How To Add Sleep Meditation to Your Bedtime Routine

LIGHTS OUTHow To Add Sleep Meditation to Your Bedtime RoutineIf you're having a hard time sleeping, it might be time to download some meditation apps. 

By Audrey Noble

May 5, 2022

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Whether you're thinking about your endless to-do list or just panicking over society's impending doom after a certain billionaire just casually bought a social media app instead of ending poverty (just me? okay cool), sleep these days can be hard to come by. So if you're willing to try anything — as long as it's safe of course — to ease a stressed-out mind, you might want to consider a method that's been gaining in popularity lately: sleep meditation. 

Sleep meditation doesn't mean you're actually meditating while you sleep. Instead, you're using the same benefits you get from meditation — such as easing tension and reducing the mind of stress — to inch you closer to the beginning stages of sleep. "When considering the variables that assist with sleep, heightened arousal can mask our body's natural cues for sleep," explains Shannon O'Neill PhD, a psychologist at the Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics and assistant professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Sleep meditation can assist in diminishing wake-promoting factors, such as anxiety, a chatty mind, perceived threat, as well as muscle tension." And according to our experts, there's never been a better time to try the method.

According to a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in three adults in the United States is reported to not getting enough sleep on a regular basis. This isn't dependent on work-life balance, either: those who were unable to work or were unemployed were even more sleep-deprived compared to their employed counterparts. Healthy sleep duration is also lower amongst people of color. 

"If there were ever a time that our mind was overactive and needed to wind down, it would be now. The stress of the pandemic as well as the prolonged shift in our routine (remote work) has resulted in more screen time, and likely, more doom scrolling," says Dr. O'Neill. "Although we strive to multitask and fill our day with as much productivity as possible, being able to disconnect from our mental to-do list and simply follow the lead of guided meditation is a great way to purge any leftover stress from the day."

We asked the experts to break down everything you need to know about sleep meditation, the best meditation techniques, and what apps you can download to help you start.

Meet The Experts:

• Deirdre Conroy, PhD, a psychologist and the clinical director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI.
• Shannon O'Neill, PhD, a psychologist at the Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics and assistant professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

What are the benefits of sleep meditation?

There are many benefits of meditation. Meditation, in general, is a practice that can help regulate the nervous system. Dr. O'Neill explains that when we meditate, we shift from the wake and alert sympathetic nervous system to a rest and digest state of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which is dominant during quiet conditions such as sleep. 

Deirdre Conroy, PhD, a psychologist and the clinical director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at the University of Michigan, says that meditation provides key elements, such as finding a time and place to quiet the mind and becoming aware of tension in the body, that are helpful in allowing sleep to unfold. Meditation can also help reduce anxiety, which she says is a common symptom that interferes with sleep. 

"Meditation promotes focusing on the present in a non-judgmental way," adds Dr. O'Neill. "Those who are anxious ruminators with future-oriented concerns and experience anticipatory nocturnal anxiety surrounding sleep would be a prime candidate for sleep meditation. The practice promotes grounding oneself to the present (e.g., focusing on the breath, the body) rather than future tasks or past regrets."  

How do I start sleep meditating? 

When dealing with insomnia in general, Dr. Conroy says that one strategy is to set aside a winddown time one hour before bed. During this one hour, she says you can decide to meditate. This can include guided meditations found through an app or YouTube. 

It can also be helpful to practice focused breathing techniques during this time. Dr. O'Neill says pairing meditation with focused deep breathing will help release muscle tension and help you relax. You can opt for rhythmic digraph breathing, or the 4-7-8 technique, where you inhale through your nose while counting to four, hold your breath for seven seconds, and exhale through your mouth for eight. While you exhale, she says you'll want to focus on relaxing your body and all the muscle groups. Start relaxing the muscles at the very top of your head, and work your way down every time you exhale, visualizing each part of your body relaxing more and more — as if you're melting into your mattress.  

Dr. O'Neill adds that you don't want to put effort into actually sleeping as you meditate. The point is to ease the mind so that sleep comes naturally, as opposed to replacing the beginning stages of sleep with meditation.  

"I know it sounds counterintuitive; however, as soon as you are consciously trying to sleep, you have lost the purpose of sleep meditation," she says. "The effort itself will promote more frustration and wakefulness than being relaxed and nonjudgmental. It is valuable to transition one's focus from thinking about relaxing to engaging in an activity that promotes relaxation as a byproduct." 

What are the negative effects of sleep meditation? 

In general, there are none. Dr. Conroy says calming the mind can be a very effective strategy for sleep. "Fortunately, there are numerous apps focused on relaxation and meditation at our fingertips," she says. "Studies also show a regular yoga practice can also be helpful for sleep." 

She does stress that meditation is not a substitute for sleep. She explains that there is a very specific process that the brain must go through while sleeping that is essential to our health and well-being. Certain chemicals and growth hormones are linked to our sleep stages and it's important we go through non-REM to REM each night.

Is too much meditation before sleeping harmful?

The short answer is no. But as with everything in life, you'll want to practice sleep meditation in moderation. Dr. O'Neill adds health coping skills such as sleep meditation can sometimes turn into something that serves a completely different purpose than helping you sleep. She gives the example of hypersomnia, which means using sleep to pass the time avoid the emotional pain of wakeful hours and can be a symptom of depression. That's why you'll want to be mindful of the functional purpose of using meditation to sleep. 

 "If sleep meditation begins to be a strategy used to escape or avoid difficult experiences, then you may want to consider the over-use of this skill," she says. 

What are the best apps for meditation and sleep?

Dr. O'Neill lists Calm, Headspace, Insight Timer, and CBT-i Coach as her favorite meditation apps that she recommends to patients, especially those who struggle with insomnia. But in the end, it's all about personal preference. The #1 app for meditation and sleep is the one that works for you.  

"There is no single method of meditation that works for everyone," she says. "Any strategy that promotes calming an active mind can assist in inching you closer to sleep."  

Read more meditation stories: 

• How to Start Meditating — Actually Stick to It
• 7 Calming Meditation Techniques for Beginners
• 11 Best Meditation Apps to Help You Stay Calm During Times of Stress

Now, find out 7 other ways to sleep faster:

 

Audrey Noble is a former digital beauty reporter at Allure whose writing explores beauty, culture, and entertainment, spanning topics from race and gender to celebrities and trends. In addition to holding editorial positions at Vanity Fair, Refinery29, and Byrdie, Audrey's work has appeared in Vogue, Harper's BAZAAR, Cosmopolitan, and... Read moreFormer Digital Beauty Reporter

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Keywordssleepmeditationmental healthwellnesshealthanxiety