Growing up, I always struggled to get a good night’s rest. Sometimes I would walk up on the hour every hour. Have you have ever had a night where you try to sleep and finally when you get to rest the alarm goes off? Three letters come to mind, WTF. If that has happened to you then don't worry you are not alone. I've lost count of how many times that has happened to me. If you are new to meditation you might be surprised that daily meditation has many benefits including improving your sleep. If you want the quick answer, then YES, meditation can definitely help with sleep. Now I am sure you are wondering how it can help and how you can use it Today. Don't worry in this article we are going to take a closer look. I'll let you know the secrets that worked for me, so hopefully you can get a good night’s rest.
So How Does Meditation Help You Sleep?
To answer this question, we first need to quickly define what meditation is and what causes lack of sleep. We have discussed this in several articles but quickly, Meditation is simply when you spend time to focus your awareness. This could be focusing on your breathing, focusing on different parts of the body, even focusing on your thoughts without any judgement. The key is that you are focused on this moment. This is the key to getting better rest.
There are many causes for lack of sleep, raining from depression, anxiety, stress, and health issues which cause physical stress on the body. Each of these issues has a root cause. For the majority, its the mind. Almost every single night when I was laying staring at the clock, watching the daylight gradually lighten my room, my mind was always racing from one thought to the other. It would get so bad that sometimes I would just get up and do work. My mind was constantly re-imagining and reliving the past or focusing on a future that doesn't yet exist.
In a later article we will look more into how the mind works, but in short, your mind is constantly moving from the re-imagined past (which is often not the true past) to the imagined future which doesn't yet exist. Remember that the key of meditation is to focus on this moment? Well, that's basically how meditation helps. You learn how to focus on this moment. You Let go of depression, anxiety, stress, hopes and fears. Once you are in a meditative state the mind can basically shutdown and allow the body to fall asleep. But, if you are constantly in fight or flight mode, the mind won't let the body sleep because it thinks that there is something it needs to protect you from. With meditation, we learn to train our mind to focus on this moment now. By redirecting our focus, we can regain control and replace all emotions with calm.
Multiple Studies Suggest Regular Meditation can significantly improve sleep.
There have been so many studies that point to benefits of meditation. One of my favorites is a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine. They found several people who were struggling with sleep and divided them in 2 group. One group was taught, and practiced mindfulness designed to help focus on the moment, thoughts etc., while the other completed a sleep training class. If you have never meditated instinct would lead you to believe the group with sleep education would have done the best. However, those in the mindfulness group had less insomnia, fatigue, and depression than those who completed the sleep education class. These powerful findings really help to support the benefits meditation can have on your sleep.
Try this meditation to help you improve your sleep.
So now that you understand how meditation can help you sleep, its time to put this into practice. This is a perfect meditation to do right before your bed. Start by making your room as dark as possible. Turn your phone on off or at least on silent. You may want to have some meditation music in the background, or some nature sounds, whatever it is that feels right.
Lay down ion your back. Don't worry about any of your distractions, all you need to do is be in the moment. Place your left hand on your belly, and your right hand on your chest. Close your eyes and focus on breathing. The goal for the inhale is to make your left hand raise before your right hand, so breath deep into the belly. Hold for 3 seconds and then exhale. On the exhale you want to see the right-hand fall before the left hand. Picture yourself filling the lungs from the bottom to the top and emptying the lungs from the top to the bottom. Once you have finished the exhale, hold for 2 second and repeat. Don't worry if you notice your thoughts, just smile and go back to the breath. You may notice that your breath starts to slow down which is normal. It just means that you are entering a state of calm.
Once you feel calm you are going to focus on your heart. The only thing you need to do is notice each heartbeat. Don't worry if it is beating fast or slow, just keep focusing on each heartbeat while you maintain the breathing pattern. Again, remember if the mind wonders don't worry, just go back to the breath, heart and your heartbeat. Do this for as long as you need, you may fall asleep in this position, or you may need to lay down in your normally position. Once you feel a state of calm do what feels right.
30 days till the best sleep you have ever had.
The best way to realize the benefits of meditation is to practice everyday. While this meditation can and will help you sleep better, it works best if you do it everyday regardless how you feel. Why not try this for 30 days and see how you feel. Try keeping a dream journal. It will signal to your brain that sleep is important to you. Before you start write down on a piece of paper how you are feeling, and how you want to feel in the morning. Then when you wake up write down how well you slept and any dreams you had. You will be amazed at what can happen after 30 days.
If you are looking for more ways to transform your life, check out the other mindfulness articles. Subscribe to our email list to receive new Mindfulness, Motivation and Mindset articles to help you become your best self. Subscribe today.