Meditation’s about “waking up” to reality, but can it help us get a good night’s sleep? Bodhipaksa indulges in some pillow-talk about four ways meditation can help with insomnia.
Like most people I’ve sometimes had periods when I’ve found it hard to sleep (or to get back to sleep). In a word: insomnia. It’s not that anything external is keeping me awake, but simply that I’m wide awake with my mind both tired and over-active.
Over the years I’ve tried various things, like reading, getting up and making a cup of tea, etc, that have been useful in breaking into any unhelpful mental patterns that I may have. And often those things work well. Insomnia (in my case at least) generally involves being caught up in a loop of thinking that stirs up emotion, and that cycle of thinking in turn stirs up emotion which causes more thinking. That cycle needs to be interrupted for sleep to take place. Even getting up and making a cup of tea (a stimulant!) can be enough to interrupt the cycle and allow the natural sleep process to kick in. And I’ve found that reading provides an alternative thought-stream (I have the author’s words in my mind rather than my own thoughts) and can help lull me into unconsciousness.
But I’ve also found some meditative techniques that have never failed to work, and I mostly prefer to use these. The times when I’ve chosen not to use them are when I’ve been on a creative streak and I haven’t actually wanted to sleep because my preference has been to “go with the flow” and do the writing (or whatever) that’s been buzzing around in my mind.
The reason that I decided to turn to a more meditative approach is that sometimes wanting to get to sleep will actually keep you awake! What happens is that you lie there awake, but wanting to sleep. At some point you start to drift off, and some dream imagery may start to well up into the mind. Then the part of your mind that’s still awake gets all excited because it sees signs of sleep, and this excitement wakes you up again! This is classic craving, or grasping, in which your mind tries to grab hold of something it wants. But sleep by nature involves letting go, and so the act of grasping will prevent sleep from arising. This happens in meditation too, of course. When we try to recreate enjoyable meditative experiences we often find that we prevent them from occurring — the reason they occurred previously was that we’d stopped grasping and had simply relaxed into our experience.
There are four different meditative approaches that I’ve found to be useful in dealing with insomnia.
1. Mindful breathing
This is as simple as you can get. Basically, just meditate! But there are a few caveats. Not all meditative techniques will help you to sleep. Some will actually cause further stimulation and keep you awake.
So, lying in bed, keep your awareness focused on the sensations of the breath in your belly, observing the rise and fall of the abdominal muscles. It’s important to keep your awareness focused on the belly rather than any other part of the breathing process, because this is the most calming place to observe your breathing. The sensations in the chest, throat, and head are actively stimulating, and so observing the breath in those places would be counter-productive.
Also, pay more attention to the out-breath rather than the in-breath. The classic way to do this is to count at the end of each out-breath. You could also say the word “out” as you exhale. The out-breath is more relaxing, while the in-breath is more stimulating.
The other methods I use are based on an observation that there are three things that keep me awake: thinking that is comprised primarily of “inner chatter,” thinking that is composed mainly of vivid mental imagery, and physical arousal where there is restlessness in the body.
2. Dealing with inner chatter
Sometimes we can’t sleep because we’re talking to ourselves so much — internally, of course. There may well be some inner imagery (see the technique below) but mainly we’re caught up in hearing inner discussions.
If you have a lot of inner self-talk, try making the voice or voices in your head become very s-l-o-o-o-w a-a-a-n-d d-e-e-e-e-e-p, like a vinyl record that’s been unplugged. The trick is to notice the stream of inner chatter and to take control of the flow, slowing it down. You may have to do this a few times, but you’ll notice that as the voices slow down you’ll almost immediately start to feel more sleepy.
3. Dealing with vivid inner imagery
Sometimes our stories are primarily visual. There will of course be an inner soundtrack that accompanies the movie we’re showing ourselves, but it’s the images we’re mainly caught up in and that are keeping us awake.
