What is sleep meditation?

Why is a good night's sleep important?

It's not surprising that we feel a lot better after a good night. While sleeping, the body gets a chance to recover and recharge, both mentally and physically. A lack of sleep interrupts this recovery process, which has a negative impact on our concentration, energy levels and mood.

Sleeping better ensures that the body has time to process all the stimuli and emotions of the day, so you can start the day fresh, energetic and alert the next morning.

Unfortunately, sleeping well does not come naturally to everyone. Our brains tend to "turn on" before bedtime. During the day, we are inundated with stimuli that bring a lot of restlessness. And if we do not process these stimuli and allow our minds to calm down, sleep is an impossible task.

What is sleep meditation?

Sleep meditations are guided meditations specifically designed to help you fall asleep naturally. During a sleep meditation, you let go of your worries of the day and accept what has happened. It is a way to let go of the day's stimuli and prepare mentally and physically for the night. This causes your body to calm down and you fall asleep faster.

There are different types of sleep meditations. For example, you can do a short sleep meditation to end the day, or you can choose a deep sleep meditation to improve the quality of your sleep.

The Meditation Moments app has several sleep meditations that help improve your sleep. There are meditations ranging from 3 minutes to 45 minutes in the Sleep Moments category.

How does sleep meditation work?

Sleep meditation actually works the same as meditation during the day. Allow your body to unwind and your mind to wander. Forcing yourself to fall asleep will only backfire. Focus on the voice and don't worry about whether you're doing it right. There is no wrong way to meditate. If it brings relaxation you are already doing it right.

Sleeping well begins during the day

Preparations for a good night's sleep begin during the day. Besides listening to a sleep meditation, there are other things you can do to get ready for a good night. For example, having an evening routine, a nice sleep environment, healthy diet and enough exercise during the day all help improve sleep quality.

Make sure you have a nice evening routine

Meditation is most powerful when you do it regularly. Getting a good night's sleep once is nice, but ideally you want a nice night's sleep every night. How do you make this a habit? One way to do this is to make sure you have a nice evening ritual. This can be anything:

• Evening meditation
• Reading a book
• Taking a warm bath
• Going for a walk
• Doing yoga exercises
• Listening to music

The hour before you go to sleep largely determines the quality of your sleep. Take this hour to relax, and stop looking at screens (cell phone, laptop, television). The blue light from screens makes you alert - something you don't want when you're about to go to sleep.

Instead, read a book, take a warm bath and end your day with a nice evening meditation. You can do a meditation sitting down, but it's extra nice if you can sleep right away. So get yourself all ready for the night, get into bed and turn on a meditation. A big advantage is that you can stay wonderful when you fall asleep during or after the meditation.

Sleep meditation app

Want to incorporate meditation into your evening routine and are you looking for a sleep meditation app you can use for this purpose? The Meditation Moments app has several sleep meditations that will help you relax and sleep better. In the 'Evening' category, you will find meditations that are suitable to do at the end of the day. There are short 3-minute evening meditations, long 45-minute meditations and everything in between.