Meditation can provide benefits to both your mental and physical health. The practice involves clearing your mind and focusing by combining techniques to help you relax and reduce stress and anxiety.
There are various meditation techniques, including mindfulness meditation, that may involve breathing techniques, muscle contraction, and relaxation exercises to release stress and help you unwind.
This may be beneficial for insomnia, as meditation often helps you fall and stay asleep.
Meditation for insomnia
Meditation can trigger several processes in your body, promoting relaxation and initiating sleep.
A 2018 research review reported that mindfulness meditation has significantly improved the sleep quality of people with sleep disturbances compared to those who did not practice meditation before sleeping.
Doctors think the improvement in sleep quality related to meditation may have a link with the several benefits it provides, including:
- stress and anxiety reduction
- reduction of the heart rate and blood pressure
- improved function of the autonomic nervous system
A 2019 research review found that practicing a combination of meditation, yoga, tai chi, and qi gong for at least 4 weeks improved the symptoms of people with insomnia.
A 2020 study on adults found that regularly practicing a form of meditation — known as heartfulness meditation — significantly improved the quality of sleep of people with chronic insomnia.
This type of meditation also helped reduce or discontinue the use of sedative or hypnotic medications in 87.5% of participants who were taking these drugs when enrolled in the study.
Meditation may be particularly effective for people with insomnia. This is because stress and anxiety linked to day-to-day worries, such as money, work, or relationships, are common causes of this condition.
How to meditate
You don’t need any special equipment to practice meditation, and you can perform it anywhere. If you have insomnia, consider taking a few minutes before bedtime, lying or sitting in a quiet area, and closing your eyes to start meditating.
Once you are resting in a comfortable position and your eyes are closed, you can start breathing slowly, inhaling and exhaling deeply, focusing on your breathing. If any thoughts or worries pop up during the meditation, bring your focus back on your breathing.
You can start by meditating for a short time, such as 5 minutes. If you feel comfortable, you can slowly increase this to 15–20 minutes. Keep in mind that meditation requires practice and may take time for you to learn how to relax and calm your mind.
There are several types of meditation. These include:
- mindfulness meditation
- heart-centered meditation
- body-centered meditation
- mantra meditation
- visual-based meditation
- emotion-centered meditation
- meditation with movement
You can download guided meditation apps for free or watch YouTube videos to help guide you through your first steps toward mindfulness and other meditative techniques.
Insomnia treatments
Difficulties falling asleep at least three times a week or recurrent sleeping difficulties that last longer than 3 months may be a sign of insomnia, and you may want to speak with a doctor. Without treatment, insomnia can lead to serious health complications over time. This may include cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
While meditation can help manage and treat stress-related insomnia, this condition is not only linked to a psychological state of anxiety and stress.
Doctors can assess the severity of your symptoms and diagnose the root cause of your sleeping difficulties. They can also recommend the most appropriate treatment based on your conditions.
For mild or occasional cases of insomnia, doctors may suggest taking over-the-counter medications and supplements that may help you fall and remain asleep.
This may include melatonin supplements or certain types of antihistamine medications that can cause drowsiness as a side effect, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl).
However, if your insomnia is moderate to severe or you have chronic insomnia, doctors may prescribe stronger medications to help improve your sleep quality.
Prescription medications for severe or chronic insomnia may include:
- melatonin receptor agonists, such as ramelteon (Rozerem)
- benzodiazepines, including:
- alprazolam (Xanax)
- clonazepam (Klonopin)
- diazepam (Valium)
- lorazepam (Ativan)
- triazolam (Halcion)
- benzodiazepine receptor agonists, including:
- zolpidem (Ambien)
- eszopiclone (Lunesta)
- zaleplon (Sonata)
- orexin receptor antagonists, such as:
If you need help covering the cost of medications, the free Optum Perks Discount Card could help you save up to 80% on prescription drugs. Follow the links on drug names for savings on that medication, or search for a specific drug here.