I’ve found that the most effective approach under these circumstances is to make the imagery go dark, and then to fade in some images of natural scenes. I prefer to visualize leaves on trees, moving slowly in a breeze. The slowness is important. It’s also important that the images be of something relatively unstimulating and restful, which is why nature images work. But a mundane scene, like rain dripping off of leaves, is more effective than inspiring mountain scenes, which are likely to keep you awake.
I often make the weather bad. As I mentioned, rain dripping off of leaves is effective. The fact that it’s raining means that the imagery is duller than usual, and the lack of stimulation is the key to getting back to sleep.
With the techniques of slowing down mental chatter or calling to mind calming (and even dull) imagery, what you’re doing is taking charge of your mind. Rather than letting an uncontrolled stream of images and dialog run through your mind, keeping you awake, you’re deciding what you’re going to think about.
4. Dealing with physical restlessness
Lastly, one of the things that can keep us awake is physical restlessness. This can happen to me when I’ve been exercising too late in the evening. Even though my mind is tired my body is very much awake. If you find that you have a lot of physical energy, then imagine that your body is becoming very heavy, and that you’re being pressed down into the mattress. I sometimes pretend to myself that gravity is variable, and that someone has turned the gravity dial up to “high.”
This uses the same principle as slowing down your inner chatter or making your mental imagery dark and restful. When you’re naturally tired the body feels heavy. When you reverse this process, imagining that the body is heavy, you become tired.
You may have to use all four methods. I use method one to start with, and then the others as required. It has always worked! Sometimes I’ve been lying there thinking, “Nope, it’s not going to work this time,” and then suddenly it’s time to get up and I realize that I’ve slept the whole night through.
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Hello,
I'm new to mediatation, having only been practicing over the last 2 months or so. My mind is always overactive and chatty, and very difficult to quiet. Insomnia has always been a problem for me. I have learned to be accepting of the chatter and quiet my mind at least briefly, through most of my meditating. Lately, I've been practicing chakra mediation, and notice that where my mood has gotten better, my insomnia has gotten much worse. Can this be atributed to the meditation because of the blocked energies that are now moving and the healing going on? Have you heard of people having this reaction? Or am I just having a bad week of sleep...?
Thanks!
Hi Mary,
I really don't know anything about chakra meditation (except to know that people keep mispronouncing it as "shakra" meditation) but in general in meditation there's a balance needs to be found between energy and calmness. Often the way that we meditate can push things one way or the other, and so it sounds as if you may need to work more consciously on calming the mind. You can do this by paying more attention to the outbreaths (e.g. by counting them), paying more attention to the movements in the belly as you breathe, and by taking a few deep slow breaths as you start the meditation.
It may be that you can find equivalents of these things within chakra meditation, but as I said I don't know enough about the form of meditation to say anything useful.
Good luck!
yes i live in an apartment which i have people above and below me and they just get on my nerves i am a very light sleeper and the thumping and the bumping vibrations just scares me and kind of make me nervous, i tried to sleep somewhere i can get some sleep in the area of my apartment i am forever going from one room to another and its gotten so bad i ask the manager can i bring my air mattress and sleep in a vacant apartment thats not rented out yet! sounds crazy i didnt like to leave my own bed to sleep in an empty apartment thats not rented out yet it was clean and all and that didnt seem to help. my boyfriend told me to start meditating again, i did stop doing that and he told me whenever i hear the loud thumping noises to put in my mind and become the thumping noises in mind and body and that it wouldnt bother me, when i was little my father always told us sisters to shut up be quiet all the time and i hated he told us that because i want to sleep in the noise but i just cant get it together!! i am 40 plus and i just dont like to be that way!! i want to sleep through noise when i hear the thumping nagging noises it will stop and i just wait for another one to come because i know its coming i am sleeping at the same time i am waiting for the noise to come, please help!!!!
Hello Wisdom,
Have you checked out this page? It may be helpful. You may also want to consider cultivating lovingkindness for your neighbors. It helps us to take our focus away from ourselves. Sorry this is so short. I'm pretty tired this evening after an early start this morning.
