By: Cat Ebeling RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-seller: The Diabetes Fix

Insomnia. I bet most of us have struggled with this at least a few times in our lives.

As we age, insomnia can get worse. There is nothing worse than struggling through the day on a poor night’s sleep, especially if it happens over and over.

Poor sleep can increase stress, cause weight gain, contribute to irritation, anxiety and depression, and even put a strain on relationships.

Let’s talk about some of the causes of insomnia and how you can fix these.

1. Activity levels

Ever noticed after a day of hard exercise or physical work, that you can just fall into bed and sleep like a rock? Exercise definitely helps you sleep more deeply and more soundly, but keep in mind, exercise late at night can rev up your body and make it hard to relax into sleep. However, soaking in an Epsom salts bath or just taking a long, hot shower can actually help relax your body and help you get ready to sleep. Here is an amazing article on 17 unique uses for epsom salts.

Definitely try to get some form of exercise everyday—whether it’s walking, running, gardening, housework, weight lifting, moving furniture, or anything that gets you moving and working your muscles.

2. Caffeine

You may be aware that you cannot drink a cup of coffee in the evening, but did you know that that caffeine has a 6 hour half-life. That means in 6 hours you still have half as much in your system, and that can still be pretty substantial.

For example, a cup of coffee contains, on average, 100mg of caffeine. Six hours later that means you still 50mg in your body, and six hours after that, 30mg. So beware if you drink that espresso at noon—it may be keeping you up at night.

Also, decaf coffee still contains a decent amount of caffeine as well. In fact, one cup of decaf from Dunkin Donuts has shown that it contains about 32 milligrams of caffeine while another cup of decaf from Seattle’s Best packed 29 milligrams. And, some of us are actually genetically slower at processing caffeine, or very sensitive to caffeine, so it could take even longer for your body to process the caffeine out.

While coffee does contain caffeine, it also has some amazing health benefits. Coffee can be good for your body!

Other drinks may contain sneaky amounts of caffeine as well. These include sports drinks, energy drinks, many flavored waters and even energy bars and snacks.

Don’t overlook chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Caffeine occurs naturally in cocoa beans, as does the compound theobromine, which also acts as a stimulant. Even a cup of hot chocolate can contain a fair amount of caffeine and theobromine.

Keep in mind too, the average cup of iced tea contains 70 mg or so of caffeine (almost as much as coffee) and most sodas contain around 50 mg of caffeine. Pay attention to those sneaky caffeine drinks and avoid them after noon or before. Better yet, drink water!

Speaking of water…

3. Dehydration

You don’t have to be dying of thirst for this to keep you awake. Dehydration occurs more frequently in the summer than we probably realize, and can definitely keep you awake.

Going for that cold beer or sipping a margarita after activity outside sounds tempting, but unless you have replaced fluids lost from sweat, and then replaced the fluids lost from the alcohol, you have created a double whammy that will dehydrate your body quickly!

And, pay attention to allergy medicine. Many allergy medications are designed to dry you out, so an antihistamine or decongestant or any one of a huge variety of over-the-counter or prescription medicines will definitely dry out not only your nose, but the rest of your body as well.

How does dehydration affect sleep, you ask? When the body is dehydrated, our blood volume drops. Our hearts are made to optimally pump a specific amount of blood volume, and slight variations in this volume can have a big effect. Your blood actually becomes thicker when you are dehydrated.

When the optimal amount of blood volume drops, then the heart must pump even harder to distribute the blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. Combine a hot sweaty day, not enough to fluids drink, and too many diuretic substances (caffeine, alcohol, antihistamines, etc), and the heart has to work a lot harder. Result–when you try to relax at night, your heart may be pounding and this will make it harder to sleep.

Be sure to drink plenty of water during the day to stay hydrated. Drinking lots of water before bed will have you up all night, going to the bathroom.

4. Medications

That includes things like cold and allergy medicines, thyroid medications, blood pressure medicine, cortisone, and ADD medication. Ask your doctor if any of your prescription meds can be affecting your sleep.

