How Sleep Meditation Can Help You Achieve Your Best Rest

If you’ve spent too many sleepless nights tossing and turning, your mind racing faster than your treadmill during an all-out sprint interval, you’re not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in three adults report getting less than the recommended minimum of seven hours of sleep per night.

Those numbers are nothing to press “snooze” on. Anyone interested in health and wellness (or simply functioning as well as you can) should take their sleep seriously. After all, good sleep is essential to staying illness-free, keeping a clear head, regulating your emotions, and performing your best physically. Failure to regularly get enough quality sleep is also linked with numerous chronic health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and depression.

So if you’re tired of being tired, it’s time to break the cycle. While there’s no magic solution to better sleep, sleep meditation is an entirely natural and supremely effective method for falling (and staying) asleep. “Some meditations help give us energy, others help us cultivate certain qualities such as kindness or empathy, but sleep meditations are geared toward truly calming the body down, quieting the mind, and setting the stage for sleep,” says Kristin McGee, Peloton yoga instructor. 

Here’s what to know about meditation before bed, the benefits of nighttime meditation, and how to meditate in bed for a dreamy night of sleep.

What is Sleep Meditation?

Meditation is a mental practice of quieting and focusing the mind to achieve deep internal calmness and clarity. The beautiful thing about meditation is that it can be done anytime, anywhere—from your car before the morning commute to your mat after a Peloton yoga flow.  

Sleep meditation, then, is a specific type of meditation that helps you calm the mind to relax the body and ease into deep, restful sleep. Think of it as you’d think of a warm-up before a HIIT workout or a run; just like a few simple bodyweight movements can prepare your body to perform at its peak, a sleep meditation can prepare your mind for blissful sleep. 

Sleep meditation is similar to regular meditation in that both help you consciously disconnect from your thoughts and focus on being in the present moment. Both also use similar meditation tools, like body scanning, guided meditations, visualizations, and breathwork. The only big difference is that the end goal of sleep meditation is, well, to fall asleep (which you probably don’t want from a mid-day meditation for stress or your morning mindfulness ritual).

The Science Behind Night Meditation

When you drift off at night, there’s a lot more going on in your brain and body than just some wacky dreams and light snoring. Sleep and meditation have a deep connection and mutually affect each other.

Brainwave Patterns

Just like your body rotates through sleep cycles, so do your brain waves cycle during your sleep hours. When you’re awake yet relaxed, your brain operates at an alpha frequency (that’s 8 to 12 hertz if you were wondering). However, as you start to fall asleep, your brainwaves slow to theta (4 to 8 hertz) and eventually delta (0.5 to 4 hertz) frequency levels. During meditation, EEGs have shown the brain settles into theta and alpha waves (instead of faster waves such as beta and gamma). A consistent night meditation habit can increase your percentage of time spent in alpha frequency before bed, which can improve your sleep quality and reduce stress. 

Stress Reduction

Meditation has been shown to reduce stresses of all kinds, from anxiety to chronic pain. That may be because meditation changes our hormone levels. Specifically, meditation can lower cortisol levels (which is strongly tied to stress) and increase melatonin, which helps regulate sleep and drowsiness. High cortisol levels are also associated with poor sleep.

Sleep meditation aims to move your focus away from the chatter in your head so that you can be fully in the present moment. Your attention shifts toward your breathing and other sensations in the body, which activates the parasympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves focused on helping you “rest and digest.” This automatically slows your heart rate and breathing, increases serotonin levels, and makes it easier for you to drift off to sleep.

Sleep and Health

As discussed previously, poor sleep or lack of sleep is linked to several negative health outcomes. A lack of quality sleep is associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes. People with sleep apnea are at higher risk for several types of heart disease (such as hypertension, stroke, or coronary heart disease). Shorter sleep durations are associated with medical obesity, possibly due to the hypothalamus (which regulates appetite and energy spent) malfunctioning. So yes, your body needs enough hours of sleep in order to reach its full potential.

Benefits of Sleep Meditation

You already know what a lack of sleep feels like in your body and mind. A bad night’s sleep means daytime sleepiness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and generally not feeling up to par. With night meditation, however, you can turn this around.

Better Sleep

Sleep meditation helps you sleep longer and better. You’ll find it easier to fall asleep, stay asleep, and get plenty of restorative deep sleep. That means spending more time in REM and deep sleep stages so you can skip all the usual tossing and turning. You’re also much more likely to awake refreshed and restored the morning after doing a night meditation. 

Improved Mental Health

According to the American Psychological Association, insomnia not only takes years off your life, but is also associated with increased hopelessness, depression, and irritability. Improved sleep has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression as well as improve mood, memory, and even patience levels. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that you’re able to better tolerate inevitable frustrations during the day when you’ve had good sleep the night before.

If anxiety is keeping you up at night, meditation may be the antidote you’ve been looking for. Meditation before bed may be especially helpful if you find your mind racing the second your eyes close. When you’re go-go-go during the day, your body and mind are distracted from your worries, fears, and anxiety. But the second you lay down, these thoughts can bubble up to the forefront of your mind, making rest seemingly impossible. A nighttime meditation can be just the thing to sweep those deep, intrusive thoughts from your mind.