Hello,
I'm Jenny from Uk and really pleased i've come across your web-site.
Firstly i've been having a problem exactly the same as Mary above with meditation, and at a point now where i feel totally confused as so many people have hugh health and happiness bonus's with meditation, but i seem to be a stuck loop with my life... and so would really appreciate your comments.
Four years ago i had sort of a large spiritual awakening sort of thing where basically too much happened to me (all positive) but at night time and i feel that alot of stuff came up for me to heal. I started a total inability to sleep lots of different reasons but also what felt like enormous amount of energy surges. I started meditation to help myself, hopefully re-gain sleeping pattern etc but like Mary the meditation does lift my mood and i feel so incredibly peaceful when i am there but my sleep gets alot worse and then my mind gets more noisy. I then observe my mind and physical symptoms but actually i then feel almost too aware and then too awake to sleep.
I meditate to keep myself going basically as i am worried what the lack of sleep is doing to my body and have tried numerous other different types of healing work incl. eft, sedona, yoga etc etc
My question is why do you feel as though meditation brings up emotions for me that disturbs my balance instead of what i feel should happen which would be for old patterns of behavious or fears etc to disolve and for me to have more general peacefulness and sleep. I have also developed a trig neuralgia pain behind my eyes and face area which i have been trying to just notice and observe for months now.
just feel as though i am trying too hard to heal myself, possibly too impatient and overly concerned with how i am (and i know thats my ego mind talking), so then i just observe that part of me which then makes me too inward feeling/thinking again.
I will practise what you advised mary with watching the breath and focusing on the abdomen and i feel on reading your other pages being more tolerant and patient with myself and possibly stop trying to fix myself comes to mind. I think i have probably answered many of my questions, so thankyou for allowing my to express my confusion.
Any words of wisdom would still be very much appreciated and any more hints to calm the released energy down before bedtime would be great.
with love
Jenny,
It doesn't surprise me to hear that you started having insomnia and energy surges at a time when you were experiencing big changes in your life. Even though they may have been positive, big changes are big changes, and can bring up fear and resistance deeper inside. Moving toward something new is always scary, even if it's all about positive things. Anything like this can create big shifts of energy, whether you're consciously aware of them or not!
I can say from personal experience that sometimes when we go though big inner changes, it creates physical symptoms that can be really uncomfortable and hard to live with. Insomnia is one I've had, so I can sympathize. Meditation in and of itself isn't a cure all, and isn't a guarantee of peace of mind and relaxation. So the first thing I'd suggest is to let go of the idea that there is something "wrong" with your meditation practice. It doesn't sound like there's anything wrong there at all. I'd say there's something going on that's creating more nervous energy in your system than you're able to dissipate, through meditation or otherwise. So everything is working as expected.
One question I have is whether your frustration and worry that something's "wrong" is only adding to your anxiety. Yes, I understand that insomnia is terrible to live with, but are you making things worse with the worry and impatience? You also said you have a lot of healing to do. I assume you're doing other things to work on this. Healing is an organic, natural process that can't be hurried along. Meditation, yoga, EFT, etc, is all good stuff to do. You're doing what you can. In the meantime, can you give your body/mind the space it needs to do its own work, in its own time?
I'm sure there's a whole lot more to your story, and I'm sure there are other things to look into. But based on what you've said, I feel that's about all I can say. If you'd like to talk with me in more depth, I'd be happy to do so. I offer individual coaching to people who are working through difficult situations such as yours, and especially work with meditation and mindfulness as the tools for recovering balance. You can learn more about my work at http://www.mindfulpurpose.com.
Best wishes,
Sunada
I'm 13 and live in the US. This site was reccomended from a different site (What Irony!) and too often I find myself awake later than needed. Sometimes I play only 1 specific game on gameboy and the repettiveness makes me drowsy and I sleep. I'm slighty afraid of the dark, which I don't find peculiar b/c ppl are afraid of what they don't know about, but it's very common in me. Sometimes it's physical, I'm sick and parts of me are achey, and thse are the worst times for insomnia for me. could someone help?
