If you want to incorporate meditation to achieve the best sleep you can, then you’re definitely barking up the right tree because meditation is renowned for having a wealth of mental and physical well-being rewards.
Meditation offers those who embrace it plenty of benefits including enhanced concentration, lowered stress levels, better pain management, a lowering of blood pressure and developed quality from your sleep.
We’re going to focus on how guided sleep meditation helps you to beat insomnia and enjoy better sleep, so if you’re struggling with sound slumber, this will be of interest.
Essentially, when you practice meditation, you are triggering a physiological relaxation response in your “rest and digest” system. Your brainwave patterns begin to slow down in speed, and you will experience a release of muscle tension when you perform meditation on a regular basis.
Once you are in tune with your meditation, you will find that the relaxation response can help to alleviate depression and anxiety which are both known to bring about poor sleep and are warning signs that insomnia is around the corner.
What’s more, meditation has the ability to offer an improved sense of well-being and when you have this activity in your daily routine it will act to successfully counteract the effects stress has on your body.
In fact, mindfulness meditation was actually found to help fight insomnia during a clinical trial in 2015 which compared the effectiveness of mindfulness and sleep education at fighting insomnia. The findings showed that meditation was more effective in improving sleep quality. The research also cited that this type of meditation was effective at lowering daytime fatigue and symptoms of depression too.
Can meditation make me more awake before bed?
Meditation is used to channel energy. This means that you can use to make you fully awake. But, while some people claim that meditating will have the opposite to the desired effect; beating sleep issues, once you have practiced your meditation for a short time, you will find that you won’t make you more awake before you go to bed.
You may have heard already, but meditation is intended to be used as a mind-clearing activity. Therefore, the less stress you have in your life, the more tranquil your night-time will be; particularly when it comes to sleeping and this is what you should focus on here.
Meditation Tips for Beginners
- Include some meditation to your bedtime routine, regardless of where you are. Having a consistent bedtime routine is superb for promoting sound sleep, and meditating is a great option for one of your bedtime routine undertakings.
It might be a good idea to try and integrate some yoga into this routine too as they go hand-in-hand when it comes to helping to relax your mind, body and soul. While enjoying meditation and yoga, your breathing techniques will help to put your focus on your breath instead of the worries of the day, which aids positive sleep.
- Use the mindfulness meditation discipline when you are in bed before sleep if you want to do it while you’re tucked up.
Meditation and relaxation can be incorporated on your mattress with progressive muscle relaxation and counting meditation; just ensure that you’re in a comfy position that you can feel content with as you meditate.
Mindful breathing using the 4-7-8 method is often very effective at relaxing people. Do this by inhaling through your nose through a four-count, then hold your breath for a seven-count. Finally, exhale through your mouth for an eight-count, and then repeat this process for 5-10 minutes while focusing on your breath as it moves through your body.
- Make meditation your main option as a stress reliever. Both meditation and yoga too can be used at any point in the day as a go-to for stress relief, which will assist in combating insomnia later in the day.
Just a few moments of mindful breathing have the ability to radically lower stress. It’s merely a matter of applying your focus to breathing and counting as far as you need to so that you feel calm and relaxed.
Final Thoughts
If you adapt to include meditating before you go to bed, it has the potential to considerably enrich your relaxation during the night-time. What’s more, meditating can aid in better, deeper sleep that you’re far less likely to wake up from during the night.
Additionally, having meditation in your routine can help you to avoid sleep disruptions. This is why you should put emphasis on getting your meditation done effectually so that you can reap the true benefits and not fall short of your goal; to sleep better.
Meditation doesn’t always work instantly, if you are new to it, so, it’s best to start your journey by centering your focus on slower, deeper breathing techniques.