm Space: Find a calm space to meditate in—preferably one that’s quiet and free from distractions, like any rooms in your house. If you have noise-cancelling headphones available, use them!
Get Comfortable: Sit on the floor with your legs crossed while still being mindful of your posture. If sitting on the floor is too difficult, you can always use a chair or lie on any flat surface with your back straight and head facing upwards.
Focus Your Mind: Breathe deeply for about six to ten minutes—inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth as if it ’s your last breath. When you notice thoughts creeping into your head, don’t get frustrated and simply give them a gentle nudge to the side before bringing yourself back to focusing on breathing deeply
Find Your Balance: Once you’ve finished deep breathing for six to ten minutes, focus only on what it feels like when you are in balance. It’s a grounding sensation that feels like weightlessness and is the most calming feeling you will ever experience
End with Meditation: Bring yourself back to reality by gently opening your eyes or stretching before slowly getting up from wherever you were meditating.
2. Select a Right Meditation Method
Now that we’ve discussed what meditation is and how one would go about meditating, there are a few different techniques to help you get the most out of your meditation.
Before we go over what each technique is and how it will affect you, I think it’s important that people know where they should be when meditating. When starting off with any type of meditation try closing your eyes in an upright position. All of the following techniques can be done sitting, lying down or standing up as long as your back is straight and you’re comfortable.
When meditating on a daily basis it is important to spend some time relaxing before bed so that when you go to sleep, there are no other thoughts in your mind then just what you want to dream about.
There are many different meditation techniques out there to help you find peace before bedtime. The goal of each technique is to relax your mind and body in preparation for sleep .Highly suggest you experiment with different techniques until you find one that is most suitable for your needs. Let’s go over some of the most popular sleep meditation methods:
1.Guided Meditation
A guided meditation is a one-on-one session where you are instructed by someone on how to meditate. The person instructing guides you through the entire process and talks about anything that pops up in your mind during the process, so it’s good for beginners who want guidance but feel uncomfortable doing it alone. This type of meditation is also good for people who have trouble relaxing and focusing.
Guided meditations are done over the phone or Skype so you can enjoy your meditation from the comfort of your own home. So its best suited for bedtime meditation.
Benefits: You will see the benefits of meditation as soon as you start doing it.
Downside: You have to depend on a guide and sometimes they are not available, so make sure you pick someone who is reliable.
2.Mindfulness and Body Scan Meditation
Mindfulness and body scan meditation are a type of guided meditations. This is where the person instructing you will guide your thoughts to different parts of your body, encouraging you to relax each muscle or area that they focus on. It’s typically done in bed so it’s perfect for sleep mediation practices. What sets these types of meditations apart is that you’re not trying to clear your mind of thoughts, but rather focus on the process and what it’s doing for you.
The person guiding will ask if certain parts are tense or relaxed as they move through them. You should pay attention because this can help determine where in your body tension needs to be released.
This type of meditation is good for those who suffer from sleep deprivation or insomnia because it can help to release tension and stress that may be interrupting your sleep. It’s also a great way to end the day on a relaxing note without worrying about problems you might have experienced throughout the day.
The benefits of this are many: You ‘ll sleep better, you’ll feel less stressed and more relaxed.
3. Concentration Meditation
This type of meditation is great for those who want to better focus their energy and thoughts.
It can help you maintain a calm, clear mind without distractions. It’s also useful if you are trying to work through something in your life that may be bothering you, by forcing the brain into logic-mode rather than letting it wander where it may.
There are many ways to do this type of meditation, for example you can use a mantra while meditating in order to clear your mind and focus on one single thought at a time.
This is often done by repeating the same word over and over again during your meditation or taking long deep breaths which helps with concentration. It ‘s important to note that you should only use this type of meditation for a short period of time, as it can cause extreme fatigue and even headaches.
Benefits: Concentration Meditation is great for anyone who wants to improve their focus in life or work on something which may be bothering them at night while they try to sleep without distraction from other thoughts. It’s also good for anyone who has a lot on their mind and needs to deal with it in order to function properly and sleep calmly.
Benefits of Meditation Before Sleeping
Meditating prior to sleep will help you with some physical and mental health benefits like lowering blood pressure, helping in controlling breathing rate, release tension from muscles, helps with insomnia also it can improve your moods. Meditation has many health benefits so make meditation part of your daily routine to get a good sleep.
Since meditation can help with insomnia, it is worth trying the technique of meditating before going to bed. It may be more difficult for some people than others but if you practice over time, it will become easier and easier.
Meditating for sleep is a great way to relax before bed and get the rest you need so that when morning comes, you feel refreshed and ready to take on your day. When meditating just before bed it’s important not to think of anything stressful or worrisome because this will make it more difficult for you
Are there any Downside of Sleep Meditation
If you have a really stressful day and start to meditate, there is the possibility of feeling worse. Meditation should be done as an addition not instead of sleep or other self-care methods like exercise. If you are already in bad shape with your health then meditation might make it worse by adding more stress but if you are relatively healthy and you do not have any health problem then meditation is a great addition to your routine and will help with stress, sleep problems or anything else that might be going on in your life.
FAQs about Sleep Meditation
How does meditation improve sleep?
Relaxation before bed time, including meditation, will lower blood pressure and heart rate. In addition, the mind-body practices subconsciously promote a feeling of safety resulting in an increased level of calmness and clarity. When used correctly with other methods such as sleep hygiene practices, yoga or breathing exercises can have profound benefits to promote proper sleep patterns including more restorative REM-sleep which is responsible for restoring our moods, repair muscles and tissues and regulate our appetite.
Does meditation increase REM sleep?
Yes, meditation will increase REM sleep. Studies show that those who meditate at least an hour a day have up to 20 minutes more of REM and dream periods than those who don’t.
Conclusion
You’ve heard the saying, “practice makes perfect.” For those who are new to meditating before bed, it may seem difficult at first. But don’t be discouraged! Practice patiently. Regular practice of meditation and repetition is essential for your mental health success.
See Also: Sleep Hygiene: Why is it Important and How to Practice ?|Can Prayer Improve Your Sleep
