Meditation

Guided Sleep Meditation for You: Fall Asleep in Minutes

If you are struggling to sleep and are looking for a guided sleep meditation to help you catch some zzzs, this is for you. Sleep better tonight!

Denise Everheart
listening to meditations

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Introduction to guided sleep meditation

Do you struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep? Guided meditations for sleep may help you! Our comprehensive guide is designed to assist you in getting your Zzz’s right from tonight. We have included our top guided sleep meditations for your convenience. Let’s get started so you can wake up more rested tomorrow morning.

What is guided sleep meditation?

Guided meditation is an easy way before bed to reduce your stress and find more calm. But a guided sleep meditation’s goal is to get you to sleep quickly, effortlessly, as deeply as possible, and for the duration of the night while giving you good quality sleep.

How does guided sleep meditation work?

The beauty of a guided sleep meditation is that it does all the “work” for you. No need to toss and turn and give all your efforts to fall asleep. Just sit or lie down, listen, and let the words do the work. This technique is all about letting go.

Listening allows your busy mind to disengage, activates your parasympathetic nervous system, and lets you gain a restful night’s sleep. 

Benefits of guided sleep meditation

better quality sleep

  • Healthier heart rate even outside of sleep
  • Slower breath rate while sleeping and while awake
  • Reduction in negative emotions
  • Allows the experience of a relaxation response
  • Reduces pain and inflammation
  • Leads to fewer nighttime awakenings
  • Lowers stress hormone levels
  • Reduces psychological distress
  • Increases time spent in deep sleep
  • Reduces patterns of overthinking
  • Offers a safer alternative to sedatives

meditation sleep infographic
Our top guided sleep meditations

1. Guided sleep meditation: Let go of fear, anxiety, and worries and drift into a deep sleep

Listen to meditation master, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, guide you in overcoming fear    and anxiety, which often interferes with restorative sleep.

Guided Meditation To Overcome Fear & Anxiety | Gurudev

2. Fall asleep fast with guided sleep meditation, aka body scan meditation

This body scan meditation (Yoga Nidra) takes your attention to each body part, from your toes to the top of your head.

Yoga Nidra - Guided Meditation for Sleep & Relaxation by Gurudev | Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)

3. Guided sleep meditation to stop overthinking, fall asleep fast and wake up rested

An overactive mind needs some gentle guidance and this guided meditation works effortlessly, allowing you to fall asleep naturally.

Guided Meditation To Stop Overthinking | Gurudev Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shanakar

4. Fall asleep fast with a calm mind, guided sleep meditation

You will sleep better tonight using this 20 minute guided meditation. Try it right before bed and drift off to sleep with ease.

Sleep Better Tonight With This 20 Minute Guided Meditation | Stargazing with Gurudev
 

5. Falling asleep meditation music for natural sleep

 Often the best meditation doesn’t have any words at all. This hour long sleep music is perfect to lull you to sleep before you know it.

Relaxing Music for Good Sleep | The Art of Living

6. Get back to sleep and fall asleep FAST, guided sleep meditation

 If you awake in the middle of the night, play this guided meditation to journey within and leave insomnia behind.

A selection of guided sleep meditations to relax the body and slow the mind for a natural way to improve sleep, ease stress, and relieve insomnia can be found in the Art of Living Journey app

How to choose the right guided sleep meditation for you

Finding the right guided meditation for you can seem like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. Here are a few important factors to consider when choosing the right one for you, and simple tips to get the most out of your experience, so it doesn’t have to be so complicated.

Factors to consider when choosing a guided sleep meditation

☐ Do you prefer relaxing music or nature sounds or just the sound of a voice guiding you? Maybe you like all three!
☐ Do you want something short and sweet or a longer guided sleep meditation?
☐ Do you want to be connected to a support system of expert meditation teachers?
☐ Are you interested in a monthly subscription?

Tips for getting the most out of your guided sleep meditation

restful sleep

1. Make sure your sleeping space is uncluttered, quiet, and not too cool or hot
2. Avoid caffeine at least six hours before bedtime
3. Have your last meal/snack at least two hours before bedtime
4. Dress in loose-fitting pajamas or consider sleeping in your birthday suit
5. Be consistent with your bedtime
6. Learn a breathing technique like bee breath
7. Try an Ayurvedic approach

Conclusion and next steps

Guided sleep meditations are a great way to have temporary relief from insomnia. But if you want a technique that will normalize and enhance deep sleep once and for all try SKY Breath Meditation. Why would SKY make all the difference in your sleep quality? Because SKY uses breathing patterns that not only lead you to the door of deep meditation, SKY also significantly reduces the stress hormone cortisol and anxiety as a whole. In fact, SKY is so powerful it even reduces PTSD symptoms. 

To learn more and get a little taste of what SKY can do for you, click on the image below to attend a free breath and meditation session. 

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