Alcohol, which is also a drug, can make you sleepy, but too much of it disrupts your normal sleep cycle as well. You may sleep for a few hours, but then wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep. Limit yourself to 1-2 drinks if you want to ensure that you get a good night’s sleep—and to protect your health.

5. Junk food, preservatives and additives

Eating junky processed foods before bed can not only elevate blood sugar, but keep your digestive system working late into the night as well. Of course, starchy, sugary foods right before bed can wreak havoc, by elevating the blood sugar too much, and then a resulting crash in the middle of the night.

Not only does that lead to excess fat storage (you won’t burn those calories off while sleeping!) but you also will probably feel groggy, tired and irritable in the morning, as you will wake with lower than normal blood sugar, and the buzz you may get from the sugar high may also keep you awake instead of sending you off to dreamland.

In addition, artificial preservatives, sweeteners and other chemical additives can actually cause your brain and nervous system to go haywire, totally disrupting your normal sleep rhythm and ability to relax.

6. Stress

Of course, we all encounter stress to some degree or another and yes, it can definitely keep you up at night. What can we do about stress? Well of course, exercise helps. And so does meditation.

Meditation is not that fancy. It’s simply a matter of being still, relaxing and allowing your thoughts to flow past, while you try to quiet your mind. Meditation is extremely helpful at helping you clear your mind, become present, feel gratitude and to relax. If you find you cannot shut your mind off at night, try clearing your head with meditation. It doesn’t have to be a complicated process and a mere 10 minutes a day can actually do wonders.

There are many helpful apps you can get on your phone that will guide you through this process.

7. Hormone Fluctuations

As we get older, declining levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone in women, and lowered levels of testosterone in men can take away from a good night’s sleep.

The body’s natural progesterone levels begin to drop and fluctuating levels of estrogen can cause hot flashes at night, as well as restlessness. For women, progesterone declines first and even if you are years away from menopause, declining levels of progesterone can cause anxiety, tension and restlessness.

And for men over the age of 40, declining levels of testosterone can also cause insomnia, so be sure to have your hormone levels checked and see if you need supplemental testosterone.
In addition, thyroid hormone problems can cause jitteriness and nervousness or, excessive fatigue and sleepiness during the day. A couple of suggestions on this:

• Have a Doctor check all hormone levels and if they are low, your best bet is bioidentical hormones as in estradiol and micronized progesterone to balance your missing hormones.

• Have your thyroid levels (T3 and T4) checked and take the thyroid medication that best suits your needs. A natural, bioidentical thyroid supplement usually works best for most.

Nine Natural Solutions to a Good Night’s Sleep

Certainly, prescription sleeping pills are not the best answer. Sleeping pills can cause a variety of unpleasant side effects from headaches and hangovers to nausea, irritability, and dizziness. Ambien has also been shown to decrease cognitive performance and increase sleepiness the next morning. Sleeping pills can also cause you to do crazy things like raid the fridge at night while in a medicated, sleep-induced state, drive in your sleep, grind your teeth or have sleep apnea, rearrange furniture and more.

1. Magnesium

Ever been around a fidgety person? Usually, one of the issues is that they need magnesium. People who are low on magnesium have a hard time being calm and their nervous system can’t stop firing. Not only does magnesium help with over 300 different body reactions, but it also helps your body convert protein to muscle, improves nerve function, blood glucose, and blood pressure. Magnesium is also required for energy production, developing and strengthening bones, and helping to synthesize DNA and RNA. Magnesium also helps with nerve impulse conduction, muscle contraction and a steady heartbeat.

Magnesium helps everyone relax better, sleep more soundly and feel more calm. But as we age, even if we are healthy, we tend to sleep less deeply. Magnesium helps with that age-related decline in sleep quality. If interested in learning more on how important Magnesium is to your body, check out Top 7 Benefits of Magnesium.

2. Theanine

Theanine is a natural chemical that helps calm down the activity in the brain. Theanine helps to increase serotonin (a relaxing, feel good brain chemical), GABA (a calming neurotransmitter) and glycine in the brain. These neurotransmitters all help you sleep better. Theanine helps you relax and let go of stress, without feeling groggy or drowsy. Theanine is found mainly in green tea, so be careful–green tea (unless it is decaffeinated) contains caffeine which will keep you wide awake.

