Meditation For Sleep

How good is meditation for sleep problems? Researchers from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Illinois, USA, have found that patients who practiced meditation during the day, experienced improvements in sleep quality. They fell asleep faster, slept longer and experienced less depression than patients that did not practice meditation.

Researchers understand that insomnia is due to hyperarousal, as insomniacs show heightened levels of arousal throughout the day. Because meditation has been known to reduce arousal levels, subjects were divided into two groups. One group was taught and practised Kriya Yoga and health education. Measures of sleep and depression were collected at the beginning and following two months of meditation practice.

Kriya yoga is a style of meditation that focuses a person's attention internally and has been proven to reduce arousal levels.

Both groups received education about effective sleep hygiene and other information about improving general wellbeing; however, the meditation group showed greater improvements.

Although the study only included 11 subjects, it provides initial evidence that may prompt further larger-scale studies.