Bedtime meditation for sleep

Meditation for Sleep - Headspace

The benefits of sleep meditation

Regularly sleeping fewer than seven hours per night increases the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, unhealthy eating habits that can lead to other chronic illnesses. Sleep deprivation can cause impairments in short and long term memory), decision making), attention), and reaction time).

People who are sleep deprived also tend to make more errors at work and drive more dangerously on the road.

Increased and better sleep, on the other hand, can lower levels of stress, and improve mental clarity and memory. Improved sleep also affects our immune systems), encourages better eating habits and weight management.

Better sleep has even been linked to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s. Studies regularly connect improved sleep with providing a greater sense of wellbeing.

Why might you choose to meditate before bed? Especially if you have insomnia or difficulty falling asleep, meditation has been shown to improve the quality and efficiency of sleep, how quickly you fall asleep, and how long you can stay awake during the day.

Completing a meditation for sleep before bed can help you to fall asleep faster; once asleep, you’re likely to sleep more soundly, too.

Meditation for quality sleep – during the day

Sleep falls into a unique category in that good quality Zzzs require much more than doing a simple meditation in bed. Restful sleep largely depends on having a rested mind, and so the preparation can begin with your mindset ... during the day. More often than not, our issues around sleep are rooted in our thinking processes.

Headspace’s 30-day Sleep course (available only to Headspace subscribers), for example, isn’t designed to send you to sleep in the moment; it’s designed to change your relationship with sleep. By gradually training the mind in a specific way — day by day, for a month — you gradually create an environment conducive to a good night’s rest.

It’s recommended that the 30-day Sleep course be used during the day, in conjunction with the single sleep meditation at bedtime. The course trains the mind for long-term, sustainable change; the single meditation is a specific exercise to send you to sleep.

What to expect when meditating to fall asleep

Meditation for sleep should be approached the same way we approach meditation in the daytime: gently, with a relaxed focus. When we allow the body to relax, and allow the mind to drift off, we do so in a soft, gentle way, not trying to force sleep, otherwise we encourage more thoughts and, possibly, some tension. As much as possible, allow yourself to be led by the guidance, not thinking too much about the technique or instructions.

Before you begin your sleep meditation: lie flat on your back on the bed, take a few deep breaths, and close your eyes, allowing the body to begin powering down. If you’re using a guided meditation, follow the instructions. If practicing unguided meditation, progress at your own pace. The more you practice this type of meditation, the more likely you are to build a quiet and restful mind that can sleep at ease.

Guided sleep meditations generally employ a number of different techniques:

Breathing exercises. This involves regulating your breath — counting breaths, for example — and eventually slowing your breathing down a bit, which signals to the body that it’s time for sleep.
Mindful body scanning. As you lie on your bed, you may be asked to notice the breath and the places where your body is touching your bed. Then, starting at the toes, you can think of “switching off” any effort in each part of your body, part by part.
Visualizations. A visualization asks you to imagine an image or scene, then it takes you into a mental state that is similar to hypnosis. Gratitude: Some sleep-focused meditation programs focus on appreciation meditation and loving kindness meditation, which ask you to focus on gratitude.
Counting. To slow the mind down and release you from cyclical patterns of thought, you may be invited to count slowly: starting at 10 (or even 1,000) counting backwards to one, then starting at 10 again.
Silence. A narrator or guide may ask you to lie calmly in silence for up to a few minutes, providing very little guidance, as a way to focus after a long and busy day.
Movement-based meditation. If you’re being guided through a sleep-based meditation in person, you may be invited to participate in mindful movement practices like tai chi, low-impact postures or light stretching.
Retracing your day. Reviewing your day, in detail, action-by-action, can be a great way to distract your mind just enough to drift off. Starting from getting up in the morning, through showering and having breakfast, spend 20-25 seconds on each of the day’s events, however small. This is great way to begin powering down, before a breathing or visualization meditation.

A simple meditation to aid sleep

If you wake up in the night, racing thoughts can contribute to keeping you awake. Your mind is whirring away, worrying about all kinds of things that might happen. A simple meditation based on counting the breaths can really help.

Start by scanning down through your body, looking for areas of tension and relaxation. Then begin counting your breaths, (1 for an in-breath, 2 for an out-breath, 3 for an in-breath and so on, up to 10). If your mind wanders, just bring it back to counting your breath. The idea is to step away from the worried thinking, and give your mind a different object to concentrate on for a while so you can fall back asleep.

A 20-Minute Meditation for Easing Into Sleep

Since staying awake while we’re meditating is often a big challenge, it’s no surprise that mindfulness has been shown to promote healthy sleep. It’s not all that exciting to sit quietly and breathe. It can be downright calming. But that’s not the whole story.

