A simple daily practice can help you get better sleep.
If you’ve ever crawled under the covers worrying about a problem or a long to-do list, you know those racing thoughts can rob you of a good night’s sleep. Sleep disturbances—like having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep—affect millions of Americans. And the daytime sleepiness that follows a restless night can leave you feeling lousy, sap your productivity, and may even harm your health. But research suggests that mindfulness meditation—a mind-calming practice that focuses on breathing and awareness of the present moment—can help.
“Mindfulness meditation is just one of a smorgasbord of techniques that evoke the relaxation response,” says Dr. Herbert Benson, director emeritus of the Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine. The relaxation response, a term he coined in the 1970s, is a deep physiological shift in the body that’s the opposite of the stress response. The relaxation response can help ease many stress-related ailments, including depression, pain, and high blood pressure. For many people, sleep disorders are closely tied to stress, says Dr. Benson.
Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on your breathing and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present without drifting into concerns about the past or future. It helps you break the train of your everyday thoughts to evoke the relaxation response, using whatever technique feels right to you.
Dr. Benson recommends practicing mindfulness during the day, ideally for 20 minutes, the same amount suggested in the above study. “The idea is to create a reflex to more easily bring forth a sense of relaxation,” he says. That way, it’s easier to evoke the relaxation response at night when you can’t sleep. In fact, the relaxation response is so, well, relaxing that your daytime practice should be done sitting up or moving (as in yoga or tai chi) so as to avoid nodding off. If 20 minutes seems too long at first, start with just five minutes per day and work your way up.
Ready to give it a try? Here’s how to practice mindfulness meditation in two steps:
Step 1: Choose a calming focus. Good examples are your breath, a sound (“om”), a short prayer, a positive word (such as “relax” or “peace”), or a phrase (“breathing in calm, breathing out tension” or “I am relaxed”). If you choose a sound or words, repeat it out loud or silently as you inhale or exhale.
Step 2: Let go and relax. Don’t worry about how you’re doing. When you notice your mind has wandered, simply take a deep breath or say to yourself “thinking, thinking” and gently return your attention to your chosen focus.
