Sleep Management
Mindfulness meditation helps fight insomnia
If you’ve ever crawled under the covers worrying about a problem or a long to-do list, you know those racing thoughts may rob you of a good night’s sleep. Sleep disturbances, like having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep, affect millions of North Americans.
The daytime sleepiness that follows can leave you feeling lousy and sap your productivity, and it may even harm your health. Now, a small study suggests that mindfulness meditation, a mind-calming practice that focuses on breathing and awareness of the present moment, can help.
The findings come as no surprise to Dr. Herbert Benson, director emeritus of the Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. “Mindfulness meditation is just one of a smorgasbord of techniques that evoke the relaxation response,” says Dr. Benson. Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter.
Photo by Alexandra Gorn
Meditating before bed
If a racing mind is keeping you up at night, meditation might be just the sleep aid that you need. The mind-calming practice can be done at bedtime—or anytime during the day—to help fight fatigue and insomnia. By practicing relaxing, whenever you do it, you learn how to let go of the stresses of the day. Think of it like exercising a muscle that gets stronger over time. This allows you to tap into that same ready relaxation state when it’s time to say goodnight.
In fact, meditation, the practice of intentionally quieting or focusing the mind, creates physiological changes that are similar to those that happen in your body during the early phases of sleep. Your pulse slows, blood pressure drops, and stress hormones decrease. Being able to get to that state on demand means that you'll have an easier time drifting off when you want to.
There are a few different styles of meditation, and experimentation can help you to find the right fit for you.
Photo by Josh Hild