Not getting enough sleep can affect your mood, appetite, focus, productivity, performance, health, and even your body composition. In this lesson, we'll explore how mindfulness meditation can improve sleep and how to get started.
Did you know...
Meditation is an activity that:
between 200-500 million people across the world engage in,
has tripled in popularity over the past decade, and
is believed to improve your wellness, focus, energy, and mood?
Studies show it can help alleviate back pain, improve enzymes in your brain to help fight Alzheimer’s, and even make your sex life better.
Some athletes use it to improve their performance.
It can also be perfect for helping you to cope with that extra stress that pops up during the holiday season, which will soon be in full swing.
Meditation is a great tool to help you become more mindful.
That’s because when you’re mindful it you are present and aware – which plays a huge role in your results, motivation, and even your workouts.
Having a meditation practice is a lot more mainstream today than it was 10 years ago.
In fact, almost as many people in the US meditate as do yoga (a little over 14% each).
Researchers are still investigating exactly how it works, but we do know that besides slowing down brain waves, meditation helps you grow more gray matter in your hippocampus (which is linked with improving your mood & focus and slowing down age-related decline in cognitive functioning).
Another benefit of meditation is its impact on your sleep.
You probably already know that not getting enough sleep can affect your mood, appetite, focus, productivity, performance, health, and even your body composition.
But get this!
Mindfulness meditation has been shown to cut the wake time of people suffering from insomnia by up to 50%.
How mind-blowing is that?
Plus, it can have carryover benefits to your overall health and wellness. It’s all connected.
How you sleep can affect your food choices, which can affect your mood and energy, which can affect your workouts, which can affect your stress level, and on and on.
It’s definitely worth considering adding meditation to your health & fitness toolkit!
How to Get Started with Meditation
Mindfulness meditation can be as simple as sitting quietly with your eyes closed for a few minutes with your eyes closed, focusing on your breath and feeling your belly and chest rise and fall as you inhale and exhale. That’s it.
Try doing that for a few days, gradually increasing your time as it feels right.
Or you can use an app – there are dozens out there! My favorite is Calm. (If you are with Kaiser health plan, premium access to all the features of Calm is included benefit. Learn more here. )
Incorporating mindfulness into your daily life can be transformative on your journey towards sustainable change in health and fitness. It's not about quick fixes but rather a profound shift in mindset and behavior.
Learn more about mindfulness and how to practice it in The Mindfulness Workbook and witness the positive impact on your well-being.
Your mindset can either help you reach your goals or make the journey more challenging. Our coaching program is specifically designed to help you make the RIGHT mindset shifts to take your results to the next level with support, accountability, and so much more.
ABOUT ME
Hey there! My name is Marissa Rivera-Davis, and I'm a certified health fitness professional and founder of Her365 Fitness, a 24-hour studio gym & wellness community for women. I help women find the time and energy to move more and eat better so they can finally achieve the health & fitness goals that matter to them. My mission is to empower women with the skills and support they need to break free from a mindset of limitation & restriction to find pleasure and joy on their path to improved well-being. Learn more here.