Sleep and Meditation
Relax into a better night's sleep
When we are asleep and have dreams, and experience rapid eye movement (REM), and even when we experience deep meditation, we are at the theta level. Theta is a dream like stage, pre-sleep or pre-awaken stage (or deep meditation stage). Theta is associated with a number of beneficial states such as: sustained attention over time, enhanced creativity, boosted immune system, increased long term memory, opening the mind to suggestion and new ideas, advanced problem solving, deep meditation and deep relaxation etc., etc. In the slower theta brainwave pattern, the brain makes lots of relaxing endorphins that melt all your stress away.
Pt-15 Sheps Guided Peaceful Relaxing Sleep Meditation With Positive Affirmations
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Achieve a better night’s sleep, and reduce anxiety and stress through meditation
If we are to achieve a happy and fulfilling life then it is important that we are rested and energised. All too often the modern mind is filled with thoughts and worries from the day and this stops us from achieving a good nights sleep.
Can you remember a good nights sleep? If not then you have already experienced the symptoms of sleep debt: anxiety,irritability, poor coordination, and lack of concentration. And these are just the top level effects. Lack of sleep can weaken our immune system leading to an increased susceptibility to illnesses. The list of the negative effects of sleep debt go on. Animals that have been deprived of sleep have even died! Needless to say sleep pays an important role in maintaining our health, wealth and happiness.
Methods to achieve a decent nights slumber are numerous but one technique has been proven over thousands of years; meditation.
Most of the time we are prevented from sleeping by a continuous stream of thoughts: how did the day go? what will happen tomorrow? how will I react if such and such happens? and on and on they go. Our minds whirring away noisily as we lie there wishing we could just get one good nights sleep. Meditation is a process of training the mind to focus inward. On not much in particular. Sounds simple doesn’t it. It can be. With the right tools and techniques.
A simple way to get started is to find a nice quiet place, where you are not likely to be disturbed, 10 to 15 minutes before you would normally retire for the night. Sit comfortably (on a cushion helps) and dim the lights. Close your eyes. Now breathe. Pay close attention to the breath as it enters your body. Then breathe out. Breath deeply for a few minutes and if you feel your mind wandering off (it will) gently bring your focus back to your breathing. The aim is to increase the time focused on breathing each time you do this. Playing a tape or CD that guides you through this process, or just nice calming music, can help too.
Going to sleep is not something that we can expect to do at the flick of a switch. It takes time to prepare, and a regular routine each evening will be invaluable. Meditation can play a pivotal role in being more rested and achieving the recharge time you need to leap into the next day with vigour.
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Sleep Meditation is Getting Me a Good Night’s Sleep
I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve started researching sleep meditation and sleep anxiety but I’ve seen more and more articles in “real world” magazines lately.
Does this mean that people are starting to realise how important a good night’s sleep is? I hope so. I’ve been at this for a few weeks now and I’m really noticing a difference. I’m waking up earlier and waking up more energised. I actually want to get up!
I also lead a rather hectic life and I’ve noticed that my ability to handle the daily up and downs a lot better that I could before I started my sleep meditation routine.
To give you an idea of what I’m doing each night here’s a list of what I do:
- I dim the lights a couple of hours before I’m due to head off to bed. This starts giving my brain the heads up that bed is on the way. It sends the “relax” messages to my brain.
- I’m not using my bedroom for anything other than sleeping. If I’m watching TV then it’s in the lounge not the bedroom. I now associate my bedroom with sleep. And it’s getting easier to do.
- Sleep meditation ten minutes before clean my teeth. What I mean here is that I do my sleep meditation and then there’s about a 5 to 10 minute gap before I actually hit the hay. I’m basically basking in the calm and serenity that the sleep meditation has provided. It’s just so nice to pad around the house with a cup of chamomile tea just realising how grateful I am for what I have. Bliss!
I’m basicaly allowing my self more time before bed and I’m getting into a routine that my body is now getting used to.
Central to all this is the sleep meditation that is just getting easier and easier. The way I do it is this:
- Sit on my bed and prop up a whole bunch of pillows so that I can sit upright comfortably.
- Put on the most relaxing and sleep specific music I can find. I alternate the guided sleep meditation type of CD with just music as I can see the benefits of both.
- If it’s guided style then I just do what is said. If it’s just music then I focus on my breathing and consciously relaxing every muscle in my body. I start my way from the feet and work my way up.
If you haven’t clicked through to the site for the sleep CD’s etc yet then I certainly recommend it. As soon as I turn on the music it’s like a signal to start really relaxing. My breathing gets deeper and deeper and I;m going to sleep with a smile on my face. I’m so relaxed, and the CD’s really help.
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5 Steps To a Great Night’s Sleep
So now you’ve decided to give meditation a go in order to get a much better sleep. What’s the best way to go about it?
The way I see it we spend a large part of our days sleeping. We need it. And if we are to make the most of the time that we are awake then we should learn how to sleep so that we are relaxed, refreshed, and recharged. We only need to set aside a small portion of our day to do this. I believe that the key to getting the best night’s sleep is to prepare for it. Get you and your body ready to hit the hay.
Think about it. We wake up and feel like we’d rather stay in bed. And most of the time we do. We hit the snooze button again and again until we really have to get up. And then what? We’re rushing around bathing, cleaning teeth, getting dressed, having breakfast. How many of these do we skip if we’re running late? What’s the impact of skipping them? Scruffy, smelly, hungry. People don’t want to deal with people who are not dressed and presented well. People don’t want to deal with people who are irritable because all they had for breakfast was coffee. Do they tell you they don’t want to deal with you? Of course not. They just don’t wan to deal with you.
So we need to wake up refreshed. We need to feel rested. We need to get up an feel that we have the energy to deal with the day. And if we want to succeed in life then we need to plan it. Imagine getting up at 6am. Washing, dressing, eating, and being ready for the day before anyone else. Getting a few emails done BeFORE you hit the traffic to work. Getting to work ready to tackle what ever is thrown at you. All simply because you feel you have rested and recharged. Great!
The steps that lead up to sleeping are very important. We need to tell our brains that we are getting ready to sleep. If you think about it it’s rather silly to expect to go to sleep within 5 minutes of climbing into bed if you’ve just been for a run, just finished studying, or just had an argument. If you start giving your brain little hints of what’s coming up it will be better prepared to do what you want it to when you want it to.
So, what are the steps we need to take?
1 – Lay off the uppers! Coffee, cola, black tea, all contain caffeine, a stimulant that produces chemicals in your body that keep you up. Your last coffee should be around 3 or 4 pm.
As you can see, the list is easily implemented and integrated in to a normal day. Give it a go!
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When we are asleep and have dreams, and experience rapid eye movement (REM), and even when we experience deep meditation, we are at the theta level. Theta is a dream like stage, pre-sleep or pre-awaken stage (or deep meditation stage). Theta is associated with a number of beneficial states such as: sustained attention over time, enhanced creativity, boosted immune system, increased long term memory, opening the mind to suggestion and new ideas, advanced problem solving, deep meditation and deep relaxation etc., etc. In the slower theta brainwave pattern, the brain makes lots of relaxing endorphins that melt all your stress away.
A Time for Relaxation, Vol. 1: Guided Relaxation Techniques for Wellness
This CD is recommended by Body + Soul magazine in the June 2009 issue, and frequently hits the Amazon top 10 in the relaxation and meditation categories!
Beth Freschi is a life coach with a masters degree in counseling psychology and more than 15 years of experience in mental health. In addition to coaching, she offers relaxation training classes in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota. Her clients inspired her to record a relaxation training CD so that they could have the same relaxing experience at home.
