Trouble Sleeping? Try a bit of Meditation to Beat The Stress!
Posted by Karen in UncategorizedThis is a blog post I wrote back in 2009 but I do think that it will help almost everyone, hence the update 
A few days ago, I had serious problems trying to sleep and those following my Twitter will know that I went for 72 hours without any sleep, a real bad case of insomnia so what was the problem? I mainly think it was my mind working overtime, so I decided to use a method of meditation that I used to do from the book “Meditation for Inner Peace”
Yes I know it does sound very New Age, but there is a method in the book that has helped me sleep in the past, so I gave it a go.
It’s sounds very strange, but it does work!
Get yourself into bed and lie flat on your back and place your arms by your side.
Close your eye and start to concentrate on your breathing take big controlled breaths and do this for a few minutes until you feel quite comfortable.
Now this may sound weired but it does work!
When you are completely comfortable with your breathing, breath in, now when your strat to breath out strat to imagine that you can send your breathing to the tip of your toes, yes it sounds strange but you’ll see what I mean! Do this a couple of times, then do this as if you are moving up your body with each breath, up your legs etc. You will know when your are doing it right, as you will have a strange sensation on the part of the body you are working, I can’t explain it, but you will know what I mean!
When you get to the chest area start working from your finger tips and start working up your arms, doing the same as above and make your way to your head. I usually fall asleep when I get to the chest point and several of my friends that have tried this have also done the same.
This all takes a bit of practice and I’m not saying it will work for everyone, but it certainly works for me and I hope anyone that tries it, works for them also
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Twitter: symphonyoflove
says:
I guess for anyone having problem sleeping, it is worth a try. I am grateful that I can fall asleep almost instantly every time I hit the bed. There were a few cases whereby I struggled to fall asleep and it was definitely not an experience I wanted; I basically laid in bed the whole night and even when I closed my eyes, I did not feel a bit of sleepiness.
This meditation method may really help as I have tried meditation previously and meditation has never failed to help me calm down and be more focused.
Twitter: BlazingMinds
says:
Hi BK, thanks for taking the time to comment, I do hope that if you do need to try this method then it is successful
Hopefully you won’t need it..
I think to a point meditation can help with anything in life. Quieting the mind is never a bad thing. I am one of the lucky ones that falls asleep almost instantly, although I use meditation daily and I always feel more at peace. I used to try to meditate at night before going to sleep, but of course I would fall asleep before ever meditating! Just sitting in your car and quieting your mind for a few minutes will help, though.
.-= Kelly @ Zen Alarm Clocks´s last blog ..Zen Travel Alarm Clock =-.
I used to try this and it didn’t quite work because my mind would wander and I’d have to keep starting again. Instead, what I tried was laying down with my arms to my side cushioned by pillows, but put on some classical music, very low, and just lay on my back trying to relax. It might take up to 45 minutes for my mind to totally clear but once it did, I’d feel pretty relaxed. However, what works best, though I don’t recommend it to anyone, is to stay up really late, like 3 – 4 AM, and totally exhaust yourself then go to bed & you’ll fall asleep fairly quickly. Of course, that only works if you work for yourself and it doesn’t matter when you awaken like I do.
Mitch recently posted..CPAP Adventures
Twitter: cmygoodies
says:
I totally know what you are talking about – Every once in awhile I’ll have one of those nights where the ‘ol brain has important work to do all night long despite my best efforts to tell it to shut the *bleep* up. Actually just the other night after an extensive day of trouble shooting a video project I was working on I had unfortunately visions of the video looping through my mind all night – aaarg. You posted this a day too late.
Chris recently posted..Samsung LED HDTV Now Comes with Free Room Cleaning
Twitter: jronaldlee
says:
A small dash of bourbon does wonders, IMO.
James recently posted..Ocracoke graveyard
Thank you so much for this! Your post is brief but there’s lots of details, and I can’t imagine this wouldn’t be useful. Am placing it on Stumbleupon and delicious.
ashok recently posted..Trip to Iowa- 8-6 — 8-8
Twitter: BlazingMinds
says:
Thanks for the Stumble and the add to delicious, it’s much appreciated
Twitter: KathyBlogger
says:
Some years ago I discovered a method that worked for me when I couldn’t sleep. I purchased a self hypnosis cassette. (Yes I said cassette – you know before CD’s were even available) I used to listen to that self-hypnosis tape at night in bed. It would guide me through the relaxation process to the point where I would eventually drift off into la la land.
The techniques used in the self hypnosis were identical to the ones you were using while meditating. You focus your thoughts on one little body part and move around slowly relaxing each one.
Kathy recently posted..Why Are You Still Using No Follow On Your Blog Comments
Hey Karen – thanks for the tip. Using the breath to slow down the body is an AMAZING tool to get to sleep. Yo might also want to check out Gay Hendricks “Reset Button” – its another breathing process meant to slow you down. Good for sleep preparation as well.
Eddie Stevens recently posted..If you register your site for free at
Twitter: BlazingMinds
says:
Glad you found it useful, I must look into “Reset Button”
Twitter: money_whisper
says:
72 hours without any sleep is impossible, for me at least
If I don’t sleep for 24 hours I am a vegetable 
I usually don’t have trouble going to sleep, but the funny thing is that last night I decided to try some herbal made sleeping pills that should be helping me to sleep better and the irony was that I wasn’t able to fall asleep like usual. I think that even after one hour of rolling in bed I wasn’t asleep. I will try those pills again in a few days and if I will be having the same problems again I will throw the whole bottle at garbage.
Twitter: Witty_Money
says:
Interesting exercise you suggest here, Karen. I have to admit I’ve first heard about meditation during my flute classes. I thought it was just bullshit and a complete waste of time. A few months ago my sweetheart started to read on this subject and he eventually gave it a try. Hearing him how relaxed and relieved he felt made me question my initial belief. One evening I gave it a try and I felt nothing special. I insisted on a few nights and it really began to work. It’s just a wonderful sensation to feel your breath running your whole body and to think of nothing else. I will definitely keep on this relaxation method.:) A funny happening: it was my sweetie’s birthday recently, and what do you know… I bought him a meditation cushion:)))
– really nice and useful.
Witty Artist recently posted..Upside-down