Mindfulness Meditation Benefits Can Help You Beat Insomnia

You turn over your pillow one more time so you get the cooler side up. A few minutes later, you flip over to face the opposite direction. Your bed partner snores, and that makes you even more frustrated that you can’t sleep. You decide to pick up a book to read, but that still doesn’t help you sleep. You glance at the clock and it’s 3 a.m. and you have to get up in four hours to get the kids ready for school before you head out the door for work. Meanwhile, inside your head, your stress builds and it makes you worried and anxious. This doesn’t help as you try to sleep. Does this situation sound at all familiar? If it does, you’re one of the millions of Americans who suffer from some kind of insomnia. Luckily, meditation benefits make it possible to sleep better and beat insomnia without drugs, medications or huge lifestyle changes.

The Importance of Sleep

Can meditation replace sleep? Mindfulness meditation for insomnia encourages better sleep, but it should not be used as a substitute for it. Sleep is vitally important to human biology, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. During sleep, your brain develops new connections and pathways to help you remember things that you learned during the previous day. A good night’s sleep improves learning and other mental processes because your brain works when you’re sleeping. This leads to better problem-solving skills, paying better attention and creativity. When your brain functions better, you have better productivity at school and work.

Physical Healing

Your body repairs the heart and blood vessels when you sleep. While you sleep, your body also regulates your hormones with regards to appetite and blood sugar. A good night’s sleep can help fend off diabetes, obesity, heart problems and immune deficiencies. In short, a full night’s sleep keeps you in top mental and physical shape.

Meditation and Sleep

When you don’t get enough sleep, you open yourself up to a host of medical or emotional difficulties. That’s why you need all the help you can get when it comes to solving insomnia, and meditation is one possibility for you to examine. Mindfulness sleep meditation 10 minutes before bedtime will help you relax and fall asleep more easily.

Study on How Meditation Helps Insomnia

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine from February 2015 illustrates how mindfulness meditation helps middle-aged adults achieve a better night’s sleep. The study included 49 people who were middle age or older at the time of the study. All of these people reported having trouble sleeping. Half were put into a group that completed a mindfulness-awareness program that taught them meditation techniques, focus techniques, and ways to hone in on moment-by-moment thoughts and experiences. The other half went through a sleep education program without learning about meditation. Both groups met a total of six times over the course of the study.

Results

The group that went through meditation training had less fatigue, fewer bouts of insomnia and less depression compared to the other group. The findings didn’t surprise one Harvard professor who is an expert on meditation. Dr. Herbert Benson says that mindfulness meditation triggers the body’s relaxation response. When the body undergoes the opposite of the stress response or the relaxation response, your body starts to heal pain, stress, depression, anxiety and high blood pressure. The trick is finding a way to meditate so you can bring on the relaxation response as you try to sleep. Practicing meditation for insomnia and anxiety will help clear your mind from the day so you can relax. There are a few things you can do to reap the benefits of meditation.

Using Meditation to Combat Insomnia

Meditation involves focusing your mind on the present without worrying about the past or the future. One common method to focus on just the present moment involves slow breathing. Just breathe in and out deeply, slowly and methodically. Listen to the sound of your breath, turn your thoughts inward and clear your mind as you listen to your lungs inhale and exhale.

Guided Meditation

You can use a guided meditation where you listening to someone’s recorded voice or on a short mantra you repeat over and over. Consider using a visual image, such as a candle, everyday object or visage in your mind, to empty your mind of all other thoughts. The goal is to sharpen your focus on just one particular aspect of your present moment going on immediately in front of you.

Breathing for Better Sleep

The beauty of breathing exercises is that you can employ that kind of meditation anytime and anywhere, especially as you lay down to try to sleep. Dr. Benson recommends practicing mindfulness meditation at least 20 minutes per day, which is the recommendation made by the meditation study. The idea is that the more you meditate, the easier the relaxation response occurs and the sooner you fall asleep. The sooner you fall asleep at night, the better your overall sleeping pattern becomes over the long term. Improved sleeping patterns will boost your energy and give you a fresh outlook on your day.

Can You Meditate Lying Down?

Some people think you must sit in an upright position in order to properly meditation. The truth is that you can also meditation when you’re lying down. Even many yoga poses occur when you’re lying flat on the mat as you breath in and out. This creates a state of complete relaxation which encourages you to drift off to sleep.

There is little research on meditation causing insomnia. Research does show that meditation has a huge effect on sleeping patterns. Some people may wonder if there is a link between medication and less sleep. If you do experience less sleep after meditating, it could mean that you’re actually making progress with your practice. If this happens, try practicing earlier in the day rather than before bedtime. This will allow your mind to calm down and work through any thoughts that you brought to the surface.

Experience the Benefits of Meditation

If you struggle with insomnia, consider trying mindful meditation techniques. Better sleep is just one of the many benefits to practicing this art form. Meditation relieves stress, anxiety, lowers blood pressure, and improves your mood.  If you have a stressful job or experience emotional depression, take a few minutes to practice breathing techniques. These will help you to slow down and think about the important things in life.

Beating insomnia is one of the many mindfulness meditation benefits to explore. From improving focus to sleeping peacefully, ongoing meditation can improve your life.

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