Meditation for sleep helps put the mind to rest and facilitate natural rest for the brain. A sound and healthy sleep have more to do with a quiet and settled mind than anything. Our mind is active and has an opinion almost about everything. As it speaks on inside our brain, even when we close our eyes, it’s necessary to put our mind to rest first before we can enjoy a sound, peaceful sleep.
As we settle down in our bed, closing down our physical activities, the mind suddenly becomes more active. It starts recalling events, especially the disturbing events, the happenings, and even something from the past. As such, it’s critical to switch the mind off so that the body experiences a natural sleep cycle.
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Meditation for sleep can be one of the greatest gifts you give your mind and body. Each of us spends, on average, one-third of our lifetimes sleeping. Firstly, sleep is the foundation on which we build our health, mental wellbeing, and spiritual strength. And secondly, without a healthy sleep schedule, we cannot be as productive and active as we would like to be. That is why sleep is so crucial to living a long and happy life.
However, getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep per night isn’t exactly easy for most of us. While it is recommended to get 7-9 hours of sleep in the perfect world, nearly half of all Americans are getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep each night–and that sleep is often interrupted and not deep and relaxing.
Getting the sleep you need is key to wellness. So, let’s talk about sleep, what lack of it does to you, and how you can improve your sleep with simple and effective meditation for sleep techniques.
You Can Try This Five Minutes Sleep Meditation
Why Lack of Sleep Is a Problem?
Sleep is of utmost crucial to health and happiness. Lack of sleep is directly responsible for a host of health issues that may not become immediately obvious but build up over time. Moreover, lack of sleep inhibits brain function and can cause a lack of responsiveness inside the body that can lead to any number of issues, including:
- Loss of focus.
- Memory loss and impairment.
- Irritability.
- Increased risk of motor vehicle accidents.
- Weakened immunity.
- Increased blood pressure.
- Poor balance.
- Reduced libido.
- Increased weight gain.
Sleep is the process of ‘recharging’ your internal batteries. While humans don’t run on electricity, we do run on energy. So without it, our functions and processing power will become reduced and drastically hampered. Again, running too low for too long can create issues in both your personal, professional and romantic life.
What Causes Lack of Sleep?
The Noise Inside
Let’s think about it like this. We all live in different circles simultaneously. A circle of friends, a circle of near and dear ones, a circle of friends, a circle of work-related people, a social circle, a personal circle of aspiration and ambitions, and some more. Each of these circles occupies space in our brain, and either one or many makes constant noise inside crying out for attention. These noises are mostly silent when we are engaged in some activity. As we cease to do anything before sleep, the noises get more active and make it difficult to sleep. The primary purpose of meditation for sleep is to shut off these circles, push them in the background, and ease you into a soothing, restful slumber.
It’s pretty fair to say that most of us are not losing sleep because we want to. However, we are losing sleep mainly due to external factors that cause us to lay in bed restless and without relief. This can become incredibly frustrating and disheartening for those who struggle with a lack of sleep and try everything they can think of to remedy the issue.
A multitude of things can cause a lack of sleep. Generally, it boils down to overactive brain activity more than anything else. The modern age of technology has played a considerable role in that. Laying in our beds at night and scrolling through social media or watching videos has shown a significant uptick in sleep loss over the past decade.
Surveys show that nearly 90% of all Americans use screens of some form within one hour of going to sleep. This has been linked to hyperactivity of the brain and lack of ability to reduce stimulation to sleep or in simple words sleep deprivation. A problem that almost all of us are facing as we increasingly enter a more digitized world.
Medical Reasons for Lack of Sleep
There are also medical reasons for lack of sleep, with issues related to ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), Insomnia, and other such sleep affecting disorders that can lead to this problem. However, all of this boils down to the mind’s inability to let off the gas from a busy day and correctly start the unwinding process. When you are continually pushing forward mentally, it can be hard to let go and unwind when you need it most.
That is where learning sleep improving techniques can come into play. Meditation for sleep is a helping hand that allows the brain to relax and get the rest that it needs, whether it be guided meditation or self-guided meditation. Moreover, meditation at bedtime is the best way to give your active thoughts the calming touch that they need.
Meditation for Sleep
As we spoke about earlier, lack of sleep presents a whole host of mental and physical roadblocks to overcome in your day-to-day life. These are roadblocks that don’t need to exist if they don’t have to. That is where nighttime meditations come into the picture. They help remove the stress and damages caused by a lack of sleep peacefully and organically. Better yet, you don’t need to be a meditation guru to be able to learn bedtime meditation for yourself–or allow yourself to be guided through it.
Guided meditation for sleep allows us to learn how to control the running thoughts and eliminate the overactive brain issue. In other words, we can all learn from the process of meditation for sleep. This process can help you sleep better and regain lost ground from the problems caused by a lack of sleep.
What are the Benefits of Meditation for Sleep?
- Restore energy throughout the day.
- Increase focus and productivity.
- Lower blood pressure.
- Provide safer operation of vehicles.
- Increase libido.
- Reduce stress and anxiety.
- Reduce Insomnia
- Reduce risk of Alzheimer’s.
– And so much more!
The best part of meditation for sleep is that it doesn’t come with all of the potential side effects of sleeping aids. As Meditation can bring a natural result and won’t cost you anything to do it. Meditation can be self practiced or practiced with gently guided meditation aids. So, what’s not to love precisely?
How to Meditate for Sleep?
Meditation for sleep is much the same as any other form of meditation. It is merely the practice of reducing your mind activity and focusing yourself on a state of relaxation of mind, body, and spirit. However, there are many different techniques to practice, and no two people are the same when it comes to what works for them.
