Meditation for Mindfulness – Your Guide to Combat Insomnia
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Meditation for Mindfulness – Your Guide to Combat Insomnia

The practice of meditation is not about becoming a completely different person. Further, it is about training yourself to become more self-aware and develop a healthy perspective. Moreover, you do not shut off your feelings but gain the capability to observe them without any judgment. It is why meditation for mindfulness is a widely popular practice you should include in your daily life.

You should know that learning to meditate is similar to any other skill. It takes consistent practice to make it a part of your regular life. However, your focus will wander off sometimes and it would take some practice to get into the habit. You might even find it hard to understand how to meditate in bed for beginners; there is no need to worry.

With that said, it is time you understand how exactly you can start meditation for mindfulness without any hassle.

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Meditation for Mindfulness – Beginner’s Tips

Meditation is a fairly easy way to relax if you follow the steps mentioned below;

1. Decide a Time and Place

Studies have shown that it is easier for you to develop a new habit if you do it at the same time and place every day. Just do not overthink. Hence, the best time for meditation for mindfulness is whenever you are free and can prioritize this practice.

Regarding the best place, it is all about where you can sit comfortably and do not have any distractions.

2. Sit Comfortably

Sit in a cross-legged position with your feet flat on the floor. Further, keep your both hands resting on the sides and the back straight. Moreover, do not tense your back and you can also use a small cushion or towel for additional support while practicing meditation for mindfulness.

3. Decide a Time

It does not matter if you are doing guided meditation for sleep or meditation for mindfulness, choose a time you can easily focus. For example, meditating for 3 to 10 minutes is important to start the practice.

The most important thing is you decide on an amount of time, which you feel is easy to achieve.

But, that is not all as there is much more to meditation than just sitting in a cross-legged position.

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Meditation for Mindfulness – Three Tips to Follow During Meditation

Let us find out what techniques you can use to reap maximum benefits from a single session of meditation for mindfulness.

1. Natural Breathing is Must

Meditation for mindfulness includes focusing your breath and using it to calm your mind. Moreover, you must not try to think about breathing or try to change it in any way. Also, let your breath flow naturally and pay attention to the different sensations in your body.

2. Practice Mindfulness

Before you are done with your meditation for mindfulness session, make sure you have a clear plan for the day. Further, try to inculcate mindfulness into every activity you would do during the day.

3. Be Comfortable with Discomfort

If you are new to meditation, you should know that even those practicing meditation for years experience anxiety and a host of other negative emotions. Therefore, instead of trying to fight these emotions, you should embrace and witness them from a third-person perspective.

However, you also need to ensure that meditation for mindfulness sessions helps you remain active throughout the day.

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The 4 Post-Meditation Tips You Should Follow

Given below are the four tips you should follow after a meditation session.

1. Take Note of Excuses

If you are unable to meditate a day or two, make a note of the reason. Also, the next time you sit in meditation practice, the paper would remind you not to commit the mistake again.

2. Don’t Judge Yourself

You would feel tempted to judge every meditation practice as good or bad. Do not give in to this urge and avoid being hard on yourself. The next time you sit in meditation for mindfulness session, make sure to pay attention to how you feel in comparison to the last time. Meditation is a life-long practice and not a skill you have to master.

3. Check With Yourself

After completing every session of meditation, pay attention to how you feel mentally, physically, and emotionally. Do you feel a little calm than before? Is your mind more clear and are you ready to take on the day?

Remember, meditation for mindfulness is there to help you establish a connection between the practice and feeling mentally at ease.

4. Get a Buddy

You would not always feel the motivation to meditate. Getting a friend to join in with your mediation practice would help to establish it as a consistent practice towards self-improvement. A friend would also help reduce your excuses for not meditating daily.

You might wonder if regular meditation will provide you with good mental health. Let us check out.

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Meditation for Mindfulness – The Hormonal and Cellular Benefits

Meditation offers deep relaxation, but we cannot underestimate how meditation for mindfulness impacts you on a hormonal and cellular level. Let us find out how meditation affects you on a deeper level.

  • Daily meditation slows down your brain wave activity and suppresses the stress along with triggering HGH (Human Growth Hormone). HGH is responsible for regulating the metabolism, stimulates fat cells, and also regulates your blood sugar level.
  • Cortisol has a negative impact on the thyroid gland functioning and helps with weight loss. Meditation calms down the adrenal glands that often over-produce the stress hormone, Cortisol.
  • Meditation helps your body relax completely. It renews vitality throughout your entire body. The regular practice goes a long way in improving your overall quality of sleep.
  • Regular meditation has a positive impact on your endocrine system by removing it from a state of high alert. Your body’s hormonal secretion ability is regulated with each of your hormonal systems including adrenal, sex, and hormone regain their balance.
  • Meditation does a lot when it comes to balancing out the acidity that occurs due to an overactive analytical mind.

Have you heard about guided meditation? Do you know how guided meditation helps you not just relax but also sleep after a tiring day at the office?

Guided meditation is done under the tutelage of an experienced teacher in a class or one-on-one session. It is the best meditation technique that you as a beginner can inculcate into your daily life.

Let us first understand what exactly guided meditation does.

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Meditation for Mindfulness – Everything About Guided Meditation

As the name suggests, the guided meditation is done under the guidance of an experienced meditation teacher via online broadcast, in-person, or class settings. Also, it is useful for both beginners and advanced meditation practitioners.

Do you know that guided meditation utilizes many techniques that help you enjoy that night slumber without any hassle? Read below to know more.