I recently discovered the benefits of theanine and find that it helps me work better and be more focused during the day, as well as sleep more soundly at night.

3. Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural brain chemical that is affected by natural light. When the brain sees that it is getting dark outside, it starts to pump out a hormone called melatonin. This helps to initiate sleep and regulate your natural sleep/waking cycle.

Melatonin is available in supplements and which can help initiate sleep. The difficulty however, is that the body naturally makes a continuous supply of melatonin during sleep. Supplemental melatonin will wear off and while it can help you fall asleep easily, you may wake up in the middle of the night once the melatonin is gone.

Melatonin works best if you take it only on occasion, and in a time release form, so it releases slowly. Take melatonin with you when traveling and changing time zones to adjust more quickly. Take melatonin if you happen to drink a little too much, since alcohol tends to suppress melatonin, and it’s also effective if you’ve been staring at your computer screen a little too long late at night.

4. Collagen

Have you ever had a nice steaming mug of collagen/bone broth before bed? The main amino acid in collagen/bone broth is glycine, which can be very effective for inducing sleep. Glycine actually also helps to lower body temperature, which is key to help induce sleep. (This is also why a hot bath is good before bedtime, as your body temperature comes down, you fall asleep.) Glycine is also very effective to restore a natural REM pattern to your sleep as well.

While everyone raves about the health benefits of bone broth and collagen for joints, hair and skin, glycine remains a healthy alternative for aiding sleep as well.

Check out some of the additional Healing Benefits of Bone Broth, especially for your gut and joint health.

5. CBD Oil

CBD or cannabidiol is the non-psychoactive ingredient in either hemp or marijuana. In other words, CBD will not get you ‘high’, and is legal. According to a 2013 study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, CBD benefits include anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, antioxidant, anti-nausea, anti-anxiety, and even antipsychotic. It has been used very effectively to treat cancer, nerve inflammation and pain (peripheral neuropathy), epilepsy, nausea and vomiting, anxiety, schizophrenia and more.

CBD can help to stimulate melatonin production by boosting tryptophan in the bloodstream. Trytophan, you may remember, is one of those amino acids (like in turkey) that helps promote sleepiness. CBD also helps to improve serotonin production as well, a key brain ingredient to a happy, calm state.

CBD is also great at battling inflammation and pain, so if you happen to have health issues that cause these things that interfere with sleep, CBD will come to the rescue for both! This study of insomnia patients, showed that 160 mg/day of CBD increased sleep time and reduced the number of arousals during the night.

If you do decide to take CBD oil for its amazing health benefits, check out this amazing offer from our friends at HealthyLivingNutritionals.

6. Lutein and Zeaxanthin

Did you realize that the blue light emitted from your computer, pad device or cell phone at night can suppress melatonin in your body? This turns off your body’s natural ability to recognize bedtime and become sleepy. Blocking this blue light in the evening with a pair of orange goggles will prevent this from happening. OR—did you know that the nutrients lutein and zeaxanthin which are carotenoids found in colorful veggies can also help this?

Human studies show that taking lutein and zeaxanthin on a regular basis will improve sleep quality, reduce sleep disturbances, and lower your dependence on supplemental or pharmaceutical sleep aids. There are plenty of supplements available (generally labeled as being good for your vision) that contain lutein and zeaxanthin—also great for sleep.

7. Progesterone (for women)

Menopause and peri-menopause are brought about by the decline in production of hormones, especially estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. These hormones work together to regulate a woman’s reproductive function and menstrual cycle. They also affect mood, energy, sexual drive, cognitive and emotional abilities—and sleep.

While estrogen falls most sharply after menopause, progesterone can begin to decline years before menopause comes about. Progesterone works to offset and balance out estrogen, and promotes the growth of bone tissue to offset osteoporosis, among other things.

I think of progesterone as largely a sleep-promoting, “feel good” hormone for women. Higher levels of progesterone tend to promote a sense of calm, boosting relaxation and facilitating sleep. Progesterone increases production of GABA, the neurotransmitter that helps promote sleep. Low progesterone can cause anxiety and insomnia, including a tendency wake frequently at night. Progesterone is safe and easy to use. You can purchase it in an over-the-counter natural cream and apply before bed.

