Mindfulness Meditation and How It Affects Sleep

Many people all around the globe have issues sleeping. If you find yourself lying on your bed in the dark, hoping that any minute you’re going to fall asleep, you’re not alone. Being unable to sleep at night can make you feel alone and often depressed. Many of us start to panic when we know our alarm is going to go off in the next few hours. Even though it is the middle of the night, we just can’t seem to clear our minds, and worrying about how we are going to go about our daily tasks feeling extremely groggy makes matters even worse. 

Recent statistics show that approximately 60 million people in America have some sort of sleeping disorder. The main sleeping disorder is snoring, with almost 30 million people claiming they or their partner snores on a regular basis. A really scary statistic is that almost 5% of these people who took the survey claimed they had fallen asleep while behind the wheel of a vehicle in the month leading up to the survey. There are accidents on the roads all the time due to driving while they feel tired, many of which are fatal. To avoid this from happening, having a good night’s sleep is key

 A Quality Sleep is more important than a Long Sleep

If you are wondering whether or not you are getting a quilty night sleep, you should first ask yourself these three questions:

  1. Do you fall asleep within thirty minutes of going into your bed?
  2. Do you wake once at night?
  3. If you only wake up once while you are sleeping, can you go back to sleep within twenty minutes after waking?

If you answered yes to these questions, you don’t have a lot to worry about. Experts claim that people who get a good quality sleep every night spend eight-five percent of their time sleeping in their bed. The same experts claim the people aged between 18 years old and 64 years old should have between 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. Those older than 64 need less time sleeping every night. Teenagers are supposed to get around 10 hours shut-eye each night, which can prove difficult due to modern technology. Many teenagers spend hours each night on their smart devices, which has led to all sorts of problems. 

A night of deep sleep gives your body and your brain a chance to process the things you have learned during the day. People who are unable to get quality sleep often find it difficult to remember certain things. Stress is another major issue for those who can’t sleep. Deep sleep helps lower a person’s blood pressure and pulse. Sleep deprivation is also linked to a wide range of mental health problems. This is why you also have to prioritise getting the best mattress for your kids as well.

Mindfulness for Sleeping

There are many things that people have tried to help them get a better night’s sleep at night. Small changes to your bedroom can make a big difference, like investing in a top-quality mattress, for more information about mattresses, check out bestmattress.com.au. Some people consume cannabis products like CBD oils, while others buy prescription or over-the-counter drugs. However, many people have had great success practicing the following to help them sleep:

  • Mindful Journaling: Writing before you turn off the lights is a great way of expressing yourself. Trying to sleep when you have a lot of things on your mind is not easy, so writing them down can take a lot of weight off your shoulders. 
  • Mindful Breathing: As mentioned earlier, stress is a big factor for those who cannot sleep at night. Mindful breathing is a fantastic way of reducing stress. By focusing on your breathing technique, you will gradually be able to reduce your stress levels and fall asleep. 
  • Gratitude: It is easy to look at all the problems we have in our lives, but remembering what you are grateful for can help you sleep better at night. Some people like to write this down before they turn off the light while others think to themselves about what they are grateful for. This is a really good habit to get into, even for those who have no issues falling asleep at night. 

Practicing mindfulness to help you sleep is not only good for your mind and your body, but it is also completely free. 

Using Meditation to Help you Sleep

Meditation is great for so many things in life, and many have had great success falling asleep while meditating. If you want to try it, follow these steps:

  1. Lie down in a comfortable position on the bed. 
  2. Pay attention to the way you breathe. 
  3. Don’t worry if your mind is full of thoughts. Take notice of each of the thoughts, and then focus on your breathing.
  4. Take notice if you have feelings of fear or frustration, again, catch those thoughts and focus on your breathing. 
  5. Let these feelings of tension and stress come from your feet, and gradually move up through your legs. 
  6. Gradually let these feelings go through your entire body. 
  7. If you are still awake, go back and focus on your breathing again. 

Practicing meditation takes time to get used to, but the more you work on it the better you’ll get at it.