Insomnia includes a variety of symptoms associated with sleep disturbance. It can include inability or difficulty to fall asleep, frequent waking, restlessness at night, disordered sleep cycle and dream disturbed sleep. Approximately 1 in 3 adults experience occasional or persistent sleep disturbance. It is important to sleep well and to get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation or a disruption of circadian rhythm can impair optimal daytime functioning. Your capacity to make good decisions is quite likely to be reduced from poor sleep.
Though insomnia can be physiological, a lot of the times it is also due to external or temporary changes. Once these factors are removed or addressed appropriately, sleep often returns to normal. This is where meditation comes in as a phenomenal tool. It is one of the easiest interventions that anyone can employ to help with Insomnia.
Simply put, meditation is a practice where one trains the mind to achieve stillness. There can be many different approaches or forms of meditation but the simplest is focusing on the breath in an attempt to suspend the thinking. I assure you even a 5 minute meditation will make an impact on a cellular level.
With the time pressed lives that we are living today, I am a big supporter of short snap routines to help you ground. Allow yourself to wind down gradually for at least 10 to 15 minutes before bed. Mindful breathing can help you and your thoughts settle. If your mind is still whirling, focus on your breathing, gently bringing your mind back when it wanders.
A 5 minute body scan is ideal for this time. Seek out the physical tensions from head to toe. Start at your feet and work your way up. Bend and tighten your toes and relax them. Do the same with the muscles on the upper and lower legs. Tense the muscles, holding for a moment and then relaxing. As you move up, scrunch your hands into fists, squeeze them tightly then open out your fingers and relax your hands. Once your body is relaxed, you will find that your thoughts are calmer. The mind relaxes in parallel with the body and this state of calm impacts the quality of sleep you experience.