4 Best Sleep Meditation Techniques

Quite a number of people find it difficult to fall at sleep at night and some who manage to fall asleep end up awakened several times at night. The effect, sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness.

Do you lie awake at night despite a day of work and physical activities? Perhaps, your body wants to rest but your mind is full of different thoughts and falling asleep is simply hard to do. The good thing about this is that you are not alone.

Although there are over-the-counter medications that can help induce sleep, it is not recommended for all. Moreover, there are also side effects to taking medications that makes it advisable to think of alternative ways to trigger relaxation response.

If you have not been experiencing a restful sleep and you toss and turn in bed, here are some sleep meditation techniques you can try:

1. Relaxation Breathing from the Abdomen

Aside from creating a relaxing ambience in the room by playing calming music and providing dim lighting, you can make use of your breathing to enhance relaxation. Perhaps, you are already familiar with the slow breathing technique. Here, you will breathe from your abdomen. As you breathe in and out, you can place your hands on your tummy. While doing so, focus on your breathing and concentrate on the slight movements of your hands. According to a hypnotherapist, placing your concentration on your breathing and hand movements will prevent your mind from thinking about other things that have been bothering you.

2. Mindful Meditation

This meditation technique helps in focusing on moment-by-moment experiences and thoughts. This calming practice is effective not only in concentrating on your breathing but more importantly, on awareness of what is happening around you at the moment. With this method, you can reflect on the issues on your life but instead of letting these thoughts keep you awake, it will slow things done. The secret here is to think of a particular issue one-at-a-time. After doing so, let go of the thought. If you are a person who writes journals, you can use around 15 minutes to jot down these aspects in your life then take another 15 minutes to write your plan of action. When you lie in bed, let go of these thoughts.

3. Yoga and Square Breathing

Pranayama or yoga breathing is a way of breathing through the nostrils. By inhaling and exhaling through the nose instead of the abdomen, you cultivate what is known as Ujjayi breath. To make this effective, let the inhaled air run towards the back of the throat and let it out slowly. This is different from shallow breathing from the nose. After this, move on to square breathing. Here, you need to inhale for four counts and hold your breath for two seconds before you exhale for another four counts.

4. Guided Imagery

Another do-it-yourself meditation technique is using imagery to relax your mind and body. You can choose different visuals such as the ocean, forest, clouds and mountains. However, do not limit yourself on the things you want to visualize. You can think of happy thoughts or events in your life that makes you feel relaxed and play these scenes over and over. This is effective since the brain does not know the difference between reality and imagination, according experts.

These meditation techniques can be done individually as well as sequentially. By applying these methods, you can achieve a sound sleep and feel rejuvenated the following day.