8. Choline

Choline is another important nutrient in food that plays a role in sleep. It’s the primary building block for acetylcholine … the neurotransmitter that affects thought, memory, sleep … even muscle control and balance.

Lots of acetylcholine helps make your mind sharp, your memory clear, and gives you energy. As you age, though choline drops, and one of the most noticeable symptoms of low choline is problems with falling asleep and staying asleep. Other symptoms include lack of energy, brain fog and confusion, irritability, and memory loss. Choline can be found in whole pastured eggs, organic/free-range chicken and turkey livers, and naturally raised pork and beef.

If these things don’t help, it may be worth a visit to the doctor to have some blood work done to check hormone and thyroid levels, and to rule out any other health conditions. Some hormones are best prescribed by a doctor, especially when it comes to estrogen, testosterone and thyroid hormones.

9. Sex

One last thing that is very effective for a sound night’s sleep—sex. It doesn’t have to be wild, hanging on the chandelier sex, just a normal, healthy sex life. Sex stimulates endorphins, oxytocin and vasopressin in men and women, which serve to create feelings of attachment, security, and relaxation. Sex gets rid of anxiety and stress, and also goes to help promote a healthier relationship with your significant other. So when all else fails, tap your partner on the shoulder and see if they are interested in contributing to a good night’s sleep.

If none of these things help, it may be worth a visit to the doctor to have some blood work done to check hormone and thyroid levels, and to rule out any other health conditions. Some hormones are best prescribed by a doctor, especially when it comes to estrogen, testosterone and thyroid hormones.

References:
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/10-natural-sleep-aids-what-works-and-why/
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/sleep-hacking/
http://www.reevolution.com/html/nutrition_energy_mood.htm
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/582688
https://ministryofhemp.com/blog/cbd-sleep/
https://thesleepdoctor.com/2018/01/05/menopause-affects-sleep/

The post Seven Things That Can Keep You Up at Night and Natural Remedies to Sleep Better appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

Meditation used to be something I thought about as applying mostly to Eastern cultures and yoga fanatics. I just didn’t see how it could be possible to transcend thoughts and never wanted to take the time to practice it. I always found meditation to be too complicated and time-consuming and actually never felt it was productive to ‘disengage’ from life and swirling thoughts long enough to make it worthwhile.

I was never so wrong.

Meditation has become mainstream these days, thanks to the popularity of yoga and other eastern practices. It seems that everyone, especially productive, creative ‘game-changers’ are doing it and having amazing benefits. The most successful people in the world meditate. They apparently know something about its benefits, or they wouldn’t waste their time.

People like Paul McCartney, Oprah, Hugh Jackman, Richard Branson, Derek Jeter, Ariana Huffington, Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and more all practice some form of meditation. Olympic athletes do it, top-level CEO’s do it, and super successful celebrities do it—and everyone in between. These people are not doing it because they have too much time on their hands; these people are busy super-performers who have learned how to become even more productive and more clear-headed with meditation.

It’s a discipline that needs daily time and attention.

Meditation is not just for yoga fanatics. Meditation is not mysterious or complicated. It is exactly and perfectly made for us–busy, crazy, too-much-stuff-packed-into-one-day folks. It is a simple process of clearing one’s mind of all the crazy clutter that we get hammered with on a day-to-day, minute-by-minute basis. You clear your desk to work, right? Well, when you clear your mind, you will find that work, health, exercise, personal relationships, creativity, and more—all become better and more productive.

Meditation will change your life for the better if you make it a habit.

One of my resolutions for this year is to get more disciplined in a meditation practice. After seeing dozens of articles come up on my computer, I decided it was high time to look into the benefits and get my own practice going. It’s not easy at first, but it’s like exercise for the brain. At first, it’s difficult and you may struggle with this, but it’s an EXERCISE, which means that with practice, you will get better and better, and see and feel results more and more!

What are the Benefits of Meditation?

Below are twelve ways that meditation is as powerful for your health as a healthy diet and exercise.

