Brain & Mental Health

Meditation for Sleep: An Efficient Way to Improve Your Sleeping Pattern.

Mr. Richards was a top lawyer advocating like a storm in the best cases. He was the envy and inspiration of every lawyer and was a  law student of his country. But what you didn’t know was that Mr. Richards hardly got a wink of sleep owing to constant work pressure and a horrifying schedule.

His physician recommended meditation for sleep to him, after he complained of sleeplessness, headaches, and poor performance at work. He is now at the top of his game all over again, thanks to deep and peaceful meditation that has made him calm and composed and helps him sleep sound at night.

Meditation for sleep is an ancient and incredibly useful technique that induces mindfulness, peace, concentration power, and sound mental and physical health. Though daunting, you can learn meditation with rigorous practice, and you will discover a world of inner peace and serenity. It will help you sleep well at night, get rid of your worries and fears. So, ditch everything that you are doing, and read on to learn more about meditation for sleep and good health.

A Japanese monk, Dosho, discovered Zen on a visit to China in 653 and introduced the practice of meditation to Japan upon return to the country, opening the first hall for meditation. The practice grew significantly in Japan from 8th century AD onward, bringing the practice of meditation (1) with it.

75% of insomniacs who started a daily meditation program were able to fall asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed.

60% of anxiety-prone people showed marked improvements in anxiety levels after 6-9 months.

What is Meditation? How does Meditation for Sleep Work?

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Meditation is a practice which involves the employment of awareness and concentration to make the mind focus on a specific object, activity, or an idea. Such a technique helps to train the brain with the enhancement of awareness and attention. Meditation helps to attain emotional stability, mental clarity, and composure.

Meditation for sleep or deep sleep meditation works by inducing a state of calmness in mind. It promotes a state of profound relaxation and is a holistic approach for the natural treatment of insomnia and other sleep disorders.

[Also Read: Natural Remedies for Peaceful Sleep]

Why and When do you Need Meditation for Sleep?

Meditation for sleep renders you with a serene mind and a healthy body. Usually, sleeping for less than seven hours at night triggers the danger of coronary disorders, diabetes, unhealthy dietary patterns, migraines, which worsen to a series of endless ailments. Insomnia and sleep disorders can cause a loss in memory power and even impede your cognitive skills.

Individuals who are restless end up with poor performance at work. The other skills too face a setback owing to lack of sleep.

Deep and profound rest, then again, can bring down the level of psychological pressure, and improve mental clarity and memory power. Meditation for sleep (2)is of utmost significance, not only for a healthy mind and body but also for peak performance and subsequently a stress-free and happy life.

Deep sleep at night additionally influences the body’s immune system, promotes a healthy dietary pattern and helps with weight loss as well. Sleep can cut down the danger of Alzheimer’s Disease as well.

[Read: Benefits of Sleeping on The Floor]

Deep Natural Peaceful Sleep

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The body experiences several phases of the rest cycle when you sleep. Deep sleep is the phase of rest that is needed to feel energized when you get up the next morning. In contrast to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, deep sleep is the point at which the body and cerebrum waves attain a slow pace. It’s difficult to wake from deep sleep, and you may feel unusually tired if you do.

Sleep is partitioned into two classifications: non-REM and REM sleep. The phase of sleep begins with non-REM type pursued by a brief period of deep REM sleep. The cycle proceeds for the duration of the night at regular intervals. Deep sleep happens in the last phase of non-REM sleep.

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[Also Read: Acupressure for Sleep]

Meditation Types for a Deep and Relaxing Sleep

The different types of meditation for rest include the following. Follow the tips and techniques of meditation for a restful sleep to wake up fresh and energetic in the morning.

1. Count

Counting the sheep is an age-old and effective technique to drift off to sleep. Reverse counting from 100, restarting each time you lose track. Try not to think about the number that you missed but begin counting once again until you can count no longer.

2. Perception

Focus on a particular face, place, color, and so forth. Enable your psyche to concentrate on a single picture. You can make your mind focus on your partner’s face or imagine a quiet and peaceful green field in your head. Go to sleep with the thought. This method is excellent for getting rid of disturbing dreams.