Mindfulness practice encourages nonjudgmental awareness—seeing things exactly as they are, with openness and curiosity. With sleep, as with meditation practice, intentions are easier said than done.

Neither sleep routines nor mindfulness practice responds well to a heavy hand. If you set out to force yourself into sleep, you’re less likely to sleep. If you strain for some picture-perfect mindset when meditating, you’ll create more stress and uncertainty. If you set yourself up with clear-sighted planning and patient resolve—intentionally but unforced—sleep and mindfulness are both more likely to follow.

A 20-Minute Guided Meditation for Sleep

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In considering any meditation related to sleep, recognize that there’s nothing to force, and nothing to make happen. Since striving makes sleep more challenging, set out to practice without specific expectations or goals. We cannot make ourselves sleep, but perhaps, by aiming to stay settled and getting less caught up in our thoughts, we fall asleep anyway.

For the meditation that follows, there will be no ending bell or instruction. At the end, continue to practice if you like, or hopefully enjoy a good night’s rest instead.

Start while lying down, allowing your legs to rest in a comfortable posture, hip-width apart. You can place your arms by your side or your hands on your belly.
Begin by noticing your breath. Pay attention, as best as you’re able to the physical movement related to breathing, such as your belly rising and falling. Or, if you prefer, focus your attention more closely on the air moving in and out of your nose and mouth.
It’s normal, expected even, to have thoughts—lots of them. Your mind rehashes the day or gets caught up in worrying about tomorrow. Recognize those habits, and then practice letting them be. Label whatever grabs your attention, and come back again to noticing the breath. Breathing in… and breathing out.
Notice if you get caught up in effort, or frustration, or fear, with compassion for yourself. Catch thoughts of self-criticism or frustration, and come back to just one breath, one more time. Thoughts are only thoughts. Breathing in… breathing out. There’s nothing you need to fix or change right now in this moment. Notice where your thoughts go, and label them “thoughts.” Come back to one next breath, over, and over again.
Shift attention to sensations in your body. Start by moving your awareness to physical sensations in your feet. You don’t need to wiggle your toes or move your feet, just notice them—the temperature or the pressure of your heel against the blanket or the mat beneath you.
From your feet, move your attention into your lower legs, noticing whatever there is to see. Letting go of a sense of effort or needing to make anything happen. And then from your lower legs, through your knees, and into your upper legs. If you feel any sense of stress or tension, aim to relax and let go.
Then move your attention through your buttocks and pelvis, and into your belly and abdomen. You might notice a sense of your breath moving up and down, or other physical sensations, or sometimes even reflection of emotion (perhaps an emotion like fear or anger reflects in the stomach in the form of tension or tightness). And as you move from your belly and now into your chest, note each time your mind gets caught up in thoughts of discomfort or distraction. And then gently and with patience, guiding it back one more time.
Move around into your back, certainly a place many of us hold tension in different ways, relaxing your muscles as best as you’re able, lowering your shoulders from your ears. If you feel a need to make an adjustment, allow that to happen with intention, pausing and choosing your next action. Shift your attention into your hands and lower arms, again without actively needing to move or change anything, observing and letting go.
Then moving through your neck and into the muscles of your face, perhaps noticing any locations of tightness or pinching, and then with gentleness, as best as you’re able, relaxing those muscles. And then for a few moments, have a general awareness of physical sensations throughout your body.
And now, if you’re still awake, bring your attention back to the breath, each time the mind wanders into the past or into the future, or wherever it chooses to go. If it’s a useful anchor for your attention, you can count breaths, breathing in, one, breathing out, one, breathing in, two, breathing out, two… When you reach ten, start at one again.
If counting becomes a distraction, then just stay with the sensation of breathing —wherever you feel the breath entering or leaving your body, or the rising or falling of your belly and chest. Continue on your own now, counting breaths up to ten, patiently returning your attention whenever you become distracted. If you lose track of counting, that’s fine. Start over wherever you last remember.

Originally published on October 4, 2018.

Meditation for Perfect Sleep in 10 Steps - Snob

Andy Puddicombe, creator of the Headspace app to help you choose your way to meditate, offers 10 steps to help you wake up in the morning refreshed and full of energy

June 17, 2018 8:23 am

Photo: Maxpixel

Step 1

Lying in bed, inhale deeply five times: in through the nose, out through the mouth. Try to feel how, as you inhale, your lungs fill with air and your chest expands. With an exhalation, imagine how your thoughts and experiences from the past day disappear, and any tension in the body dissolves. This will help prepare the mind and body for the next exercise.