Stress Reduction

Have you ever felt like there is information overload going on in your brain and you feel you just need hit a shut off button to reboot? This is where meditation can be extremely helpful. Depending on the meditation style you practice, you can virtually empty your mind of all the excessive clutter flying around in your head and reset your focus.

Meditation is incredibly effective at slowing down your thoughts and lowering stress and anxiety. In fact, many people often meditate before stressful events like going onstage to speak or perform in front of thousands of people.

One study found that mindfulness and Zen meditation significantly reduced stress after only a period of 8 weeks. Another study found that meditation actually changes the brain structure, especially those parts associated with stress and worry.

Both mental and physical stress can increase the hormone cortisol. This is what causes many of the harmful effects of stress, such as insomnia, high blood pressure, tight muscles, weight gain and more. Cortisol is an inflammatory hormone that has very negative effects on the body.

In this study of med school students, a meditation style called “mindfulness meditation” reduced the inflammation response caused by stress. Research also shows that meditation can not only lower stress and cortisol response, but it also has a very positive effects on those conditions affected by stress like irritable bowel syndrome, PTSD, fibromyalgia and even more serious diseases like cancer. I know for me, meditation is a definite stress reliever. It does seem to really help to rewire my brain.

Helps with Razor Sharp Focus

Need to sharpen up your focus a bit? Meditation improves your ability to stay on task, focus on being productive, and also helps with cognition. This study shows how meditation improves focus.

With the computers and the internet on everyone’s desktop, focus has become a diminishing ability. However, focused meditation actually helps us increase this all-important ability once again, and clears your plate for razor sharp focus. Meditation helps to increase both the strength and length of your attention.

This study published in Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience journal shows that just 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation improves the ability to reorient and maintain attention. And a similar study shows workers who practiced meditation were able to stay on task and focus for longer periods of time while multitasking—and remember details of their tasks better than those who did not practice meditation.

While our digital phones, pads and computers, combined with social media, have actually shortened our attention spans to about 8 seconds, according to a study by Microsoft, meditation can help to reverse those brain wave patterns that have contributed to mind-wandering, worry, and short attention spans. This study actually found that just four days of short meditations helped attention.

Reduces Anxiety

Meditation lowers anxiety as well as stress. Many people have out of control anxiety which results in panic attacks, social anxiety, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This comprehensive scientific review of 47 studies shows just that. Positive effects of meditation have been seen across multiple studies, and it only takes about 2-2.5 hours per week, or 20 minutes a day for these effects.

One of the best types of meditation for anxiety is a type called mindfulness-based stress reduction or MBSR. Mindfulness meditation is one of the easiest types of meditation to learn. It merely means you stay in the moment and focus mostly on your breathing while letting your thoughts just pass by.

Having a meditation practice shows promise, especially after a few years of following regular meditation. This study of 18 people shows that after an 8-week meditation program, the participants who practiced regular meditation had maintained lower anxiety levels over the course of three years. And a larger study shows a variety of meditation techniques work for reducing anxiety. Some techniques include visualization that helps to shift attention away from the thoughts that may cause anxiety.

Meditation may also help control anxiety that comes from a high-pressure work environments. Here is a study that shows how a meditation program reduced the related job anxiety in a group of nurses, which as we all should know is a very high stress job.

Promotes a Positive Mindset

With a reduction in stress and anxiety, the chance for hope and a positive mindset can come in. Many forms of meditation help to improve self-image and create a happier, calmer, more positive mindset.

In fact these studies show that mindfulness meditation helps to get rid of depression in 4,600 adults, and meditation can produce lasting results when practiced for longer periods of time.

And guess what? This meditation practice literally changes your brain! Those who meditate actually show measurable changes in the activity areas related to positive thinking and optimism.

Positive thinking helps to bring about positive results in your daily life. What a great reason to make meditation a daily habit, along with your cup of coffee in the morning!

Increases Feelings of Kindness, Compassion and Love

We just discussed how meditation helps to increase positive feelings and actions, and this translates to positive feelings towards yourself and others as well. Creating feelings of calmness and happiness also help to generate this loving kindness. A specific type of meditation, Metta, especially enhances loving-kindness feelings, beginning with yourself. Metta increases feelings of positivity, empathy and compassionate behavior toward others. Over twenty studies on this type of meditation have shown that it increases one’s feelings of compassion and self-worth. And the more it’s practiced, the better it works!