Sleep meditation is a delicate process that should always be approached with care. As, when we feel anxious or rushed into sleep, we are often causing more harm than good. That is why it is essential to learn to put yourself into a calm mindset and focus your thoughts on relaxing things. Don’t think about your need for sleep, and instead focus on small things within yourself.
The first thing that you should do is get yourself into a state of full comfort. Put away or better switch off your phone and lay back into your bed in your most comfortable position. Then begin the process of slowing down your thoughts until you can focus on your breathing. Because breathing is the key to allowing yourself to drift off blissfully.
You will begin to let go of all of your stresses and worries and focus wholly on your patterns of breathing. In and out. Slowly each time. This rhythmic form of breathing will help give you something simple to focus on rather than the hustle and bustle of life.
Body Scan is a proven form of sleep meditation
Many practitioners will also perform what is known as a ‘body scan’ form of meditation—a process of focusing your thoughts on each individual part of your body one at a time. To do this first, focus on how your toes feel, either without moving them or even by flexing them gently. Then move up your body until you reach your head at the crown. This process can be done repeatedly until you can lose all other thoughts but simple ones. This is another excellent way to relax the mind and fall into a deep sleep.
The idea behind sleep meditation is not to force yourself to nod off as fast as possible. As, it is the idea of easing yourself into a gentle transition from wakefulness to deep sleep. However, it comes through practice and isn’t always easy on the first few tries. But, as with everything, we all have to start somewhere!
Try this Relaxing Body Scan for Deep Sleep
What are the Different Types of Sleep Meditation?
Focusing on your breathing or performing slow ‘body scans’ are only two ways that meditation for sleep can be done. Although, there are a multitude of different meditation techniques – both guided and self-guided – that can help you conquer the sleepless monster. Here are just a few of the different ways that sleep meditation and guided meditation for sleep can manifest:
1.Visualization - Guided Sleep Meditation
Visualization meditation can be done both in a guided form or by yourself. This meditation technique asks you to visualize yourself sleeping restfully. This is often something calming and relaxing and will allow your mind to focus on rejuvenating sleep. Moreover, guided visualization is an excellent method for taking your mind off racing thoughts.
2.Counting Meditation with Deep Breathing
Counting meditation is another great exercise. It is merely the process of counting forwards or backward to a predetermined number. Sometimes you may only count to 10, and other times you might count to 1,000. This process is to be repeated until you slowly drift off. Likewise, you can even count your breath – starting with deep breathing, slowing it down gradually as if telling the body and mind that it is time to sleep. As, observing the breathing will help focus your mind and gradually erase all the other noises which keeps you awake.
3.Gratitude Meditation - Sleep Affirmation
Gratitude meditation is often guided and is an excellent meditation for sleep technique. This form of meditation asks you to focus on things or events that make you feel thankful and happy for a positive sleep affirmation. Forgiving everything with a compassionate view and trusting the universe to maintain the balance and order. These thoughts foster empathy, relaxation and help gently ease you into a state of deep sleep.
Guided Sleep Affirmation at 528 Hz*
(* 528 Hz is the miracle frequency which repiars DNA and boosts immunity)
4.Day Tracing
Day tracing meditation is a method that can also be done in a guided and self-guided situation. This meditation for sleep method asks you to focus on your day in chronological order. Beginning from when you woke up to the moment you are in now. You will spend a short amount of time (10-20 seconds) on each event from your day–no matter how small. Subsequently, this will help you to relax and let go of your daily stresses or anxieties.
Day Tracing – Guided Sleep meditation
5.Activity-Based Meditation
Sometimes meditation in the bed isn’t enough to get yourself into a sleepy state. As it can often require a bit more from you to get yourself ready for bed. Activity-based meditations are often pre-bed rituals that can range from nightly walks to practicing tai chi or yoga. These activities foster relaxation and allow you to burn off excess energy right before bedtime. Just remember to keep the activities focused on unwinding, not excitement.
Other Ways to Improve Sleep
Sleep meditation is only one piece to the puzzle of improving sleep each evening. A lot of the problem can also be solved through healthy habits and daily routines that allow you to get ready for the rest you need and sleep better. While bedtime meditation helps in many ways, it cannot always overcome bad routine habits.
The most important thing to do is to establish a healthy way of approaching bedtime. Keeping the bedroom, a place of relaxation, is a massive part of this in general. For instance, we often find ourselves using the bedroom for work, playing video games, and yes, playing on the phone. Limiting your time being ‘active’ mentally in the bedroom will help train your mind to associate the bed with sleep and rest–not work and mental activity.
Music can help in improving sleep quality
It’s a great idea to try and put away all of your mental stimulants before sleep whenever you can. Subsequently, around an hour before bedtime, you should try to get yourself into a mental state of relaxation. Listen to gentle music, natural soothing sounds, read a book, or otherwise allow yourself to calm down before it’s time to fall asleep finally. Try Zen Music App- Zen Lounge which has a special collection of soothing music and sounds for helping you in sleep meditation
Another great way to improve sleep is through a more balanced and healthy diet. As focusing on foods that bring nutrition and improve bodily function can help your body to operate more efficiently. Diet plays a crucial role in sleep quality.
Overall, meditation for sleep is only one piece of the complex problem of sleep deprivation. As, the real way to overcome it is to set yourself up for success. By the time you get into bed, being able to meditate and relax should already be a simple task–once you get a little bit of practice.
Final Thoughts
All of us want to get a more healthy and balanced lifestyle going. Meditation for sleep can improve our lives in areas that we may not even know are lagging. Getting the rest we need is something that all of us deserve and can have. That is how sleep meditation brings joy, comfort, and wellness to all of us—mind, body, and soul.
