A Guide to Sleep and Meditation

Anxiety makes its way into all of our daily lives. It could be the result of work stress, difficult relationships, a sudden move, the health worries you feel during the COVID-19 Pandemic, or a personal tragedy. It could simply be because your daily routine is a very busy one! Although this anxiety manifests in different ways, one common result is having trouble sleeping.

There are several things you can do to sleep better at night. A big one, of course, is sleeping on a high-quality, premium mattress plus luxury pillows and comfortable linens. If this hasn’t yet helped you fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night, it’s your mind that needs help next. A natural remedy worth trying is meditation. Scientific studies have confirmed that the right meditation practices can be effective treatments for stress-induced insomnia and trouble sleeping. 

Mindfulness, like what is found through meditation, has some truly amazing benefits to your body, mind, and soul. It can help you achieve mental clarity and emotional stability. Can it also help you sleep? According to scientists, the answer is yes! Did you know that stress is something your body regulates through brain chemicals, which can be released into the bloodstream? Studies have shown that mindfulness meditation can counteract these chemicals, and in some cases shut down their production altogether. This is great news! Shutting down the production of these negative chemicals and counteracting what has already been produced allows your muscles to become unclenched. Your body as a whole can relax, finally ready to fall asleep naturally and peacefully.

As well as releasing the tension in your muscles, meditation can actually decrease the intensity of brain waves. You know how important this is if you’ve ever felt like you can’t sleep because your mind is racing a mile a minute. Mindful meditation may prove to be the solution you need! The implications of all this are significant, because it allows the overall quality of your life to vastly improve. You’ll be sleeping better at night as well as happier, healthier, and nicer during the day! Remember, getting the right amount of sleep the night before has a big effect on your mood and emotions the following day.

As you become more familiar with meditation, you will eventually get to a place where you are able to block out external distractions and worries. You will instead create a space where you can simply breathe and be, preparing your body to rest for the night. So, how do you get started in a practice of mindfulness meditation? It is all about being present in the moment. Here’s how to begin:

• Climb into bed. Don’t pressure yourself; simply sit and relax.
• Set a time limit for yourself. As you’re just getting started, 10 or 15 minutes is enough.
• You need to remain steady and still. You can choose to sit or recline.
• Feel your breath. Be attentive to each inhale and exhale.

Be aware if your mind wanders back to those stressful topics. When it does, direct it back to your breathing. Remember to be kind to yourself. Don’t judge yourself for a wandering mind. Instead, just come back to the breathing. This isn’t one more thing to be stressed out about getting right. Meditation should be enjoyable!

A busy lifestyle has become the norm for those who are out trying to succeed at work, fulfilling their roles as a parent and spouse, working hard to stay healthy, trying to carve out some time for friends, keeping up with a house, making travel plans, and chasing their big dreams. Have you been feeling stressed out? Has it made it harder to sleep? The relationship between sleep and stress, anxiety, and other mental health disorders is deeper than you think. It’s a vicious cycle! Feeling stressed or frustrated can interfere with sleep quality, and in turn, a night with little sleep will make it more difficult to cope with the demands of the day. You’ll have another upsetting day leading to a bad mood, and another night of little sleep. You cannot last long having bad day after bad night and then starting all over again! It’s time you take control of this stress and insomnia cycle. If you don’t yet have the kind of top-of-the-line mattress that makes your deep sleep possible, it is time you look into buying a PranaSleep mattress. If you have the right mattress in place, look into meditation and other soothing, mindful relaxation techniques.