Today I’m sharing a post all about guided meditation for sleep.
Does anyone else struggle to fall sleep sometimes? I can’t be the only one, especially right now with everything that’s going on in the world. It can be tough for me to wind down enough and relax. Sometimes it feels like the bedtime is the only time throughout the day when I can just stop and think. But of course this leads to thinking about the things that I can’t forget to do tomorrow, my grocery list, the phone calls I have to make, etc. It feels like as soon as I slow down I can’t stop thinking. Guided meditation for sleep has been so helpful for me. I’m hoping that this post may be able to help you fall sleep a little better too.
Interested in reading my other posts about meditation? I’ve listed them below so that they’re all in one spot:
- My favorite apps for meditation
- What 100 days of meditation have taught me
- Using the Headspace app to meditate
First off, I thought I’d talk a bit about guided meditation just in case you’re not familiar with it. Guided meditation is essentially having someone else lead you through meditation techniques. That could be a yoga teacher leading you through a meditation at the beginning or end of class in real time or using an app or recorded meditation. Guided meditation is the kind of meditation that I enjoy the most. I find it tough to have nothing to focus on and keeping my mind blank. I end up getting distracted thinking about other things. Being able to keep my attention on something is really helpful for me in terms of meditation.
I like to use two apps when it comes to guided meditation for sleep – Headspace and Insight Timer. I first used Headspace to get into meditation and I thought it was a very beginner friendly non-woo woo approach that was perfect for me. Headspace does require a subscription to get beyond the 10 or so free meditations that they provide. The annual subscription is a better deal than the month to month one. If you do decide to sign up, make sure you look for promo codes. I was able to find one for 30 or 40% off an annual subscription when I signed up. Insight Timer has a lot more free options, though I find that the quality can vary as does the amount of woo woo.
Headspace has quite a few meditations specifically for sleep. Just type sleep into the explore bar and they’ll pop up for you. A key thing for me when it comes to falling asleep is being relaxed enough to drift off. It’s so easy to allow myself to think about all of the things that I need to get done tomorrow/next week/next month. I get caught up in thinking about to do lists instead of falling sleep. I’ve found that having a meditation to think about and pay attention to instead of the things that I have to do tomorrow makes all the difference some nights.
Insight Timer also has a ton of meditations specifically for sleep. Simply type “sleep” into the search bar and they’ll pop up. I really enjoy doing yoga nidras before bed to help myself relax before falling asleep. Searching for “yoga nidra sleep” will also show you a lot of great options. While Insight Timer does have some meditations that require buying a subscription, there are lots and lots of free ones available.
My favorite guided meditation for sleep are the ones from Jennifer Piercy. She had the best voice for leading meditations – it’s soft and gentle while also keeping me interested. Look her up on Insight Timer for some of my favorite yoga nidras to fall asleep to. I can’t recommend them enough. If you’re looking for some longer nidras to do at any other time of the day, I would suggest Tanis Fishman. Her meditations are longer – the shortest one clocks in at 50 minutes. Tanis was actually one of the instructors that I did my 200 hour yoga teacher training with. Whenever we got to do a nidra practice with her during training it was always such a treat.
How long does it take you to fall sleep at night? Do you ever meditate?