Guided Meditation for Sleep

Having trouble falling and staying asleep? Using guided meditation for sleep has many benefits — relaxation, de-stressing, and sound sleep.

Devi Morris used to toss and turn each night. A good night’s sleep was hard to attain. She worried about personal problems at home. Plus, she watched the news before she went to sleep; it agitated her. Then she turned to guided meditation for sleep.

“A friend who teaches yoga suggested I try it,” she said. “I thought I had nothing to lose, so why not?”

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What is guided meditation?

If you use guided meditation for sleep, you have a teacher or practitioner who guides you to focus on verbal instruction, music, your breath, or a combination of these things. All are soothing to listen to and should put you in a relaxed frame of mind. You can take guided meditation classes or listen to guided meditation tapes or programs online at home.

Morris attended a guided meditation class in New York City where she lives and listened to a few online videos. The videos she liked are all free. Before she goes to bed, she listens to a guided meditation app on her phone. She makes sure that her phone’s screen is turned off, so as not to disturb her sleep.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, a sleep education and advocacy group, the blue light emitted by computer, phone, and television screens impedes your brain’s production of melatonin, the hormone that helps you sleep. When you reduce your melatonin levels, you have a harder time falling and staying asleep. The Foundation suggests that you turn off all blue screen devices at least 30 minutes before you go to bed.

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