Are you worried that the world will keep you awake at night? With the current state of affairs, there are many things that make us lose sleep. Some were not even sleeping well before the new coronavirus pandemic, and this is a serious problem. Chronic sleep loss has many causes, but more often what keeps us awake at night is racing thoughts, worries about tomorrow, or playing back scenes from the day.
If turning between the sheets is too familiar, practicing a simple meditation before bed can help calm your worries and give you the peace of mind you need to fall asleep.
How can meditation improve sleep?
This practice is useful because it calms the nervous system , balancing the sympathetic arousal system with the parasympathetic system of rest and digestion. This is because when we are stressed, we often get caught in sympathetic overload (also known as fight or flight mode) and cannot shut down our body or brain even though we are tired. So, by calming the nervous system, you can calm racing thoughts.
In fact, science has found that meditation can help people control sleep disorders. An April 2015 study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that adults with chronic sleep problems who practiced meditation (compared to those who received sleep hygiene education) exhibited fewer symptoms of insomnia, depression, anxiety, stress, and fatigue, plus reduced inflammation markers.
But which technique is better before bed?
Meditations that involve less cognition work better for sleeping . In other words, those who require less thought. For example, a mindfulness meditation focused on offering compassion to others would probably not be the best option before bed.
Conversely , focusing on belly breathing is ideal . Deep, slow, steady breaths in the abdomen activate the vagus nerve, which ends in the limbic part of the brain where we control threats. That is, by breathing deeply, you are sending a safety message to the part of the brain that is always alert to danger.
5 minute meditation for better sleep
If you are a novice in mindfulness, there are tons of stress relief apps that you can download when counting sheep doesn’t work. To start, you can try this 5-minute meditation before going to bed:
1. Begin by creating a sleeping environment. Darken the room and remove all electronic devices. Consider turning down the thermostat. Both darkness and a drop in body temperature are required to initiate sleep.
2. Lie on the bed on your back and get comfortable.
3. Prepare to meditate by squeezing all the muscles in your body: point or flex your toes and clench your hands with your fists. Raise your arms, legs, and head off the bed. Clench your jaw and wrinkle your face. Hold this position while holding your breath as long as you can, and then, when you’re ready, release your body with a sharp exhale through your mouth.
4. Pause for a moment and notice the sensations in your body. Repeat the previous step one or two more times, ending with an exhalation that invites the body to release any tension.
5. Pause and see where the bed touches your body and where there are spaces. Observe the sealing areas and the areas with greater amplitude. Observe your breath and your heartbeat.
6. Direct your attention to your breathing, noticing it as it is right now, without trying to change anything. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly to feel the movement of your breath through your body. Feel the air passing through your nostrils. Observe the rise and fall of the chest and belly.
7. Look at the count of your inhalation. Now it will intentionally change the pattern of your breathing to send a message to the brain that it is safe to fall asleep. You will pause at the top of your breath for the same count, and then exhale to double that count. For example, if you inhale while counting to three, you will pause to count to three and then exhale to count to six. By doubling the exhalation, you are turning off the fight or flight part of the nervous system and amplifying the rest and digestion part of the nervous system.
8. Continue this breathing pattern for as long as you like, then allow your breathing to return to normal. As best you can, follow the movement of the breath with your hands and your consciousness until you fall asleep.
9. If you begin to notice thoughts or frustration because you have not yet fallen asleep, simply observe the thoughts (“there is thought”) and the emotions (“there is frustration; there is anxiety”) and return your consciousness to the body.
10. Repeat until you fall asleep.
