Best Meditational Relaxation Techniques to Improve Sleep and Reduce Stress & Insomnia at Night

The Number 1 Reason Why People Have Difficulties Falling Asleep At Night

Are you a person who is incapable of easily falling asleep at night? Well, you are not the only one. About 35-50 percent of adults worldwide regularly experience insomnia symptoms. More often than not this is related to psychological distress, the main biological cause of insomnia. Psychological distress is caused by emotional worry or anxiety. Furthermore, stress creates tension in the body and in the brain. As a result, most people are unable to calm down their overactive mind. This causes them to ponder at night and think about work/life related issues. This prevents them from falling asleep at night.

Luckily, there exist simple and effective meditational relaxation techniques which anybody can learn. These meditation techniques can be very effective to slow down the overactive mind. Meditation helps tremendously to reduce stress and helps people to relax and fall asleep faster at night. Furthermore, meditation offers numerous physical and mental health benefits.

On this page we will cover all of the most important aspects of meditation. We will discuss the numerous benefits of meditation and highlight how and why it has a tremendously positive impact on sleep. Additionally, we will provide practical tips for beginners how to get started with meditation. Furthermore, we will cover three deep breathing techniques which can prove to be a gamechanger for your sleep health. Finally, we will provide recommendations of different tools and apps which can help you to practice meditation more effectively to enjoy the plentiful benefits to the fullest.

Anybody can learn how to mediate. With a bit of guidance and practice, meditation can transform your life. You will feel happier, more relaxed and it can help you get rid of insomnia once and for all.

What is Meditation and How Can it Help to Reduce Insomnia?

Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique such as mindfulness to train awareness and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. It is all about getting a healthy sense of perspective and understanding of your thoughts and feelings. The most effective method to reduce overthinking at night is by using meditation. Meditational practices focus on utilizing the body to control the overactive mind and can help to accelerate the transition to sleep.

The Scientific Explanation Why Meditation Helps to Fall Asleep Faster at Night

Our body’s automatic nervous system controls the unconscious functions of our body such as our heartbeat, blood pressure, digestion etc. This automatic nervous system consists of two parts, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system controls the body’s stress response. It’s our biological fight or flight mechanism which switches on in response to threat or acute stress. An overactive sympathetic nervous system causes insomnia in different ways. This is because it promotes the production of stress hormones (such as cortisol), it prevents our brain from shutting down and it increases our core body temperature and heart rate. More information on this topic can be found on the page focused on The Biological Causes of Insomnia.

The parasympathetic nervous system controls our body’s rest and relaxation response. It is responsible for the stimulation of rest-and-digest activities as well as feed and breed activities which occur when the body is at rest. These activities include salivation, digestion, urination, sexual arousal etc.

Only one of these nervous systems can be active at one point in time. If one is activated the other one is suppressed. Meditation helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. As a result, this contributes to the suppression of the sympathetic nervous system, the main biological cause of insomnia. This is the reason why meditational breathing exercises are so effective at reducing insomnia. By activating the relaxation response in our body (the parasympathetic nervous system) we can effectively calm our mind, relax our body and help ourselves drift to sleep naturally.

The Numerous Benefits of Meditation

Meditation provides numerous physical and mental health benefits. When done regularly, the benefits of meditation can include:

How to Meditate: The Basics

Many people have heard of meditation and are curious to know what the fuss is all about. Some people decide to give it a shot, however, in most cases they give up after only a couple of attempts. This is because being inspired to start meditating is very different from actually doing it. Meditation is simple but at the same time it is much harder than most people think.

Meditation is a skill and like any other skill it takes consistent practice to get comfortable with it. You should think of it like exercising a muscle that you never really worked out before. Over time you will get better at it, and you will enjoy the numerous benefits to the fullest.

Meditation is usually done while seated. It is recommended to find a place to sit that feels calm, quiet and comfortable to you. If you are just beginning, it is a good idea to start off by setting a short timer such as 5 to 10 minutes. The position you are sitting in does not really matter, as long as you are comfortable. However, you should keep your back straight and your neck relaxed. The basic intention of meditation is to close your eyes and take deep, slow and controlled breaths while focusing on your breathing. Follow and focus on the sensation of your breath as oxygen goes in and out of your body.

The Continuous Cycling Between Awareness and Distraction While Meditating

It’s inevitable that your mind will start to wander rather sooner than later. This can occur within seconds as you can expect your mind to be busy, easily distracted and restless. Especially if you are a beginner. Don’t be discouraged when this happens because this happens to everybody. Whenever a thought pops up in your mind the goal is to recognize it, to let go of the thought and refocus on your breathing. Don’t judge yourself or obsess over the content of the thoughts popping up in your head. Just come back from the distraction and refocus on your breathing.

The moment you realize you were lost in thought is called awareness. The goal of meditation is to keep returning from your distracted thought to the breath. Over time, you will become better and better at this and the periods between awareness and distraction will get longer and longer. It is recommended to build a regular (daily) meditation habit. As you get more accustomed to the meditation practice you can increase the duration. Take in mind that meditation is a journey of a lifetime, not a sprint to instant progress. Take it session by session and day by day. The benefits are felt gradually over time, but they are well worth it.

Building an effective meditation habit takes some practice and a lot of patience. But the overall impact on your quality of life and mental wellbeing can be lifechanging. There is a reason why over 90% of highly successful people have some form of meditational exercise in their daily routine.