3. Mantra

A good mantra is excellent for guided meditation for sleep. Build up a personal mantra, for example, “I am happy that I…” and so on. Repeat the mantra in your mind in complete silence. The mantra will enable the mind to become clear as you continue to focus on individual expression.

[Also Read: Herbs for Sound Sleep]

4. Pranayama and Square Breathing

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Practice yoga breathing, or Pranayama especially before going to bed at night. Breathe in and breathe out through your nose, developing your Ujjayi breath, a typical routine with regards to Pranayama. Count while you breathe and focus on your breathing. It will make your body and mind feel refreshed and help you go to sleep quickly.

5. Exchange Nostril Breathing

Close your left nostril with your right ring finger. Breathe through the alternative nose and keep switching the nostril after every four breaths. Keep breathing in this manner to induce healthy and restful sleep.

Guided Meditation for Sleep

Guided meditation for sleep cannot be mastered in a day; It requires a lot of patience and time to meditate correctly and reap the benefits of meditation. You can only enjoy deep and restful sleep when your mind is uncluttered, and stray thoughts have been swept aside with the help of profound meditation for rest. So, if you are a beginner, try out the points below to practice meditation for deep sleep.

  • Take a shot at the Blue Energy Method to clear your mind of worries and stressful thoughts. Focus on the picture of the blue-colored gaseous spiral and imagine the image to be everywhere on your body. This spiral represents your anxious thoughts. Visualize pulling out of the gaseous spiral from your fingers, toes, stomach, hands, and other parts of the body. Clearing the mind helps to fall asleep quicker.
  • Use the 4-7-8 breathing method to relax the taut muscles in the body. Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds, hold it for 7 seconds, and then exhale for eight seconds. Repeat this on loop until a warm feeling of relaxation spreads across the body.
  • Shut down your brain to stop thinking with the breathing meditation. Just, lay in the bed and breathe at an average pace and focus on your breathing to let go of every thought that is trying to keep you awake at night.
  • You may also listen to soft and soothing audio records of meditation music for sleep. Listening to meditation music for at least half an hour before retiring for the day is an excellent way of guided mindful meditation for sleep.

[Also Read: Ashwagandha for Sound Sleep]

How Long does Meditation take to Provide Benefits in the Sleeping Pattern?

Meditation for deep sleep takes about four weeks to influence the sleeping pattern and induce deep and restful sleep daily.

  • The first week of meditation for deep sleep might make you feel impatient as you will not notice any immediate results. But gradually you will begin to feel drowsy within minutes of the meditation session. It will help by lulling your mind into a sound sleep.
  • In the second week of guided meditation for deep sleep and relaxation, you will notice an improvement in the quality of sleep. If you had been in the habit of waking up at odd hours from sleep, then that will stop for good in the second week of practice of deep sleep meditation. You will sleep soundly through the night and wake up refreshed and rejuvenated in the next morning.
  • In the third week of meditation for restful sleep, you will discover a peaceful harmony between the mind and body. Going to sleep will become smooth and effortless for you.
  • The fourth week of meditation for deep sleep will render you an expert in sleep. You will realize that taking part in severe physical or even watching TV or scrolling through the mobile phone before going to bed will end up in making you feel dizzy and tired even after seven hours of deep and continuous sleep. So, ditch them all and drift off to a bout of restful sleep to wake up refreshed, energized, and a healthier person by the next day.

Being a night owl might sound exciting and mysterious, but it is nothing but an unhealthy pattern of sleep that the body acquires when you start to stay up late and pull all-nighters regularly. Working like crazy all through the night might be great for the organization that you work for, but it can utterly ruin your body and mind.

Meditation helps to break the unhealthy pattern and establish a healthy body clock. Meditation for deep sleep gives the mind and body the much-needed rest and makes you a healthy and hearty person.

Practice meditation twice or at least once in a day and you will be amazed at the differences that it will make in your life. Sleep like a baby through the night with meditation for sleep, and your mind and body will feel replenished with energy and dynamism.