It looks like it's been a couple of years since people have commented on this, but it hit the target with me this morning.
First I'd like to tell Tom (if he's still reading this blog) that unfortunately being 13 you have other issues going on--- research has shown that teenagers have their biological clock shifted "forward", meaning that they naturally (and biologically) want to go to bed late and sleep in late. Do a Google search on "teenagers and sleep" and you'll come up with a lot. I'm sure there are tricks out there, like limiting light past 8pm, that kind of thing, but you're just going to have to hang in there for a few years.
Next, it's interesting that something so wonderful as meditation can actually cause a disturbance, but I have also noticed it. Because when I'm meditating I take note when I start to feel or experience super-relaxedness, and I think to myself "there we go...that's the right feeling" which is great when it's the middle of the day. However, at night, when I start to drift off I think "there we go...I'm starting to drift off..." then BAM! awake again. So, I guess I have to re-train my thoughts in both situations. So many meditation guides say "when a thought enters your mind, just notice that thought...and let it go" but when you're trying to fall asleep you shouldn't even try to notice it...just let it pass without paying attention. And really I guess that would be good during meditation too? Anyone have any suggestions?
Hi,
I have been suffering a lot of anxiety and stress lately, which is due to a fear of having sleep problems. At the start of the year I had a lot of trouble sleeping, but got over it. Now as I have started a new part-time job, I have a great fear of insomnia (especially on the nights before I have work). This is affecting every aspect of my life.
I am new to meditation, but feel it would greatly help me with my problems. Can you tell me a way to meditate which will help?
It would be handy to know if you've tried any of the tips above.
No I haven't. I will try these methods when I next have trouble sleeping. Do you suggest I print the page and keep it by my bed so I can look at it if need be (or will the reading waken me up)?
I am also interested in any meditations that I can do before bedtime, perhaps to prepare me for a restful sleep. Should these be done right before I hop into bed, or should I meditate and then read for a to wind-down before bed.
I find that reading helps put me to sleep, but your sleepage may vary :)
Reading helps distract me from the "am I getting tired? Yes I am! Oh, damn, I just woke myself up" cycle. But some experts on sleep say that you shouldn't do anything in your bed apart from sleep, to avoid building up other associations. That's not advice I've ever found useful, however.
Mindfulness of breathing meditation, even done in the morning, may well be helpful. It sounds counter-intuitive that meditating in the morning can affect what happens when you go to bed, but meditating in the morning can help bring a bit more calmness into your entire day, and so make your mind less busy when it's bed-time. Meditating just before bed can also be helpful, but you really need to find out what works for you.
I'm a 63-year-old retired teacher who has been a victim of chronic insomnia for 7 years now. I have been taking ambien nightly (about 18 mg. and diazapam (5mg) since that time but really to no avail. My anxiety really revs up when I enter the bedroom to sleep because I know I'll get very little, perhaps 4-5 hours. I recently read How to say Good Night to Insomnia and it did point out a few things which I' m now cognizant of. I have tried imagry (tropical island views) and during the last 3 weeks have tried a relaxation technique where I concentrate on parts of my body slowly warming up, beginning with my feet. I just can't seem to get it. When I do sleep the usual pattern is to fall asleep an hour after going to bed, wake up a half hour later, drift back to sleep 45 minutes later. sleep for 30 more minutes, fall back to sleep 30 minutes later, sleep for another half hour, etc. etc. I can't even begin to tell you how depressing this is, not only for me but for my wife and daughter. The funny thing is my wife is a therapist and has done everything under the sun to help me. Hence, I want to learn more about meditation. Comments???
This sounds exactly like my sleeping pattern. I haven't tried meds or potions and won't as I've heard all sorts of horror stories. I have signed up for a 5 session meditation course in our area put on by the Buddhists so I am hopeful that this may help.