Three Deep Breathing Techniques Which Can Help You Fall Asleep Faster

If you are lying in your bed at night, unable to fall asleep you should try taking deep breaths. Taking several deep breaths is one of the easiest and most basic ways to trigger your body’s natural relaxation response. A simple exercise includes taking 10 deep breath in a row. This alone can create a sense of calm and can help you fall asleep faster. Below are three effective, more advanced, deep breathing exercises which can help to resolve insomnia and reduce stress.

Box Breathing

Box breathing or square breathing is an effective deep breathing technique to prepare your body for sleep. Box breathing is a simple but powerful relaxation technique that distracts your mind, calms your nervous system and lowers stress in the body. Additionally, it can heighten levels of concentration and focus. It is recommended to do it while seated in an upright position with your feet flat on the floor in a stress-free, quiet environment. Your hand should be kept relaxed in your lap with your palms facing up. Furthermore, you should maintain a good body posture by sitting up straight in order to be able to take deep breaths. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: While sitting upright, slowly exhale through your mouth and get all the oxygen out of your lungs. Remain conscious of what you are doing.

Step 2: Inhale oxygen slowly through your nose for 4 seconds and focus on the sensation of your lungs filling up with oxygen.

Step 3: Hold your breath for 4 seconds.

Step 4: Exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds. Remember to remain conscious of the feeling of the air leaving your lungs.

Step 5: Hold your breath for the same count of 4 before repeating the process.

Studies indicate box breathing is effective to help treat insomnia by producing a relaxed feeling in the mind and body. Furthermore, it calms down the nervous system, reduces stress and improves overall mood. As a beginner you may get a bit dizzy after a few rounds, this is normal and will go away as you practice more often.

The 4-7-8 Breathing Method

The 4-7-8 breathing technique is also called “relaxing breath”. It is based on an ancient yogic technique called pranayama. This type of mindful breathing exercise has been shown to have many benefits for stress reduction and relaxation. Furthermore, it can prove effective to reduce insomnia at night. This is because the 4-7-8 breathing method can trigger your body’s relaxation response (parasympathetic nervous system) which will allow you to fall asleep faster. Other benefits include reduced anxiety, lower blood pressure, less pain and improved concentration.

It is recommended to do the 4-7-8 breathing method either while seated or while lying down in a stress-free, quiet environment. If you are using the technique to fall asleep, lying down is best.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Prepare for the breathing method by resting the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, right behind your top front teeth. This is important as you will need to keep your tongue in this position for the entire exercise. It will require some practice to keep your tongue from moving when exhaling. It is easier to exhale in this way by keeping your lips pursed (as if when you would normally whistle).

Step 2: Empty the lungs of air completely by exhaling.

Step 3: Close your lips and inhale slowly and silently through your nose for 4 seconds. (Count to 4 in your head)

Step 4: Hold your breath for 7 seconds.

Step 5: Exhale completely through your mouth making a whoosh sound, for 8 seconds.

Step 6: This completes one cycle. Repeat this for three more cycles.

It is recommended to start off with four cycles when you are first starting out. This is because you may feel lightheaded for the first few times. In time, you can gradually work your way up to eight full breaths. The 4-7-8 breathing method is an effective tool to use when you feel stressed during the day or when having trouble falling asleep at night. It will become more powerful and more effective the longer and the more frequently you use the technique.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing is characterized by engaging the large muscle at the base of the lungs. It is an effective deep breathing exercise to reduce stress and increase relaxation. Furthermore, it strengthens the diaphragm and increases breathing efficiency. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Lie down on your bed or sofa. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other hand on the top of your belly, right below your rib cage. Your hands are positioned on these locations as they are important to make sure that you are only breathing through your belly during this exercise.

Step 2: Breath in through your nose so that your belly pushes against your hand. Meanwhile, your other hand (on your chest) should remain as still as possible.

Step 3: Continue to keep your chest still, tighten your stomach muscles and exhale through your mouth. Make sure your lips are pursed while exhaling by keeping them in the same position as if when you would normally whistle.

Step 4: Repeat this process for a couple of minutes until you feel relaxed and ready for sleep.

Many people are not used to engage their diaphragm when breathing. Therefore, this deep breathing exercise requires some practice. It is recommended to start of with just a few minutes when getting to bed and gradually increase the duration over time to maximize the benefits of this deep breathing technique.

Guided Meditation For Beginners

Many people find it very difficult to meditate effectively by themselves. Especially beginners are often unsure how to get started, what to focus on and how to effectively maintain awareness while meditating. For those people, guided meditation might be the solution. This is where an experienced individual walks you through the different steps of meditation by providing specific instructions on how to breath and relax your body in a certain way.

Guided sleep meditations provide step-by-step instruction on how to sit or lie down, when to close your eyes and what to focus on throughout the meditative process. Often they involve descriptions of peaceful scenes, calming stories or deep sleep meditation music to encourage relaxation. Using guided meditation is the best and fastest way to learn how to meditate effectively.

There are many meditation apps on the market which facilitate the process of meditation. A prominent example is Headspace. This is an app that educates you how to meditate and it teaches life-changing mindfulness skills in just a few minutes a day. More information on Headspace and other sleep meditation apps below.

Best and Most Popular Sleep Meditation Apps on the Market

Under Construction Sign