All About Sleep Meditation

It’s estimated that at least 40% of Americans have sleep problems – not enough sleep, and not enough quality sleep.

And I’m not talking about occasional nights where you feel worse in the morning than you did when you went bed.

No, this is a chronic condition, which results in the issue gradually becoming worse and worse.

It’s a problem so big that consumers are spending upwards of four billion dollars per year on prescription sleep medications.

And while these drugs may help you sleep better, they certainly won’t remove the underlying cause of your sleep problems (e.g. stress).

One way to help improve the quality of your sleep naturally is sleep meditation, so your first question is probably:

What Is Sleep Meditation?

Sleep meditation (also known as Yoga Nidra, or “psychic sleep”) is a state that you put your body and mind into that is somewhere in between waking and sleeping.

You are effectively in a state of deep relaxation (physically, mentally, and emotionally) while at the same time being awake and alert – all of which gives you the same benefits as actually being asleep.

Sleep meditation is different to sleep, because when you’re asleep, your mind is essentially unconscious and therefore unaware of your body, your breathing, or your surroundings. When you’re meditating, however, your mind is alert, albeit relaxed.

The founder of Yoga Nidra, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, described it as the yoga of “aware sleep”.

And although it’s not been scientifically verified yet, some people claim that 30 minutes of sleep meditation can be the equivalent of two hours of regular sleep.

Benefits Of Sleep Meditation

Clearly, the main benefit is improved sleep.

One reason for this is that scientific research has shown that there’s an increase in alpha, delta and theta brainwaves when we meditate, and these are the brainwaves that are responsible for inducing deep relaxation and sleep.

However, it gets better – meditation also reduces the production of beta brainwaves, which are responsible for alertness and agitation.

Another reason for better sleep is that meditation can increase the pineal gland’s production of melatonin, a hormone that controls sleep and wakefulness.

Other benefits are reported as including:

• Alleviation of the effects of PTSD
• Easing of abdominal anxiety
• Improved emotional fortitude
• Increased self-awareness
• Pain relief
• Reduction in the severity of headaches
• Respite from chest pains and palpitations

In addition, it’s easy, safe, and can be used alongside other sleep improvement techniques.

Types Of Sleep Meditation

There are a few different types of sleep meditation:

1. Mindfulness Meditation: Unlike traditional medication, which requires you to clear your mind of all thoughts, this type does the opposite – it’s all about focusing on the here and now (e.g. your breathing, your body).

   It involves a progressive tensing then relaxing of your muscles, typically beginning with your toes and slowly moving up your body.

   This may sound easy, but as you’ll soon discover, random thoughts will often intrude and destroy that focus, which is why practice is important. It’s also often helpful to focus on your breathing first before moving on to the other parts of your body and surroundings.

2. Concentration Meditation: The goal of this type of meditation is to focus all of your attention on a single object. This might be something physical, such as a candle or ornament, a mantra (or chant) that you repeat, or, and this is often the easiest way to start, your breath.
3. Guided Meditation: As the name implies, guided meditation involves listening to the voice of an instructor who guides you into a meditative state.

   You can either use meditation apps on your phone, or search on sites such as YouTube, where you’ll find plenty of guided meditations you can try. (You may need to try different ones until you come across one where the guide’s voice works best for you.)

Where To Practise Sleep Meditation

As I said earlier, you can do this pretty much anywhere where you can be comfortable, including lying on your bed, sitting on your sofa, lying on a yoga mat or air mattress, on the sand at the beach, on your lawn, etc.

The key thing is that you must be comfy, because you do not want your meditation to be disturbed because of aches and pains. However, you don’t want to be too comfortable – the goal here is not to actually fall asleep, which means your bed might need to be your last resort if you cannot find somewhere more suitable!

Also important are your physical surroundings, so try to find somewhere that is quiet and dark – the lower the level of sensory stimulation the better. So if you are outdoors, you should consider using a sleep mask to help minimize light and other distractions.

And lastly, you want the room or location to be neither too warm (since this may make you drowsy) nor too cold (because you will find it hard to relax).

How Long Should You Meditate For

It is generally recommended that anywhere from five minutes to an hour should be sufficient.

However, if you feel yourself falling asleep, you should finish that session as soon as you can and then try again later with a shorter duration.

Like with many meditation techniques, you may find that you need to start with relatively short sessions, and then gradually increase their duration as your experience grows.

Tips For A Successful Sleep Meditation Session

1. Try to make sure you’re as relaxed as possible (but not sleepy) before you start. For example, you could have a soak in a warm tub, or freshen up with a shower.
2. Don’t rush it. The purpose of this is not to hurry through it like people do with so much of their lives, but to slow down and take time to focus on you and what’s happening around you.
3. Turn off any possible distractions, such as your smartphone.
4. If you’re not going to be using a guided meditation, you may want to consider playing some relaxing music – preferably instrumental, since the human voice can be somewhat distracting.
5. Do some breathing exercises to help you relax.
6. Try to wear clothing that is comfortable and loose-fitting – or you can even be completely naked if you want (and assuming it’s appropriate, of course).
7. State your intention (which is known as Sankalpa). This could be an affirmation something like “I am healthy” or “I am successful”.
8. If you find it hard to disengage your mind from whatever train of thought you have going on, then try listening to external sounds as though you’d never heard them before (i.e. discount any association with past memories of those sounds). By listening to sounds in this way, you’ll find that you are no longer focusing on your previous train of thought.

Conclusion

Sleep meditation, or yoga nidra, can be of benefit to anybody, young or old, because insufficient sleep is becoming a chronic problem for far too many people in today’s wired, hectic lifestyle – so I highly recommend that you give it a try.

May your meditation practice be full of life and love and wellness!

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Guided Sleep Meditation (Female Voice)
2. Guided Sleep Meditation (Male Voice)
3. Headspace
4. Mindfulness Course
5. Sleep Mask
6. Yoga Nidra Meditation (Audio)
7. Yoga Nidra Meditation (Book)