Sleep Better with Sleep Meditation

It's quite common to feel drowsy while meditating. Brain waves during meditation may be similar to those in the early stages of sleep, so it's natural to feel a little sleepy from time to time. However, a good night's rest is not just about the number of hours you sleep, but also the quality of your rest.

Sleep meditation

can help create the internal conditions necessary for a truly restful night.

When we settle our minds, we can rest our bodies and this rest makes it easier to relax and let go. Meditation and sleep are both hypometabolic states, where breathing and other bodily activities decrease. Both can help release tensions, but the rest that comes from meditation is much deeper than the rest that comes from sleep. This means that the deepest ingrained impressions, or samskaras, can leave the system.

Sleep is unique in that it requires more than just meditation in bed for good quality zzz. In scientific terms, meditation helps reduce heart rate by activating the parasympathetic nervous system and encouraging slower breathing, increasing the chance of a quality night's sleep. For some of us, it may be necessary to sleep a lot and feel tired during meditation and even after meditation. But why do I always end up yawning and fighting off sleep instead of finding my third eye when I try to meditate? Is everyone suitable for meditation? If you have sleep problems that don't seem to improve with changing your routine or taking over-the-counter sleep aids, then it might be time to talk to your doctor.

Instead, it is better to think of sleepiness and lack of alertness during meditation as the release of fatigue and stress.

Sleep meditation

can be as simple as inhaling while counting to four and exhaling while counting to four. When you're tired, closing your eyes when you meditate tells your brain and body it's time to sleep. That's why using meditation as a tool to sleep better, deeper and longer can be a game changer, especially if you have trouble falling asleep. You and your doctor can explore sleep medications and other treatments that may have more impact than meditations.

The course trains the mind for long-term sustainable change; individual meditation is a specific exercise to send you to sleep. Although consciousness is not active in any way during sleep, it is still present as a witness of sleep. During your meditations, please don't try to find out if you were sleeping or meditating deeply at certain times.