Guided Meditation Techniques

Guided Meditation Techniques for a Deep Good Night’s Sleep

Similar to other forms of meditation, the guided meditation also employs several techniques to help you sleep soundly at night. Let us find the benefits guided meditation offers.

1. Mindful Body Scanning

As you are into meditation for mindfulness, the teacher might ask you to notice your breath and the places on the mat or the bed which your body is touching. You would then be asked to relax each part of the body starting from the toes.

2. Expressing Gratitude

The guided meditation also makes you develop gratitude and appreciation towards life. Moreover, it helps you bring more positivity into your life, which calms the mind and helps you sleep.

3. Counting

To help you calm the mind and stop its habit of generating thoughts every moment, the teacher might ask you to start counting from 10 to even 1000. Furthermore, the counting has to be done backward and then you need to start it again.

4. Body Movement

If you are trying to fall asleep with meditation, then the teacher might invite you for some mindful body movements like tai-chi, or some light stretching.

5. Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises in guided meditation help regulate your breathing. Also, you have to count each breath and slow it down a bit. It sends a signal to your body that it is time to sleep.

6. Visualization

The guided meditation requires you to focus on an image or think of a scene and uses your mental state to induce sleep.

7. Silence

Your guided meditation teacher tells you to lie calmly up to a few minutes with minimal guidance. Moreover, it helps you focus and relax after a busy day at the office.

Meditation goes much farther than just helping you sit in a cross-legged position and chant a mantra.

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Meditation for Mindfulness – The Two Major Meditation Techniques

Although there are different forms of meditation, the two main forms of meditation are concentrative and mindfulness meditation. Let us understand what these two are.

1. Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation includes methods like mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Also, it helps you overcome mental health issues like depression, which also depends on different mindfulness practices. You become more aware and present at the moment.

2. Concentrative Meditation

This meditation for mindfulness technique requires your total focus on a specific object and leaving everything else out. The entire goal is to help you experience what you really focus on be it your breath, a specific mantra, or word.

Have you thought about practicing Vipassana meditation before sleep? It is time you understand what this meditation technique includes and how it can help you with a deep good night’s sleep.

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Meditation for Mindfulness – The Vipassana Meditation

Vipassana meditation is a non-religious technique of meditation that is a part of the Buddhist tradition. Further, it helps in removing negative thoughts and feelings by improving your self-observation and awareness. Meditation also strengthens your mind-body connection and that leads to self-transformation.

The Vipassana meditation is a traditional form of modern-day mindfulness meditation. Moreover, you learn to observe your mind, each thought, and feeling without getting caught up in the drama.

However, before we dive into how this form of meditation for mindfulness helps you enjoy a deep night slumber, let us first understand how you can practice the Vipassana meditation.

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How to Practice Vipassana Meditation – The Answer is Here

The Vipassana meditation is more of an observation-based style of meditation and is a journey towards self-awareness. Given below is how you can practice Vipassana to reap maximum benefits.

  • Whether you are amidst nature or inside your home, find a comfortable spot to sit in the cross-legged position. Keep your head straight and the spine completely erect. Do not slouch.
  • Form a picture in your mind of your muscles relaxing as you breathe.
  • Select a particular object to focus on. Hence, it can include your breathing or the physical sensations you feel during the meditation especially in the abdomen. Your breathing is the focal point of meditation.
  • While keeping your attention fixed on your breathing, observe and explore how your mind wanders off. Return your attention towards the physical sensations every time your attention falters.
  • You can try naming what is happening with your awareness during the practice to sharpen your focus.

Vipassana meditation does not come without some major health benefits that help you sleep soundly at night. Let us find out what these are.

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Vipassana Meditation Before Sleep – The Benefits

Let us find out how Vipassana meditation can help you get a good night’s sleep without any hassle.

1. Can Be Done Anywhere

You can practice both meditation and relaxation not only while sitting in one place but it can be done even while walking or exercising.

2. Improves Concentration and Focus

Although the most common way of meditating is in complete silence there are different ways to this meditation practice. Hence, you can meditate even while working out, cooking, or showering. Vipassana works the best when it comes to helping you develop more self-awareness.

3. Improves Decision Making and Decreases Habitual Behavior

Regular practice of meditation has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression. By simply being present, you are able to observe your own thoughts and feelings from a distance. Moreover, it gives you more power to make informed and not impulsive decisions.

4. Helps Manage Stress and Anxiety

By recognizing your thoughts and feelings are temporary, you come to realize that nothing is permanent. Furthermore, meditation reduces the stress that comes with negative thinking and also includes physical symptoms.

Conclusion

Insomnia and stress have wreaked havoc on the mental and physical health of individuals around the world. Also, you should practice meditation for mindfulness that provides numerous benefits to help you remain stress-free and enjoy a good night’s sleep without any issues.

Read more: Why You Should Join Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh?

FAQs

Ques 1) How do I turn my brain off to sleep?

Ans) You can start with deep breathing exercises. When you do that, you feel relaxed. Once you are relaxed, you can practice meditation for mindfulness. This will help you quiet the mind that helps you fall asleep very easily. Not just that, you remain asleep for a longer time without getting disturbed.

Ques 2) How do I know I’m meditating right?

Ans) When you meditate in the right way, your mind becomes silent and quiet. Further, your connection with your surrounding gets disrupted and you completely engulf yourself. Moreover, you forget about mental chatter and spend quality time exploring your inner being.

Ques 3) What to do when u can’t sleep?

Ans) When you can’t fall asleep, try to practice rapid breathing exercises for a few seconds. However, shift from rapid breathing to slow and deep. Then, close your eyes to practice meditation for mindfulness and give rest to your eyes & mind. The more you practice meditation, the easier it will be to fall asleep.