Sleepless nights can leave you feeling short-tempered and unable to concentrate, but they could also have some pretty serious consequences on your health too. Poor sleep has been linked to weight gain, increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Scary we know!
In 2016 a UK Sleep Survey revealed that over 61% of people living in the UK are dissatisfied with their quality of sleep. 64% have also occasionally expressed not waking up with as much energy as they would like. So, it’s no wonder people are turning to meditation in the hope of getting a better night’s sleep.
What is meditation?
Meditation is a technique that focuses on your physical, psychological and emotional sensations with the aim of achieving a mentally clear and calm state. Being able to gain control over your emotions in the present moment can lead to a stronger awareness and the ability to make conscious decisions to help yourself have a restful night’s sleep.
How does it work?
Reduces stress
When your mind is racing with worries it can be difficult to drift off. Stress is a huge underlying cause of lack of sleep, but the good news is meditation can help. Practicing meditation brings our minds to the present moment, helping reduce our worries about the future and ruminating less about the past.
Meditation helps slow your pulse, reduce your stress hormones such as cortisol and realise that there is no need to activate your “flight or fight” response pathway. With practice, meditation reduces our exaggerated stress response in daily life, as we gain more perspective and become calmer.
Boosts melatonin
Melatonin is a key sleep hormone which signals to your body when it’s time to fall asleep. A study by Vincent Giampapa, MD, showed that for regular meditation practitioners melatonin levels were boosted by an average of 98%.
Changing your brain wave frequency
Beta waves in our brains keep us present and engaged when we are awake, but falling asleep in a whole different story. Alpha, Theta and Delta waves are required by our brain to encourage deeper relaxation and deep sleep. Meditation is a highly effective way of producing these relaxing waves and keeping those Beta waves at bay.
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The Supreme Nutrition Team