Step 2

Take your time: you can't force your body to relax, and you can't speed up sleep either. Don't worry if there's a whole bunch of thoughts in your head - let them take their course. Don't try to control them.

Step 3

Feel your body touching the bed. Pay attention to where you feel the physical contact most strongly and whether the weight of the body is evenly distributed. Keep your attention on this for 30 seconds.

Step 4

Listen to the sensations in your body. How does it feel to you: heavy or light, tight or relaxed? Move through your entire body like a scanner, from head to toe, watching for any tension that occurs. Scan your body in this way several times for 20-30 seconds. Try to pay attention not only to areas of tension and discomfort, but also to areas where you feel relaxation and peace.

Step 5

Don't try to change the rhythm of your breathing - let your body do its job. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to breathe in this exercise - so don't worry if you feel your breath in your chest instead of your stomach. Just notice whether it is deep or shallow, long or short, soft or intermittent.

Step 6

As you watch your breath, your mind will become distracted. Once you are aware of this, come back to the present moment and bring your attention back to your breath. Do this exercise for a couple of minutes, then move on to the next part of the meditation.

Step 7

Recall the first thing that happened to you that day, starting from the moment you woke up in the morning. Do you remember how you felt? Set your brain to work in "rewind" mode: just watch as the picture of events, meetings and conversations during the day is played out in front of you. The details are not important - a series of general frames passing through consciousness will suffice. Devote about three minutes to this visual journey and end it with the present moment.

In the process, you will start to get distracted again. Try not to sink into the night looking into new reflections. As in the previous exercises, as soon as you become aware that your mind is wandering somewhere far away, return your attention to the place where you left off when watching the “movie”.

Step 8

Come back to the present moment and keep your attention on the little toe of your left foot. Imagine that you "turn off" it before bed - as if you give your joints and ligaments permission to rest, because you will not need them until morning. Continue to relax the leg up to the thigh.

Step 9

Before moving on to the same exercise with the right leg, notice the difference in sensation between the now relaxed and still tense limb. If before that you were not sure whether you feel anything, now the effect of relaxation is quite noticeable. Repeat the previous exercise with the right leg, starting at the toes and ending at the hip line.

Step 10

Continue to "switch off" the body: the fingers, the palms, the arms themselves, and then the neck, throat, face, and entire head. Enjoy the moment of complete release from tension, the absence of the need to do something, the absence of control. Now you can let your mind wander as it wants while you fall asleep.

What is Meditation before Sleep and how to do it?

Meditation before bed helps reduce insomnia, anxiety, pain, and problems such as jet lag

Since stress is a common barrier to good sleep, it's understandable why sleep meditation can be beneficial for many people - given that surveys have shown that 77 percent of people are exposed to stress, which affects their physical health.

There are different types of meditation, with their own approaches and goals. However, most have a common intention to bring your awareness into the present moment (also known as mindfulness practice) and deal with stressful thoughts more productively.

A number of studies have shown that meditation can be helpful for those dealing with symptoms of insomnia, anxiety, chronic pain, jet lag, and depression.

Which meditation is suitable for sleep? In this article, we'll break down how sleep meditation works, as well as how to do it to get the best results.

How Sleep Meditation Works

Research shows that meditation before bed can support a healthy sleep pattern because it helps you relax and calm down before bed. Meditation can help manage anxiety, stress, and sleep problems and promotes sleep by reducing pain and stress that can disrupt sleep.

When you practice meditation before bed, you are actually causing changes in brain activity in certain parts of your brain, including the thalamus and amygdala, which play a role in your perception of fear and discomfort. For example, research shows that meditation can reduce symptoms of depression and pain, as well as restlessness/anxiety, which can make people toss and turn at night when they can't sleep.

Why Meditate Before Sleep

The following are some of the benefits associated with meditation before bed:

1. May Help Reduce Anxiety and Anxiety

Meditation before bed helps create the inner conditions needed for a truly restful night. Because when we calm the mind, our body truly rests - and it is this calmness that helps to relax.

Whether you choose to follow guided meditation or sit in silence alone, the meditation you choose will most likely have a calming effect on your nervous system, helping to reduce a range of anxiety symptoms associated with insomnia.

Several studies have shown that mindfulness meditation helps some adults with insomnia improve total wake time, sleep onset delay, sleep quality and sleep efficiency.

In addition to focusing on the breath during meditation, you can try turning on visualizations, relaxing sounds, or music, which can help create a calm environment that makes it easier to relax. Some guided sleep meditations include several of these features to help you focus on the present, let go of the rumination, and practice more gratitude and positivity that fights stress.