While meditation is helping to improve your ability to empathize, it also allows you to increase your intuitive ability to notice subtle cues that will help you understand how others are feeling.

Meditation also increases your emotional stability, making you less likely to be influenced by negative people or negative emotions in your life. And because of all of this, meditation has a definite positive influence on relationships and marriages!

Whatever type of meditation practice you choose, rest assured, it will help to increase your feelings of being self-aware, having greater self-worth, and feeling more loving of yourself and others.

Better Self-Awareness

One of the great things about mindfulness meditation (which I think is one of the easiest to understand and follow) is that it helps to create better self-awareness. As you meditate and go within yourself, you will begin to notice passing thoughts and feelings. Meditation helps you become more aware of your own feelings and instead of being reactive, it helps you to see your thoughts and feelings and to understand them better.

Other types of meditation help you to recognize harmful or negative subconscious defeating thoughts that may be operating in the background of your mind, creating situations for you with poor outcomes. Meditation helps to break this cycle and helps you to see and separate out those negative, self-defeating thoughts. And, as you gain a better awareness of your own thoughts and habitual ways of thinking, you can begin to steer your thoughts to more constructive patterns.

Gaining a better understanding of yourself and your subconscious thought patterns can go a long way towards changing your whole life for the better. This can become a huge starting point for positive changes in your life. Want to change your life? Meditate on a regular basis!

Improves Memory

Did you know that improving your attention and clarity of thinking helps keep your mind young? In essence, meditation helps to reduce the noise and clutter going on in our brain, and that allows people to remember things better. In addition, because meditation helps to tap into the subconscious, many forgotten memories can be tapped into as well.

An interesting review of 12 different studies found that many different meditation styles increased attention, memory and mental quickness in older volunteers, especially. For aging people, meditation is especially good at helping to reverse age-related memory loss and even dementia. So meditation is good for keeping your brain young!

Kirtan Kriya is a particular type of meditation that involves chanting, using a repetitive motion with the fingers that actually helps to focus thoughts. It was shown to improve participants’ ability to perform memory tasks, especially for those with memory loss due to aging.

Controls Pain

Physicians know that when a patient is anxious, they tend to feel pain even more, so oftentimes patients in pain are given medications that help to relieve anxiety, as well as the pain. What if you could do that without taking addictive medications that have undesirable side effects?

Since your perception of pain is very attached to your own state of mind, pain is elevated when you are stressed. And pain, is of course, stressful all by itself. Especially chronic pain.

One study used MRI techniques to observe brain activity on participants experiencing a painful stimulus. Some participants used a type of mindfulness meditation while others did not. Meditating patients showed increased activity in the brain centers known to control pain. They also reported less sensitivity to pain.

Another study looked at the effects of habitual meditation in 3,500 participants. It found that meditation was associated with decreased complaints of chronic or intermittent pain. And further studies of meditation in patients with terminal diseases like cancer found that meditation not only helped reduce anxiety but it also helped mitigate chronic pain, even near the end of life.

While both both groups were experiencing the same cause of pain, the meditators showed a greater ability to cope with pain and even experienced a reduced perception of pain.

With diseases like breast cancer, meditation is not used just as a treatment for pain or the disease. It is supportive care designed to help a person deal with the stress that comes with cancer. While this area currently needs more research, meditation may actually help fight cancer on a cellular level.

Helps Fight Addiction

It’s apparent that meditation helps to strengthen the mind and the will power. Using this mental discipline that can be developed through meditation may actually help break dependencies on addictive substances or behaviors. Not only does this practice help to focus and redirect attention, it also helps to lower stress, lower anxiety and reduce depression. All of these things are extremely helpful in breaking free from addiction.

Mindfulness meditation also increases self-awareness, helping to break down some of the barriers in understanding how one gets addicted in the first place. Meditation also helps to stop food cravings and impulsive eating as well, making it helpful for weight loss too.