Increased Focus

Meditation, even in short 10-minute doses, can train your brain to focus on what you want, and not to go down the rabbit hole of available distractions. Less daytime sleepiness means greater clarity of thought and an improved ability to focus. The key to these improved daytime abilities is a calm mind. It’s what allows you to get good quality sleep at night and what allows you to better direct your focus and intentions during the day. Luckily, night meditation teaches you how to calm your mind.

For example, we all have high expectations for ourselves—but with night meditation, you’ll learn to minimize those as much as possible. “Clearly, there will be some hope or expectation that peace of mind will result and thus an easy sleep, but by entering meditation with a mindset of no matter what happens, you’ve succeeded, you’re already beginning to ‘let go,’” says Peloton yoga and meditation instructor Ross Rayburn. “That’s one of the fundamentals of shifting toward a calmer mind and body.”

By developing an innate sense of peace, you’ll feel better during the day—and yes, that should help you feel more relaxed and ready for sleep at night too. Win-win.

Body Recovery

Good sleep is essential if you’re working out and want to make your body stronger and more fit. Sleep is the ultimate wellness hack, as Peloton instructors like to say. That’s because sleep is when our body takes out the metabolic trash and when we physically and mentally process whatever we are doing in our daily lives. For example, if you’re spending time biking, running, strength training, or doing yoga, sleep is the time when your body recovers and your muscles repair themselves. Adding a sleep meditation to your pre-bed routine can help you maximize your resting hours for optimal muscle recovery.

How to Meditate Before Bed: Sleep Meditation Techniques

When you’re just starting your journey to better sleep, you may not know where to begin, or you might be intimidated by the thought of meditating every single night. We’re here to help. These sleep meditation strategies will get you started.

Breathing Exercises

There are many types of breathing exercises you can include in your night meditation practice. One is “box breathing” in which you inhale to the count of four, then exhale to the count of four.

Body Scanning

In this sleep meditation technique, you’ll methodically focus on each part of your body, doing a mental “scan” for tense muscles, pain, discomfort, and more. Once you’ve thoroughly scanned that part of the body, you’ll move up to the next one. Not only does this sleep meditation technique focus your mind, it also allows you to identify and release tension in each body part as you prepare for sleep.

Visualization

Visualizations can enhance your sleep meditations by helping you focus on calming, relaxing images while letting go of anxious or ruminating thoughts. Try classic visualizations like waves crashing on a beach, walking through a sunlit forest, or a crackling fireplace in a library.

So, Does Sleep Meditation Actually Work?

It’s true: Night meditations can do wonders for your health and wellness, especially if your sleep woes are related to stress and anxiety. (Keep in mind that other sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, should be treated by your physician rather than meditation.) 

Don’t just take our word for it. Peloton users who have tried night meditation through the Power of Sleep program report falling asleep faster and feeling more awake and alert during the day. “Between learning various approaches to mindfulness and gaining the tools I need to calm my mind and release tension, sleep meditation helped in ways I didn’t expect,” says one Peloton Member. Other benefits reported by Members include learning how to release physical tension, falling back asleep faster upon waking up in the middle of the night, and reducing morning grogginess.

Integrating Sleep Meditation Into Your Routine

Luckily, night meditations don’t require any special equipment or expertise. Here’s how to get started with nighttime meditations once you put on your PJs and get into bed tonight. 

Set Up a Relaxing Sleep Meditation Environment

Your first step is to set up a calm, relaxing sleep environment to immediately improve your sleep hygiene. (Sleep hygiene, FYI, refers to the habits and physical changes you can make to up your chances of getting great sleep.) Good sleep hygiene, combined with sleep meditation, can make a remarkable difference in the quality of your life. Here are a few sleep hygiene practices recommended by the Sleep Foundation:

Remove noise, distractions, and your cell phone: A cool, quiet, and dark bedroom is a must for anyone trying to sleep soundly. Removing any distractions, especially electronics (TV, computer, cell phones), is equally important to help quiet your mind before sleep.

Turn down the temp: Your body temp naturally drops when you sleep, and a cooler environment can help your body lower its core temperature naturally. Try setting the thermostat to 65 degrees, and add lightweight layers to your bed so you can easily find your ideal temp. (Ironically, a hot shower before bed may help you sleep better too—here’s why.)

Prioritize your bedding: Naturally, your bed has to be comfortable to sleep well. Your perfect mattress depends totally on your preferences (memory foam vs. springs? Soft or firm?), and it may be influenced by factors like body weight, aches and pains, and your preferred sleep position. Sheets can be chosen based on whether you run hot or cold at night. And don’t forget a supportive pillow!

Get Started With Sleep Meditation Today

Sure, you can try night meditations on your own—but the Peloton App is a resource you can tap for your best night of sleep ever. In the Power of Sleep program, Peloton’s expert meditation instructors walk you through sleep meditation techniques from the comfort of your bed. What makes the Power of Sleep program especially effective is that it’s truly for everybody; you’ll find an overview of several types and styles of sleep meditation for all levels of experience. That way, you can find a meditation style that resonates with you and your goals.

Here are a few of the sleep meditation topics covered in the Power of Sleep program:

Remember, a good night's sleep starts with a calm mind—and meditation might just be your ticket to dreamland.