Regular mindfulness meditation is proven to help sleep and its one of the top reasons I am asked about meditation. Can it help you sleep better - here I unpick 5 of the top questions that come up for insomniacs considering how meditation might help.
1.
Is there any research to back up the link
between meditation and sleeping better?
Thousands of studies of meditation and mindfulness show this simple act can have a dramatic influence on our
mental and physical health in many areas. Sleep is one of the areas of wellbeing where meditation can have a big
impact in a short space of time.
A study in the Netherlands
in 2015
found that of the many factors that meditation can change, a
better night’s sleep is one of the quickest aspects to improve. The 2015 study explored how just 10 minutes a
day of simple meditation and mindfulness exercises could help both beginners
and experts in meditation, improve their sleep patterns. The study showed that even a small amount of
mindfulness, everyday over a two-week period (even for a novice) can improve
our sleep by helping to calm our overactive minds.
2.
How does mindfulness meditation help me
sleep better?
Mindfulness meditation is one of only two things found to
reduce our bodies’ build-up of the stress hormone cortisol (the other being physical
exercise). You cannot take a pill to
reduce stress. Stress is a natural physical reaction but many of us have
forgotten how to release this stress. Our daily lives are filled with so many
triggers to stress that if we don’t learn how to reduce these hormones throughout
our day, stress builds and results in a myriad of physical and mental problems
– one of the first of which is, for many, problems sleeping.
By taking time to meditate and be mindful, we start to give
our brain a break from the 50,000 or so thoughts we have a day and we reduce
the build-up of stress hormones in our body.
Without this release, stress hormones – adrenaline, cortisol and noreprenephine
have an almost stimulant effect on the mind, keeping it awake and growing our
fear centre – literally increasing our capacity to worry. Meditation helps this
fear centre inside our mind to reduce, it enables stress hormones to leave our
mind and body and helps us prepare mentally for sleep.
3.
What meditations should I do to help me
sleep better?
Meditation is a very personal practice, while one person
will love switching off to a guided meditation (a story of relaxation and calm
set to enchantingly soporific music to help your mind unwind) – another will
find the combination of voice, music and story frustrating and become more
wound up than before you started.
1.The top meditation for calming the mind for
sleep is Breathing-based meditation.
Breath is
the foundation of almost every mindfulness meditation technique.
By learning to focus on your breath and let that breath become the focus of our
mind, it starts to enable your thoughts to simply pass by you, without
judgement, engagement or criticism. So
instead of reliving your day or catastrophising about tomorrow, our thoughts
simply float in and out of our mind and our body doesn’t react to them – but
simply observes the thoughts. Sounds
simple? It takes practice, so be gentle on yourself. Be reassured that even if your mind feels
nothing but frustration or boredom by focusing on your breath or a breath-based
meditation, your body is starting to release the stress you have built up
inside.
Deep breathing to trigger a yawn is said to
be particularly helpful. You can try
this now. First, without changing
anything, just focus on the rise and fall of your breath in and out, noticing
the movement of your breath in your body and any tension you are holding.
Repeat this process for two minutes.
Next switch your attention to invite your breath to deepen and soften,
feeling the breath move lower into your diaphragm and consciously trying to
move your bellybutton away from your spine as you breathe in and focusing on
trying to push the air out from your belly first, as you exhale. Follow this
pattern for another two to five minutes. Then let your breath flow naturally,
pausing to observe where your breath now moves to and how your body feels,
explore this for two to three minutes.
2. The body scan
– a favourite you may remember
your parents sharing with you as a child, is to pay attention to each part of
your body in turn, starting with your feet and slowly moving up to your head.
Then repeating this, but now inviting a feeling of relaxation, sleepiness and
heaviness to enter your body, one part of you at a time, again moving from toes
to head – with the hope that by the time you reach your mind you will be
asleep. Release the pressure that this
technique will make you sleep and just explore it as a way of switching your
mind off and dialling down the pressure to be ‘always on’ in your brain.
3. Gratitude meditation
– often the reason people
do not sleep is the recurring whirr of worries, regrets and anxieties about what
is going to happen playing over and over in their mind. Instead of focusing on the worries of
tomorrow. Try to focus your attention on thanks for today. Pause and reflect on three things that you
are grateful for, from your day. These
don’t have to be big things. Look for the little things.
Even on the day one of my best friend’s
died, the sun shone, I had a most lovely cup of tea given to me by another
friend when we heard the news, I was grateful to have been with another friend
(who knew him) at the time, I was grateful to stand outside and feel the sun on
my face and feel alive. I was grateful to get home to my family and tell them
how much I love them and value them and realise how precious life is.
You really do have so much to be grateful
for, even on the darkest days – and on the great days – wow! You can then send
yourself to sleep, not counting sheep, but counting your blessings.
4.
It’s not working – what do I do now?
How long have you given it?
5 minutes one night? Do you truly
have a daily practice of at least 10 minutes?
When do you meditate?
Just before bedtime? At other points in the day? Are you only mindful for 5 minutes at bedtime
and the rest of your life is spent in a fog of worry? One of my clients who came to see me for
problems sleeping has found starting her day with meditation always helps her
sleep better. She comments, “It’s not just about how I end
my day, but the attitude I have to my entire day. Meditating at the start of my day helps set
me up in calmer frame of mind so less stress gets to me – and I am able to
sleep much better at night as a result.”
5. Is
meditation the only way to help me sleep?
Absolutely not, and one of the first places to start is with
good sleep hygiene.
It’s no good
doing a meditation to help you sleep and then logging on to your work emails,
checking your phone, mindlessly scrolling through your social media feed after
your meditation. Be honest with yourself.
Is the meditation not working or is the 6 cups of coffee you had today? Is
it the fact you were up till 10pm working and its now 10.30? Your brain is going to need longer to unwind
than a 10-minute meditation so read a book, write a letter, enjoy just lying in
your bed and letting your mind wander.
For more on sleep hygiene see more about a good night's sleep and meditation in one of my previous blogs.
As well as working with people individually, BalanceTime has workshops
looking at sleep and meditation
coming up in Theale, Burghfield and Pangbourne and is
launching an online Meditation Sleep Club – where you enjoy a group-meditation
from the comfort of your own home, specifically looking at helping you to sleep
better.
If you want to find out more, you can get in touch with us, check out our upcoming courses
or visit or www.instragram.com/hellobalancetime
or www.facebook.com/timeforbalance
Explore sleep and meditation this Autumn:
At Arlington Estates - Tuesday 10th September - midday or 1.30pm
Monday 23 September - 7.30-9.30pm at Burghfield, Reading
All our Friday retreats will explore this
Email to book your place to hello@balancetime.co.uk
