Think Clearly to Sleep Soundly
KEY POINTS:
1. Improving your mental state can improve your sleep, and vice versa.
2. Meditation is one tool you can use to improve both your mental health and your sleep.
3. Meditation has been shown to improve sleep not only in individuals with sleep disturbances, but also in people with cognitive decline such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Sleeping better is a profound challenge in today’s always connected world. Earlier I described how defending your last hour can help set the stage for sleeping soundly and recovering and regenerating better. Meditation is proving to be another powerful tool for improving our mental health and helping us sleep better. The body of research on meditation is small, but there is growing interest in the benefits of meditation, and so I'm sure the science will expand.
Early findings show that practising cyclic meditation improves subsequent sleep. Cyclic meditation involves alternating yoga postures and supine resting. Those participants who practised this technique experienced more slow-wave sleep and fewer awakenings than on nights when they did not practise. They also reported feeling better and more refreshed in the morning. Other researchers suggest that the improvements observed after meditation are a result of better “global regulation in behavioural states,” which includes better immune-system function, better regulation of hormones, and more activation of the autonomic nervous system (the nervous system that promotes recovery and regeneration).
Mindfulness meditation has also been studied and appears to be effective for adults who have previously experienced sleep disturbances. It was reported to be more effective than simply providing the participants with sleep hygiene education. Meditation not only works to improve sleep in people with minor sleep disturbances, but also appears to be very effective for people with cognitive decline like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Research findings show that practising a simple meditation program for 6 months improves sleep, quality of life, mood, well-being, and stress in patients with cognitive decline.
Ultimately, this research shows that if you are interested in sleeping soundly and improving your mental and physical health, meditation is a powerful tool for you to explore.
This Week’s Exercise: Meditate!
This week, your challenge is to meditate! If you’re new to meditation, it’s really helpful to start with some guided meditation. There are so many apps out there, both paid and free versions. Some of the ones we recommend are Calm, Headspace, Insight Timer, and Smiling Mind. But there are many to choose from!
If you already meditate, challenge yourself by making your practice more consistent or increasing the amount of time you spend meditating.
Bonus Content
Congratulations on completing this Think Clearly lesson!
If you want to learn more about meditation, check out this talk I did on this subject a few years ago.
Enjoy!
The information and advice provided in this program is intended to assist you with improving your performance, as well as your general health. It is not intended and should not be used in place of advice from your own physician or for treatment or diagnosis of any specific health issue. By participating in this program you acknowledge that undertaking any new health, diet and/or exercise regime involves certain inherent risks, that you assume such risks, and that you release Wells Performance Inc. from any responsibility or claim relating to such participation.