The day is over, the work is over, the sun has long gone - it's time to go to bed to gain strength for tomorrow's marathon. The body is buzzing from the day's running, fatigue rolls in a wave, the eyelids close by themselves. But along with everything, a paradoxical problem wakes up - insomnia. The body requires rest, and the brain can not calm down. In my head there are thoughts about committed mistakes, unfinished business, future difficulties. Will a bedtime meditation help in this situation? How does it not hurt yourself?
Why do we need meditations before bedtime
The most common cause of long sleep and night awakenings is obsessive thoughts. If the day was emotionally difficult, and new obstacles lay ahead, it is difficult to “turn off” your brain and forget about the negative. However, relaxation exercises can make a difference. Regular exercise will help:
- quickly stop the flow of negative memories, thoughts;
- relieve stress, calm emotions;
- get rid of the burden of daily rush, throw out extra information from the head;
- improve the quality of dreams, forget about nightmares;
- establish blood circulation, restore proper deep breathing, relax muscles.
Enough to allocate from 5 to 20 minutes before night rest. Daily classes will teach you to fall asleep quickly, rest well during sleep and wake up without lethargy or weakness.
However, there is a nuance in which it is better to understand right away. Standard meditative practices are conducted to activate thought processes, clarify the mind, and obtain energy from internal sources. It is logical to assume that these techniques are not suitable for evening sessions. But then what classes will help solve problems with sleep?
How to meditate at night
To exercise went to the benefit, caused the expected effect and generally brought pleasure, you will have to study 5 basic recommendations:
- The best provisions - lotus or half lotus. Also suitable pose "in Turkish." The back is straight, without stoop, but not tense. You can sit by the wall or put soft cushions. Eyelids closed, hands relaxed, palms open. It is allowed to connect fingertips.
- Breath - smooth, slow, deep. Inhalation lasts about the same as exhalation. Between them is a 2-second pause.
- Attention focuses on positive feelings, ideas, dreams, or memories. Any negative is avoided. At the same time, one should not try to excessively control or suppress thoughts, it is better to let them go, periodically asking them the direction.
- If it's hard to escape from bad thoughts, you can move your attention to surrounding signs. It is important that these objects cause pleasant experiences. It can be beautiful flowers or a picture, a bowl of delicious grapes, a pleasant unobtrusive aroma of the aroma lamp, melodious sounds of a violin.
- Situation acting. The light is muted, ideally - a night light, sconce or floor lamp is turned on. It is advisable to open the window, letting in fresh air. However, it is better to remember that all the senses before bed are more irritable. Bright colors, light, obsessive aromas and sounds will aggravate the condition.
the main objective is to completely relax and enjoy it. Only having calmed an internal state and reason, it is possible to count on a good dream.
To make the session even more successful, suitable ones are applied. techniques. They are described in the next section of the article and are intended for evening classes, therefore they are not suitable for day or morning workouts. Repeating them regularly, you can develop a conditioned reflex. Then the body will prepare itself for sleep, as soon as the person begins to perform the necessary movements or to submit the same pictures.
Evening relaxation techniques
A boat
The sensation of a gentle, swaying motion is calming. That is why children and even adults love to ride on a swing, ride trains or lie in hammocks. The fantasy of a boat that floats on a quiet river also pacifies. How to conduct it:
- to ensure good circulation of fresh air - open the window or window. In the warm season, you can hold a class right on the balcony or even the veranda;
- adopt a comfortable posture that allows you to relax all the muscles;
- close your eyes and imagine yourself in a small boat floating downstream;
- Imagine the setting - pre-dawn, light fog, beautiful plants on the banks of the river;
- concentrate on imaginary sounds — on the noise of leaves, the splashing of water, the quiet creaking of a swaying wooden vessel. You can turn on soft music (optional).
After 10 minutes of this practice, the eyelids become heavy, relaxation reaches its peak. It is better to go out of the state smoothly, moving slowly, as if fearing to drive away the slumber. Then it is important to immediately go to bed. If you do other things after meditating (brushing your teeth, cleaning the room, changing bed linen, etc.), the effect is noticeably reduced or disappears altogether. All the procedures for preparing for sleep are done before the meditative session.
Mental teleportation
Sometimes, to relax, it is enough to present yourself in a pleasant safe place. It could be a parental home, where the whole family once lived together, or a quiet, bright forest not far from the cottage. Imaginary space can be mentally removed from existing memories or simply imagined. A few examples that are easy to present during class before a rest:
- green meadow at sunset time;
- night fire in a camping with tents;
- quiet village or country house;
- the shore of a small calm river or lake;
- beach with palm trees, calm sea, sunset;
- rocking chair by the fireplace (possibly in the library);
- soft cloud (elements of fantasy do not interfere).
It is important to represent every little thing, try to interact with the details of the invented picture. Along with this technique, audio recordings of natural sounds are often used. It is desirable that they are associated with evening hours - the chatter of grasshoppers, the hooting of an owl. Rooster crows, noisy singing of birds, human hubbub will not work.
Mental transformation
Its essence lies in mental reincarnation. You can think of yourself as a natural phenomenon (rain, fog, wind), a specific object (pillow, feather), abstraction (sunbeam, water, radio wave), a living being (cat, sloth). If you try to immediately try on the selected image, it is unlikely that something will come of it. “Enter the role” is better gradually.
If you imagine yourself as cotton candy, the line of thought will be approximately as follows:
“I feel warm and comfortable. My body becomes lighter with every breath. First, the tightness in the feet, ankles, knees, and thighs is dissipated. Then fingers, hands, forearms, shoulders become airy. In my head there is emptiness and weightlessness. I breathe freely, every cell. Thoughts dissolve like sugar in syrup. Sweet water evaporates - and I become fluffy ethereal wadding ”.
Shaped relaxation
Relaxation of this type passes gradually, as smoothly as possible. It requires a fantasy about positive waves. These can be simple jets of water or some fantastic magical waves that relieve tension. Below is the procedure.
- Provide a continuous stream, its structure. Is it dense or scattered, airy or liquid?
- Dream up about the color of the wave. Is it transparent or solid, does it overflow?
- Concentrate on sensations derived from the flow. What does it bring - soft warmth, pleasant coolness, slight ticklish tingling?
- Imagine how the stream slowly begins to envelop the whole body, centimeter by centimeter, starting from the legs, ending with the head.
- To “let in” the flow within oneself so that it fills every cell with pleasant sensations. Merge with him together, completely dissolve in it.
Exercise smoothly stops when there is a noticeable drowsiness. The wave recedes in the reverse order (from the head to the legs), but slightly faster. Eyes open. Then it is better to go to bed immediately.
Properly performed meditation before bedtime will help to cope with chronic insomnia, relieve nightmares, adjust the schedule. However, if the rules are not followed or the careless choice of the technique, the effect may be reversed. To avoid negative consequences, it is enough to follow the tips from this article and be sure to listen to your body.
