Why mindfulness is important for sleep

Sleep meditation methods

Sleep meditation is one of the proven ways to obtain better sleep. It has been proven to have a number of health benefits that help your mind and body relax ahead of bedtime.

There are a number of forms of sleep meditation that you can try that will have a positive effect on your sleep. These are:

Guided sleep meditation

Guided sleep meditation usually involves listening to an audio recording that directs you through the steps, including what breathing patterns to follow. Guided imagery is another form of this that allows a person to use their minds more. For example, it might include instructions, such as asking a person to imagine being in their favourite place or somewhere specific, like a beach. In a study conducted by Rachel Neuendorf, it was found that 60% of people reported a beneficial effect of guided meditation on at least one sleep outcome measure.

According to the Department of Family Medicine, around 30% of adults have short-term problems with insomnia. Guided meditation, both through audio recordings and imagery, is known to help with the symptoms of insomnia. This is because it allows the body to enter a relaxed state that helps you get better rest.

Yoga

Yoga is a commonly used form of meditation that allows the body to enter a relaxed state. It usually incorporates mindfulness meditation, controlled breathing and stretch positions. The way this is done can vary depending on the type of yoga that is being practised and the person’s physical capabilities.

This form of meditation has been known to reduce stress, which will improve mindfulness and overall sleep quality. In fact, over 55% of yoga practitioners reported improved sleep, and 85% reported reduced stress.

The controlled breathing involved with yoga stimulates your vagus nerve. This affects your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which controls the body’s ability to rest. When this is improved, it will lead to much better sleep.

Tai Chi

Tai Chi is an internal Chinese martial art practised for defence training, health benefits and meditation. Even though it did originate as a martial art, it is used as part of Qigong, which is a traditional Chinese medicine technique. This uses mental focus, slow movements and deep breathing to achieve mindfulness.

Tai Chi and Qigong both use similar controlled breathing techniques to yoga, which stimulate your vagus nerve.

Mindfulness principles

There are considered to be seven mindfulness principles that people should follow if they want to get the best sleep possible. These are:

• Fresh mind 

• Don’t allow yourself to think of past sleeps or how your sleep is going to be. Always enter sleep with a fresh mind.

• Non-striving

• Don’t force yourself to fall asleep at night. Strike a balance between your desire for sleep and simply allowing sleep to unfold.

• Letting go

• Allow whatever happens to occur without trying to automatically fix it.

• Non-judging 

• Don’t automatically think of being in bed and awake as a negative thing. This negative energy will work against falling asleep.

• Acceptance

• You must accept that you cannot directly control your sleep.

• Trusting

• Trust that your mind and body are capable of falling asleep.

• Patience

• It’s rare that you fall asleep instantly, so just make sure you give yourself enough time to fall asleep.

If you adopt these principles, you should be well on your way to having better sleep. You can also get more methods for improving your sleep with the use of mindfulness applications, such as Headspace or Mindful. These free audio resource applications use mindfulness techniques like meditation to help their users get a good night’s sleep.