2. Helps Reduce Pain and Discomfort

Because meditation before bed can help reduce pain, muscle tension, and possibly even inflammation associated with high levels of stress, it can be a useful addition to your daily routine if you are dealing with constant pain. You may find it easier to deal with discomfort that keeps you awake if you focus on relaxation.

3. Can help with jet lag

Although not much research has been done on this topic, some believe that sleep meditation can help people adjust to changes in their sleep patterns, such as jet lag or other factors that change schedules (such as shift work or children). ). This is likely due to the ability of meditation to reduce anxiety, fatigue, and feelings of depression, as well as help with concentration.

Who Should Use Bedtime Meditation?

If you experience any of the following situations or symptoms, you may find it helpful to try meditation before bed:

Insomnia (inability to fall asleep easily)
Pain that keeps you awake
Anxiety
jet lag due to long-haul flight
Daytime fatigue and lack of attention
Your sleep schedule changes frequently, for example due to shift work
You are a parent who cannot sleep well because your children wake you up, or you are worried about your child's sleep.

How to Do Meditation Before Sleep

There are several ways to do meditation before bed. For example, you can meditate silently while sitting, do a moving meditation (which may consist of walking or yoga), listen to music while lying in bed and meditate, or follow an app-guided sleep meditation.

Here's how to do basic sleep meditation:

For best results, try meditating for about an hour after you go to bed.
First get into a comfortable position, sitting or lying down. Pay attention to your breathing as you work on even breathing by counting to four on the inhale and then counting to four again on the exhale (this technique is called "four breaths"). As a rule, the most soothing is to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.
When your mind starts to wander, try to return to your breath. Notice the things you think about, but try not to get carried away by the stories you start telling yourself.
Pay attention to the sensations in your body and eliminate spaces that feel tight, heavy, or cramped. Then imagine your muscles softening and your body becoming calm and peaceful.
You can also incorporate journaling into your meditation practice by writing down your thoughts after meditation. Journaling is also a good way to “throw away” all your worries and feel lighter.

How long should you Meditate? Is 20 minutes of Meditation really equal to 4 hours of Sleep?

Although not proven, a little meditation can help you feel more alert, even if you don't get enough sleep. This is mainly due to the ability of meditation to reduce stress and distraction, as well as help with mental clarity and calmness.

Research shows that practicing mindfulness for 10-30 minutes a day can help many adults sleep better, so 20 minutes is a good time to aim for every day.

How can I fall asleep quickly, in just a few seconds?

The four-time breathing exercise described above is one of the fastest ways to help you fall asleep. Other tips for falling asleep quickly:

Relax facial muscles, especially around the eyes and mouth;
Raise and then relax your shoulders, chest and neck and imagine yourself melting;
Do body scan meditation to release tension;
Imagine a relaxing scene, such as a beach with crashing waves;
Repeat calm words or sayings.

What's the Best Bedtime Meditation App?

If you prefer guided sleep meditations, try one of the many meditation apps available, free Youtube videos, or playlists on platforms like Apple or Spotify.

Some apps and platforms require a subscription, so decide how often you plan to make them and how many different types you want to access.

Some of the most popular sleep meditation apps include:

Slumber - mainly dedicated to sleep meditations, nature sounds and soothing music;
Headspace - offers dozens of meditations designed for those dealing with issues such as insomnia, stress, anxiety, lack of attention and depression;
Calm - Offers various types of calming stories, including celebrity stories, as well as guided breathing exercises that can be used to manage anxiety;
Buddhify - contains meditations with many different goals such as rest, concentration, sleep and relaxation;
Insight Timer is a website and app with stories and guided meditations to help you feel calmer.

Risks and other tips

If you are struggling to get enough sleep, there is very little risk in trying sleep meditation. However, this approach may not work well enough for some people with severe anxiety or sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea and narcolepsy.

Some people may also suffer from insomnia due to the use of certain medications or severe pain or indigestion that cannot be relieved by meditation.

Meditation is said to help with sleep, but meditation should not replace a good night's sleep. The real goal is to create a healthy sleep environment and get the best sleep possible, and that's typically between seven and nine hours a night for most adults.

If you are having trouble falling asleep, try these tips and habits in addition to sleep meditations:

Stick to a regular sleep schedule, which means going to bed and waking up around the same time each day to regulate your circadian rhythm;
Make your room soothing and inviting to sleep, for example by keeping it cool, dark, quiet, tidy and comfortable;
Set a sleep schedule that helps you relax.
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