As a convenient activity, meditation has been proven by researchers to be an effective aid in treating insomnia[1].
According to the data from American Sleep Association, 35.3% of American adults sleep less than 7 hours a day. 50-70million adults have sleep disorders. Insomnia has become one of the biggest hidden dangers affecting health[2].
Sleep deprivation predisposes to increased risk of anxiety and depression, cognitive dysfunction, Alzheimer’s disease, and other health problems, which have many negative effects on the human body[3].
Therefore, this article will focus on this field, introduce some basic concepts of meditation for sleep, and recommend the 5 best-guided meditations for better sleep, insomnia, and relaxation.
Here are the content.
- What cause Insomnia?
- How does meditation work?
- 5 Best guided sleep meditation for insomnia and relaxation
What cause Insomnia?
To choose a way to help you sleep well, we first need to understand the triggers of insomnia.
Insomnia, as a health problem with complex pathogenesis, can be triggered by specific stressful events, altered sleep patterns, altered biological clocks, etc[4].
The administration of related medications is currently one of the most prominent means of treating insomnia. However, pharmacotherapy can lead to drug dependence and tolerance. Side effects often include residual daytime sleepiness and memory impairment.
Advances in sleep medicine have led researchers to focus on non-pharmacological interventions to treat insomnia in addition to drug development.
Meditation, as a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy, is effective in improving sleep efficiency, promoting deep sleep, reducing the time to fall asleep, and has more lasting benefits than medications.
How does meditation work?
Since psychological factors are one of the main reasons for insomnia, the main purpose of meditation in regulating insomnia is to feel ourselves and accept ourselves.
When we start to focus on the inner part of our body, we can enhance our perception of the individual, increase our receptivity to positive emotions and accept our negative emotions.
Besides, some researchers illustrated the following three stages of regulating insomnia with meditation[5].
- Increasing awareness of one’s mental and physical state by focusing on oneself.
- A shift in thinking, which in turn reduces arousal due to sleep problems.
- Confronting one’s insomnia symptoms and the resulting negative consequences with a mindful attitude.
5 Best guided meditation for sleep relaxation and insomnia
The following five Best Guided Sleep Meditations are collected from different sources, including some youtube videos and apps.
1. Guided Sleep Meditation: The Haven of Peace. Ultra Deep Relaxation by The Honest Guys
This 12-minute video focuses on guided sleep meditation from the perspective of breathing exercises.
The guide describes some beautiful images to the audience and helps them to calm by imagining these images. The guide’s voice is very soft, and the whole meditation is professionally guided.
2. Fall Asleep Fast Deep Sleep Meditation for Insomnia / Mindful Movement by The Mindful Movement
This 38-minute video focuses on building a connection between the breath and the anxiety system from the perspective of mindfulness.
During the meditation, the guide will help the audience to recognize their spiritual world and accept their emotions.
3. 10 Minute Meditation for Before You Sleep by Great Meditation
This 10-minute video uses a very soothing voice to guide the audience through a meditation. The video is perfect for beginners of meditation and people who want to experience meditation.
4. App – Mindzone
Compared with single video, App is certainly a more convenient way to help people experience different method of meditation and find the most appropriate one.
Mindzone is an app which focus on the meditation and sleep sounds. In this app, you can listen guided meditations led by the world’s top mindfulness experts, soothing music for relaxation and a series of mindfulness courses.
5. App – Insight Timer
Insight timer’s main focus appears to be on establishing a huge library of guided meditations. It does also offer sleep sounds and ambient noise options, but the main focus is definitely on quantity.
Insight Timer is a great option for those who want lots of guided meditation options.
Hope these sleep meditation guides can help you sleep well.
Read More: HOW TO MEDITATE FOR BEGINNERS
Reference
- [1] Gong, H., Ni, C., Liu, Y., Zhang, Y., Su, W., Lian, Y., Peng, W., & Jiang, C. (2016). Mindfulness meditation for insomnia: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 89, 1–6. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2016.07.016
- [2] American Sleep Association : Sleep and sleep disorder statistics
- [3] Xu, W., Tan, C. C., Zou, J. J., Cao, X. P., & Tan, L. (2020). Sleep problems and risk of all-cause cognitive decline or dementia: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, 91(3), 236–244. doi:10.1136/jnnp-2019-321896
- [4] Wilson, S., Anderson, K., Baldwin, D., Dijk, D. J., Espie, A., Espie, C., Gringras, P., Krystal, A., Nutt, D., Selsick, H., & Sharpley, A. (2019). British Association for Psychopharmacology consensus statement on evidence-based treatment of insomnia, parasomnias and circadian rhythm disorders: An update. Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 33(8), 923–947. doi:10.1177/0269881119855343
- [5] Ong, J. C., Ulmer, C. S., & Manber, R. (2012). Improving sleep with mindfulness and acceptance: a metacognitive model of insomnia. Behaviour research and therapy, 50(11), 651-660.
