Meditation To Help Sleep Better
If you’ve ever had problems falling asleep or staying asleep, then perhaps learning meditation to help sleep better is the key.
Given that most of us spend around 1/3rd of our lives sleeping, it’s surprising how there has not been that much research done on the impact that sleep has on our overall health and happiness.
What Can I Do When I Feel Tired But I Can’t Sleep?
The first question to answer is how much sleep do we really need? While there has been a number of experiments and studies conducted around how much sleep is needed before we become sleep deprived, there are some consistent results that have been discovered.
We function best on 7.5 to 8 hours sleep a day. Yes, we can get by with less sleep. and for many people even 6 or 4 hours sleep is pretty normal during the week. The catch is that even though we can adapt our lives to less sleep, it creates a sleep debt which has an ever increasing impact on our mental and physical performance the longer it goes.
While artificial stimulants like coffee, sugar, bright lights, work pressure, and many other factors, it may feel like you’re fully awake, but internally your mind and body is suffering. While we sleep less to work more, the irony is that we are depriving our mind and body of what it needs for optimal health, energy, and especially performance.
Which brings us to meditation. What on Earth does meditation and sleep have to do with each other? Well, don’t forget that sleep is all about our brainwaves slowing down so we can enter into deep sleep. And deep sleep is associated with Delta brainwave activity.
There are meditation techniques that are specifically designed to help the brainwaves to synchronize to Delta frequency – while we are awake. When we do this, then the brain produces all the physical responses through the nervous system that causes our body to go into relaxation and rejuvenation mode.
Just 20 minutes of deep meditation during the day can help you to recover from sleep deprivation at night. The emphasis being on deep meditation, not sitting restlessly and being agitated that your mind won’t shut-up. That’s going to just make you more tired.
Meditation Techniques For Sleep
One of the things that stop us from falling asleep easily is that we have accumulated so much mental tension during the day that it is seemingly impossible to shut it off. This means that even if we sit down to watch TV, or read a book before going to bed, it’s not actually helping because the mind is still moving from one thing to the next.
Let’s look at some of the practical strategies and meditation techniques for better sleep.
Give your mind a break. The mind needs time to unwind before falling asleep so for at least one hour before you go to bed avoid any mental stimulation like watching TV, reading a book, or worrying about things that you cannot change or deal with before going to bed.
Do something physical. Spend at least 15 minutes doing moving your body in some way before you go to bed. There’s no fixed rule here except that we’re not looking for anything high impact, just some simple yoga postures, dancing to your favorite tunes, or even having sex, all helps to get you out of your head and into your body before bed.
Avoid energy drinks. If you find that you’re having difficulty falling asleep then eliminate having sugary drinks and caffeine for at least 3 or 4 hours before going to bed. With caffeine, it’s even better to not have any after lunch time if you really want it to be out of your system in time to fall asleep.
Setup up your bedroom for sleep. Is your bedroom setup to help promote good sleep habits? Even something as simple as your pillow or mattress being uncomfortable can be a hindrance to falling asleep. It also helps to keep your bedroom cool, dark and as quiet as possible. get rid of any TV’s, computers, exercise equipment, or anything that can distract you or keep you awake.
Listen to a binaural beats meditation. This scientific meditation technique uses brainwave entrainment to help you go from being awake and alert, to relaxed and asleep in minutes instead of hours.
Binaural Beats Deep Sleep Meditation
How did you go? If lack of sleep is robbing you of energy, happiness, health and peace of mind, then following the above guidelines and using a binarual beats meditation will make a big difference in getting more sleep. Our bodies are quite resilient as long as we let it catch up on the sleep it needs on a regular basis.
That’s why even taking a midday nap is also a great way to bring balance back to your mind and body. It’s not good to have more than one nap during the day as it can mess with your regular sleep cycle but it’s a great way to help your body recover from lack of sleep if you can make time to do it.
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Michael Atma
Meditation Dojo Blog
Skype: michaelatma
Email: Michael@MichaelAtma.com
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