Are you tossing and turning at night, replaying the events of the day, and struggling to fall asleep? You’re not alone. 67% of adults report suffering from sleep disturbances at least once a night. While it’s not always easy to fall into a blissful sleep, there are techniques and habits you can adopt. Guided meditations for sleep, for example, approach sleep with positive intention and help prepare your mind for deep rest. It’s not only accessible to practice, but it works! Let’s dive in to learn how to sleep better with meditation.
What Is Guided Meditation?
When you prepare for bed, you may experience pestering thoughts from the day or even ones that pop out of nowhere from the past. And without our phones, television, or day-to-day life, we don’t have anything to distract us from thinking about what we don’t want to. That’s where guided meditation comes in. Guided meditations help you to disconnect from your thoughts, improve your self-talk and activate your parasympathetic nervous system, making you relaxed and ready for bed. A gentle voice guides you from start to finish, allowing you an opportunity to plug in and let go.
What Are the Benefits of Guided Meditations for Sleep?
The benefits of mediation are aplenty – it’s no wonder everyone is touting its importance and why it’s become a top recommended tool for entrepreneurs, celebrities, and anyone, really. Here are a few benefits and how they can improve your overall emotional and physical well-being.
- Connects you to the present moment
- Helps you release negative thoughts
- Reduces stress levels
- Increases self-awareness
- Can decrease the effects of insomnia
- Reduces anxiety and depression
- Lengthens your attention span
- Helps control pain
- And may even improve your memory
5 Meditation Essentials to Invest In
The beauty of meditation is that it’s accessible – you can practice it anywhere, and you don’t need a lot of tools to begin. But to increase your probability of enjoying it, you may want a few goodies to assist your meditation journey.
- A quiet room. For beginners, meditation is best practiced in a quiet environment without any distractions.
- A timer. If you’re following a guided meditation, you won’t need a timer, but if you find you’re ready to advance, you’ll need one. Meditation is about building your attention muscle, and having a timer, will help reduce the amount you check the clock.
- Headphones. Guided meditations for sleep involve listening to an audio file from a meditation teacher or expert. Therefore, headphones are a must.
- Something comfortable to sit on. While guided standing and walking meditations exist, for the purpose of this article, you should sit on something comfy to help you drift to sleep more easily.
- Sleep mask. A sleep mask not only reduces distractions and the urge to open your eyes, but it also promotes deeper relaxation. You may even fall asleep before the meditation is over!
8 Guided Meditations for Sleep
1. 10-minute Guided Sleep Meditation for Sleep and Relaxation | Boho Beautiful Yoga
Boho Beautiful Yoga specializes in content that empowers you, and this meditation is no exception. It’s an easy 10-minute guided meditation to follow right before bed. The soothing rain sounds will help your mind relax, and the suggestions for mind and body relaxation make it a perfect combination to fall asleep. No matter what you’re experiencing – stress, negativity, or sadness – Juliana’s calm voice and the background will allow you to let go.
2. 10-minuted Guided Sleep Meditation | Great Meditation
A 10-minute guided sleep meditation starts off with you snuggling under the covers – what could be better? Spoken with a soft voice, the teacher guides you to tune into your breath and follow it inward. With the added visualization technique, many YouTube comments stated they fell asleep while listening to it! Enjoy.
3. Guided Meditation for Sleep | Jason Stephenson
With over 14 million views, this guided meditation is among the most popular. It is a bit lengthier than the others, but it gives you more time to pause a racing mind. Throughout the meditation, you’re guided to visualize the night sky, and Jason, the teacher, has a way of instantly relaxing your body.
4. Racing Thoughts While Trying To Sleep? Try This | Headspace
Known for their viral meditations on Netflix, Headspace is no stranger to teaching how to relax, and this is one of the best guided meditations for sleep that teaches you an effective strategy to soothe a racing mind. Easy to follow, you’ll quickly fall asleep and can even use the same technique throughout the day if you feel stressed or overwhelmed.
5. Guided Meditation for Sleep and Relaxation | Tara Brach
Tara Brach, a clinical psychologist and Buddhist practitioner, uses various tools to help you quiet your mind and relax your body. She teaches you how to let sleep come naturally by following your breath as a guide. But if your mind is still racing, try these beginner breathing exercises for anxiety if you need to destress more.
6. Guided Meditation “Seeing Without Eyes, Knowing Without Mind” | Mooji
Not necessarily a sleep meditation, Mooji, a world-renowned spiritual teacher, is revered for creating spaces that instill peace and relaxation. As you listen to his profound teachings, you learn to separate yourself from your thoughts and lessen their power. It’s the perfect meditation to connect to the present moment and still your mind.
7. Sleep Hypnosis to Fall Asleep Fast | Michael Sealey
A form of guided meditation, sleep hypnosis helps you change negative thoughts or habits preventing you from falling asleep. The video combines soothing background music and campfire sounds with spoken suggestions to help you release unwanted stress or worries. After the hypnosis is over, you will feel better and ready to fall asleep more easily.
8. Meditate for Deep Release | Calm
Calm is another fan favorite similar to Headspace and offers several different meditations to wind down and relax before a night of deep sleep. This guided meditation, in particular, uses rain and a calming meditation script to let go. It also has long pauses in between speaking that help you fall into a deeper meditation – perfect for more advanced meditation followers who don’t always prefer continuous speaking.
There you have it! 8 guided meditations for sleep to help you lessen your thoughts and relax. Practice any of these to feel your best and ensure you receive a peaceful sleep.
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