Insomnia - Guided Meditation 4This is a meditation that is popular for those who suffer from insomnia - and there seem to be a lot of those ! (There also seem to be a lot of alternative spellings for this word - the correct original English spelling is insomnia, but I have also seen people spell it as insomnea, insomia, insommnia and even insomia !) The way that this meditation really is effective is because it is done almost like a form of self-hypnosis - that gives messages to your subconscious mind, that will become slowly imprinted or fixed there, and you will then be able to get the desired result - and fall asleep better whenever you want to, and therefore put an end to your insomnia. However, because of this, it will take several times of doing it as a Guided Meditation first of all - with someone reading it to you as you do it - and then when you have done it like this a few times - then do it each night by yourself - then your subconscious mind will have become used to the instructions and 'triggers' that I will be giving you in this meditation, and then you will be able to do it effectively yourself at night, in bed, when you want to go to sleep. Very definitely it is one where "practice makes perfect" - it takes a while to be really effective against insomnia - but once your subconscious mind has 'got it' then it will become very easy and useful to aid your sleeping. So as you do the guided meditation that I will give here, do not expect to fall asleep while you are doing it - it is not designed to work like that -instead it is designed so that when it is bedtime and time for you to go to sleep, it will begin to 'kick in' in a progressive way as you get ready for bed and become ready for sleep, and counter-effect your previous 'pattern' of insomnia. I think that once you have read through it and done it a few times, that you will understand better what I am saying.
Before we actually get to the insomnia meditation itself, I want to talk about a few other points that are related to insomnia, that may be useful for you as well. Firstly - all authorities seem to agree that there are several important things to keep in mind if you suffer from insomnia - you quite possibly have already come across these, but just in case, lets go over them again;- ----------foods - try not to attempt to sleep soon after eating - ideally there should be at least a 3 hour delay after eating........Carbohydrates are much, much better than proteins or fats - in helping sleep occur naturally, and preventing insomnia. ----------Most people who suffer from insomnia have previously tried Herbal remedies - but if you haven't, then you may well find that the following herbs may be useful;- Valerian, Chamomile, Passion Flower, Jujube, Lemon Balm, Hops, or a combination of any of these. ----------Vitamins and minerals that are useful for the treatment of insomnia include;- Vitamin B group - especially Niacin (however, rarely some people are sensitive, and it may give unpleasant effects - usually severe flushing - so you should limit yourself to no more than 10mg daily), and also both Calcium and Magnesium, we could also add Melatonin to the list. ----------Try to go to bed at the same time each night, and not 'sleep-in' for long periods in the mornings, as this tends to make insomnia worse. ----------Alcohol will very often make insomnia worse - or else lead to disordered sleep patterns. ----------Try to use your bedroom for sleep and sex only -so that your subconscious mind associates the bedroom with sleep and/or sex only. - rather than computer work, extended reading, television or other activities, which may make your mind think of those instead of sleep - and thereby cause insomnia. ----------Avoid prescription drugs for insomnia - (called Hypnotics) - as much as possible, and at most - for very short term use only, if you have insomnia that hasn't responded to anything else in the past. They all tend to make you either physically addicted, or psychologically dependant on them - and their affects often linger to the next day, and can affect your reaction time, mood, balance and mental alertness. Be especially cautious of the group of drugs called Benzodiazepines - ( usually they have a name which ends in "...epam") - as they all tend to be addictive - Diazepam (also called Valium) is one of the worst for both addiction and "hang over" type effects.
Another couple of things that can supposedly help with insomnia are;- -----------Try to always make sure that you are 'lined up' the same way, as regards the points of the compass. We all know that there are 'magnetic fields' everywhere, that always flow in the same direction - that is why a compass needle always points to North - several authorities believe that our bodies get used to sleeping in a particular alignment -for example....head to the North, feet to the South. They state that if you change that....for example to an East/West alignment - then your bodies are not so comfortable in this new alignment and insomnia may be the result. They suggest trying to find out, or remember, what the alignment was when you slept when you were a kid - ( as regards which way your head and feet were aligned with North/South/East/West) - they believe that your body got used to that particular alignment when you were a child, and that if you can return to that alignment - then you will sleep without so many insomnia problems. I think that it certainly is worthwhile to give it a try - it can't hurt - and may help !
----------Another idea that has been suggested by some authorities is;- - "To cure insomnia - sleep under a Pyramid that is oriented North/South" .......I just have no idea whether this can help insomnia or not, but certainly there have been some experiments done which seem to show that the Pyramid shape has strange powers that we don't really understand. Again - why not give it a try !
