Struggling to achieve a restful night’s sleep? A guided meditation might just be what you need!
A good night’s sleep is vital for overall well-being, impacting your physical health, cognitive function, and emotional stability.
Unfortunately, however, sleep deprivation is a prevalent problem, and almost 50 to 70 million Americans are reported to have sleep disorders. And given the debilitating effects this has on health, it is imperative to undertake measures that improve sleep.
Now, you might know meditation is a transformative practice that relieves stress and improves concentration – but that’s not all it is. Turns out, its benefits also extend to promoting better sleep.
In this article, you will learn how meditation influences sleep, and why making it a part of your daily routine can enhance your sleep. Additionally, I will also guide you through a 20 minute meditation for sleep to help get a more restful and energizing night’s rest.
How Does Meditation Help Me Sleep?
Meditation is proven to bring about a series of physiological changes in the body, and as a result, improve sleep quality.
Here are different ways meditation affects sleep:
Increases Melatonin – The Sleep Hormone
Our bodies make melatonin, a hormone responsible for regulating night and day cycles. Its levels generally increase towards the evening, essentially serving as a time cue, which prepares your body for sleep.
Meditation slows down melatonin metabolism, in other words, slows the rate at which it breaks down in the liver. This naturally increases the hormone’s levels in the body, thus, making you fall asleep.
Reduces Pain
Many people suffer from health conditions and associated chronic pain, which understandably affects sleep quality.
Meditation involves deep breathing exercises that are classically known to reduce pain perception. Therefore, by promoting relaxation, and mindfulness, meditation can help manage chronic pain more effectively, helping you experience less discomfort and resultant sleep disturbance.
Additionally, meditation techniques like guided imagery are fundamentally based on helping people easily shift focus, and you can use them to distract yourself from pain.
Hence, meditation alleviates pain and promotes relaxation, which contributes to better sleep and improved overall well-being.
Relieves Stress
Meditation lowers cortisol, the stress hormone, so relieving anxiety and improving relaxation is quite literally where it shines.
Medical studies have shown markedly decreased levels of cortisol, as well as epinephrine and norepinephrine (the fight and flight hormones) in people who practice transcendental meditation.
This calms the nerves down, slows the heart rate, and induces a state of deep relaxation.
Moreover, mindfulness in meditation cultivates awareness, which can help you better regulate your emotions in stressful situations.
All of this, combined, promotes better sleep.
Increases Sleep Duration
Sleep disorders can present differently, and while some people have trouble falling asleep, others have difficulty staying asleep.
The benefits of meditation extend to both of these problems. By reducing stress hormones, increasing melatonin, and lowering the threshold for pain sensation, meditation enables you to transition more smoothly into sleep.
This allows for a longer and uninterrupted night’s sleep.
Enhances Sleep Quality
Meditation helps sleep in multiple ways. It relaxes your body, creating an optimal physical and mental state you need to easily fall and stay asleep.
However, it doesn’t stop there.
Meditation works wonders in improving sleep efficiency.
Have you ever woken up tired and drowsy even after 8 to 10 hours of sleep? Blame it on poor sleep quality.
Reduced sleep quality is the inability to achieve a restorative and uninterrupted sleep, often characterized by waking up feeling unrefreshed.
This occurs due to various factors like stress, anxiety, poor sleep habits, medical conditions, and even environmental factors like noise or light disturbances.
When sleep quality is compromised, the body does not adequately complete the sleep cycles, including REM, which is crucial for cognitive function and emotional regulation. This leads to you waking up tired, despite spending a full night in bed.
Since meditation reduces stress, it leads to a deep sleep, allowing you to wake up fully energized.
How Do I Meditate Before Sleep?
Now that you know how meditating benefits sleep, here are some general tips to help you get started:
Create a Dedicated Space
Find a quiet and comfortable space where you can sit or lie down without distractions. Dim the lights, and adjust the room temperature to your preference. You can also consider playing soft music in the background or using scented candles for aromatherapy to better calm your mind.
Set Aside Time
Allocate a few minutes for your meditation practice before bedtime. Aim for around 10 to 20 minutes. Feel free to adjust the duration based on your schedule, but make sure to stay consistent with it.
Remember, you need to meditate daily to achieve great results.
Choose Your Technique
There are many meditation techniques, all of which include different exercises and focus on different aspects. Select a technique that resonates with you, and aligns with your goals.
Generally, people take to mindfulness meditation, deep breathing exercises, body scan meditation, and visualization for better sleep.
List of Mediation Apps That Will Help You Before Sleep
- Headspace – is a digital platform offering guided meditation, mindfulness, and mental wellness exercises designed to help users manage stress, improve focus, and achieve better sleep, all accessible through its website and mobile app.
- Calm – is a leading meditation and sleep app designed to help users manage stress, achieve better sleep, and live a more mindful and healthier life. It offers a wide range of personalized content including guided meditations, Sleep Stories, music, and soundscapes to promote relaxation and improve mental well-being
- Healthy Minds Program – is a platform offering science-based meditation and mindfulness practices aimed at improving mental well-being. It offers a four-pillared approach to developing skills for increased focus, decreased stress, and enhanced overall health, supported by neuroscientific research and guided by the work of Dr. Richard Davidson.
- Sleepiest – Sleepiest is an app designed to help users fall asleep more easily with a vast library of over 1,400 sleep sounds, bedtime stories, and meditations. It aims to provide a restful night’s sleep through award-winning content, including sleep podcasts by voice actors for both adults and kids, available directly within the app
You can also join our free WhatsApp group to learn more about meditation and calming sleep tips.
20-Minute Meditation For Sleep
Here’s a practical 20-minute meditation for sleep guide:
- Lie down in a comfortable position with legs slightly apart and arms resting by your side or on your belly.
- Close your eyes, and focus on your breath, noticing its rhythm and sensations in your body.
- Let go of any wandering thoughts, and gradually return your focus to the breath.
- Keeping your eyes closed, start mentally scanning your body, starting from your feet and moving upwards, releasing tension as you go.
- Pay attention to your hands, arms, neck, and face, consciously relaxing each area.
- Bring your awareness back to your breath.
- Count your breaths for up to ten minutes to maintain focus.
- Continue this for the entire duration of your session, and allow yourself to fully immerse yourself in the present moment.
Make sure to stay present, and redirect your mind towards breathing whenever you get distracted. And by the end of this 20-minute meditation for sleep, there’s a good chance you will have already dozed off.