Can’t Sleep? Meditate!

One of the reasons many people say that cannot sleep is because they have a hard time calming an overactive mind. Most of us have problems with insomnia at some point. Some of the common reasons for trouble sleeping include stress, discomfort, anxiety, inability to relax, and just a busy mind that cannot shut down. Meditation is helpful for all of these things and helps to put you in a relaxed state of mind to sleep soundly.

Participants in a study on sleep and meditation fell asleep sooner, stayed asleep longer and slept more restfully than those who didn’t meditate. Meditation helps to relax the body, release tension, and allow for natural, beneficial, restorative REM sleep. And another benefit of meditation is that you don’t need to rely on harmful sleep medications that destroy one’s natural restful sleep cycles.

Avoiding those racing thoughts in the middle of the night that wake you up and cause you to worry needlessly will help you feel rested and relaxed in the morning and much better able to deal with the daily issues.

Decreases Blood Pressure

While meditation has many benefits for the mind, it also has beneficial effects on the physical body including the heart and blood vessels. High blood pressure can be partially a result of stress and excess tension, and create extra strain on the heart and blood vessels. This can lead to strokes, heart disease, and blood vessel irregularities like aneurysms.

Meditation can become a form of biofeedback that helps in focusing on relaxing the mind and lowering overall blood pressure. This seems to be even more effective in older people and those with higher blood pressure. Meditation is thought to actually control the nerve signals that coordinate heart function, lower the heart rate, and the tension in the blood vessels as well. Cardiologists, take note!

You Can Meditate Anywhere

Unlike other activities, meditation does not require any fancy equipment or specific locations to practice. You can practice meditation virtually anywhere! Well, maybe not while driving a car, but you know what I mean! And it only takes a few minutes a day. One of the best ways to start meditating and reaping its benefits is to meditate a few minutes in the morning when you first get up and meditate right before bed.

How Do I Get Started?

While there quite a few different meditation practices out there, there are two basic types:

• Focused-attention meditation which allows you to concentrate your attention on a single object, thought, sound or visualization. This helps by ridding your mind of other distractions. Meditation may focus on breathing, a mantra or a calming sound. I find this is the best form for me, as I tend to get distracted easily by sounds and other things.
• Mindfulness meditation encourages more awareness of all aspects of your environment, your train of thought and your sense of self. While you want to relax your mind and slow it down, it allows you to become aware of your thoughts and feelings and letting them go. Think of it like you holding onto a helium balloon. As you become aware of a particular thought or feeling, you just consciously let it go and its drifts away. This practice is an easy way to begin.

Don’t be like I used to be and think that meditation required a lot of training or studying. It’s easy and is something everyone can do—you can too—and reap some amazing benefits. That’s not to say that a meditative class or yoga practice won’t improve your chances of incorporating it into your life as well if your home space is not conducive to a quiet meditative practice.

I set my appointment alarm to remind me that I have an appointment to meditate every morning while I drink my coffee. I currently only meditate for about ten minutes in the morning but setting a timer helps so you don’t have to keep peeking how long you’ve been at it. There are also quite a few good apps you can download on your phone that will take you through the steps and offer guided imagery, mantras, or gentle directions. My two favorites are Headspace and Russell Simmons’ Meditation Made Simple.

Many of the studies above utilized mindfulness or TM style meditation, but that is simply because they are the most well-known. There are around nine major styles of meditation to try out if you’d like. Start simple and incorporate the practice into habit. Other types of meditation styles may fit your personality better, but they all will have positive benefits, and some, if you stay with the practice, can radically transform your life in such positive ways, you will become a new and better person.

Trying out a style of meditation suited to your goals is a great way to improve your quality of life, even if you only have a few minutes to do it each day.

If you are struggling getting into the “meditation groove”, but you want to reap the amazing health & mental benefits meditation it can bring, please check out our friends from Alternative Daily. Grab your FREE copy of this amazing meditation book. It’ll change your life.

References
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation
https://www.scienceofpeople.com/meditation-benefits/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/business-meditation-executives-meditate_n_3528731

The post Why Meditation is as Important as a Healthy Diet and Exercise appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.