Well, lets get on with the meditation for insomnia - but remember that it has to be done several times as a guided meditation first - and then you mentally repeat it each time that you go to bed thereafter....it will take a little while before it is really effective, but eventually should be very useful for your insomnia. Once again, check out the general instructions in the "Guided Meditations" - general page if you have not already done so. O.K. then - if you and your guide/reader are all set up, and ready to go then....one - two - three - go !
as you can...........let your breathing become slower and deeper..........breathe right down into your belly area ..........push your belly 'out' with each breath 'in' - and pull it 'in' for each breath 'out'..........go around your body in your mind and see if there are any tense places..........try to consciously relax them..........let your breathing become deeper and slower - slower and deeper..........feel yourself becoming comfortably warm and relaxed..........peaceful and calm..........go around your body again, and look for any areas that still have any tension in them..........let them relax more and more...........relaxed, peaceful and calm....... .......breathing in and out easily and slowly and deeply.. ..........feeling very comfortable and calm..........go around your body yet one more time, and look for any areas that have not relaxed completely..........tense up the muscles in those areas as much as you can..........tighter and tighter.....yet tighter..........and keep those areas as tight as you possibly can - and for as long as you can.....then - when you cannot hold that tightness any more....let those areas completely relax..relax....relax..........let your whole body feel relaxed ..........feeling very peaceful and calm and relaxed..........breathing slowly and comfortably and deeply.. ..........feeling very calm and relaxed..........let us count backwards from 10 to 1 - and you will become even more relaxed..........10 - peaceful and relaxed..........9 - becoming more and more calm and comfortable..........8 - as we count backwards from 10 to 1 - feel your whole body feeling soft and heavy...........comfortably warm and heavy with relaxation..........7 - yet more relaxed and heavy and feel your mind becoming peaceful and calm..........6 - your mind beginning to feel a little bit drowsy and sleepy.........5 - comfortably warm - relaxed - with every part of you feeling peaceful and calm..........4 - calm and peaceful and drowsy and sleepy..........3 - feeling very drowsy and sleepy and calm..........2 - everything comfortable and warm and peaceful.. ..........1 - now almost asleep but still listening to my voice - yet remaining peaceful and calm and sleepy and relaxed..........mmmmm !............in the future - when you want to go to bed and sleep - you will begin to feel sleepy and relaxed as you undress..........imagine yourself getting into bed and feeling very calm and peaceful and relaxed and sleepy..........as your head touches the pillow you will remember this time of slowly counting backwards from 10 to 1.. ...........and as you get comfortable and ready to go to sleep.....you will slowly start to count backwards again - from 10 to 1 yourself in your mind..........becoming more and more sleepy and relaxed with each slow peaceful deep breath.... ..... you will start to slowly count backwards from 10 to 1... .....very slowly..........and feeling more and more peaceful and sleepy and heavily relaxed with each breath...........when you are ready to sleep - you will slowly start to count backwards from 10 to 1 like this.......10 - and already you feel more relaxed and sleepy..........9 - you will feel ready for sleep and relaxation..........8 you will feel so peaceful and calm and relaxed.....peaceful and relaxed..........7 - very sleepy and relaxing yet more and more...........6 - and at night, when you get to 5 - you will begin to feel so sleepy and drowsy and relaxed..........4 - and very soon you will be ready to fall asleep quite easily and naturally..........3 - and then when you get to finish counting - you will feel so sleepy and tired and drowsy.......2 - that you will only have to slowly count backwards from 10 to 1 - one more time..........1 - and you will be gently - peacefully - sleeping........and sleeping deeper and deeper - more and more...... deeper and deeper..................GIVE A LONG PAUSE HERE (FOR THE GUIDE/READER).............and yet today, here and now - you have been just teaching your mind how to peacefully let you go to sleep when you want to..........training your mind to get better and better ..........better at letting you peacefully sleep after you mentally count backwards from 10 to 1....... ..........but only when you get into bed and your head touches the pillow and you are comfortable and ready to sleep..... ..........and then you will get better and better and better at doing this.....until your mind lets you go to sleep everytime when you count backwards from 10 to 1 in your bed........after your head touches the pillow..........and now today - we will gently come to the end of this learning meditation... and we will do that by reversing the counting....and we will count slowly forwards from 1 to 10....forwards from 1 to 10..........and as we count you will slowly become more awake.....1 - feeling yourself beginning to come back to the present..........2 - feeling as though you have had a boost of energy while you relaxed...........3 - your breathing now beginning to come back to normal..........4 - still feeling relaxed and calm and confident..........5 - confident that you can sleep when you want to at night..........6 - feeling refreshed and renewed..........7 - becoming aware of everything around you clearly..........8 - clear and confident and relaxed and calm..........9 - getting ready to gently open your eyes... .........10 - and slowly - slowly - slowly - open your eyes and feel refreshed - alert and awake - and confident..........then - when you are ready.....take a great big refreshing stretch.... ..........and be here in the here and now !
Did you enjoy that ? This insomnia meditation gives a sort of 'two for the price of one' feeling - because to get the sleep idea firmly into your subconscious mind - it is necessary that you are very - very relaxed, - so that in addition to the insomnia benefit, you also get a sort of "battery recharge" by doing this meditation now.....I am sure that you can feel that ! Additionally, I have also made several Guided Meditation Pre-recordings, both as CDs and MP3 downloads, that are very powerful because of using Entrainment in them (see my page on Entrainment for information about this). The CDs AND MP3s are available on my page of the same name, and as you will see, one of them is for Insomnia, and is very effective. So that about covers insomnia for now ... (as in all of the pages of this website - there will be things added and changed from time to time - and new pages added also - - so keep in touch - either come back often, or else you can sign up on the small form below for the Ezine-type updates that I will send about once a month - telling you "what's new"....or else you can do the same thing of course through my RSS feed).
On to the next Guided Meditation ! Click to return from Insomnia to the Guided Meditation general page Click to go to Relaxation - Guided meditation 1
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Gently close your eyes and try to relax your body as much
