Wee Hours Rescue -- Go Back to Sleep

When we wake up in the middle of the night, our thoughts and emotions can start running wild and keep us from falling back to sleep. Perhaps we've awakened from a dream that has left us feeling vulnerable or full of anxiety or sadness. We find ourselves worrying about things and our half dreaming mind can imagine all kinds of worst case scenarios. Our daytime logic seems to escape us. Our defenses are down and our emotions are more intense. Like a child whose awakened from a bad dream, all we may need is reassurance that the dream wasn't, after real, and everything is OK.

Our Wee Hours Rescue meditation has helped many people who use it on our iSleep Easy app, so we're sharing it with our podcast listeners in hopes that it will bring more peace to your nights and help you get more sleep. Just 4 minutes of voice guidance can help you reset and slip back into sleep. This guided meditation has music in the background which continues for 14 minutes after the meditation stops.

We hope you'll find this useful and would love to hear from you. Happy ZZZZZs!

Whole Body Relaxation

Relaxation is not something you can do. It is a letting go of doing, a letting go of effort. The body and mind know how to relax, we just need to give them a chance to do what's natural.

Ideally a muscle contracts to perform an action and then when the action is finished, goes back into its relaxed state. That's the natural cycle -- relaxed - tensed - relaxed. Our dog can be lying completely relaxed on the sofa and then, with a sudden loud noise, she snaps to attention. Looking around and seeing that nothing is threatening or amiss, she's immediately back to relaxation mode. We humans, however,  are often chronically "at attention". Whether it's trying to keep up with the frenzied pace of modern life, or remaining in "flight or fight" mode after a major stress, we can find it difficult to get back into the relaxation mode.

Our Whole Body Relaxation meditation gently guides you into a relaxed state through a process of noticing tension and letting it go. Remember, your body knows how to relax. Given the chance it will happen on its own. Using this meditation repeatedly creates a new habit so that you can relax more easily anytime.

Let us know how it works for you, and feel free to ask questions!

(This meditation is a gift to you from our Relax & Rest app.)

Join the Sleep Revolution!

I am a devotee of sleep. Sleep is so high on my list of priorities that I'll often forego a "fun" night out because I'd rather enjoy the simple pleasures of the next day rather than a couple hours of excitement. This may seem extreme, but there it is. I so love going about my day fresh, simply feeling good to be alive, enjoying a clear mind, stable emotions and a happy body. It's not that I'm a total stick in the mud who doesn't ever do something that will compromise my sleep, but this gives you some sense of how much I value it. (And if I miss a few nights of good sleep, I am sure to make it up.)

From what I've been reading of late, I'm lucky to have had this priority in terms of its impact on my health and well-being over the years. It hasn't just enhanced my quality of life, it's contributed to my health and productivity in numerous ways. Since I hope the same for you, I encourage you to read Arianna Huffington's new book, The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time. The book, released today, came to my attention because our iSleep Easy app is recommended in it. That was good news for us, of course, but it's even better news that this book has the potential to bring the importance of sleep to everyone's attention and vastly improve many lives as a result.

Trouble sleeping? Many of us find a good night of sleep elusive. My devotion to sleep partly grew out of many years of insomnia earlier in life. I tried many things and found many ways to fall asleep more quickly and sleep more deeply. Much of the inspiration for our iSleep Easy app grew out of my own experience.

If you aren't already, I hope you will be inspired to give sleep the priority in your life it deserves. You deserve it.  I hope you'll join the "Sleep Revolution"!

Relax into Sleep Guided Meditation

How often do you go to bed tired, but with your mind busy and your body restless? Our gift to you from our iSleep Easy app, this Relax into Sleep Guided Meditation is designed to help you fall asleep more quickly and sleep more soundly. It can take some time to unwind from the stress of the day. Your mind can be quite active as this “unwinding” goes on.  This meditation helps you to unwind more quickly and easily. It gently guides you to relax, let go of the concerns of the day and allow yourself to drift into sleep.

You've undoubtedly noticed that the more you worry about falling asleep, the harder it is. It helps to let go of the concern about falling asleep and focus on simply resting instead. You can’t make yourself fall asleep, but sleep will come on its own once you are relaxed. Just listen easily to the words of this meditation and allow your mind to drift.

All about meditation and sleep!

Will meditation help me sleep? I'm falling asleep during meditation, am I doing something wrong? Is it OK to meditate at bedtime? "It depends..." is often the answer to these common questions. It depends on what kind of meditation you are doing. It depends on your unique nervous system and physiology. It depends on why you are meditating in the first place, what your goal is. That being said, I'll share a few thoughts on these questions from the perspective of our meditation style.

Will meditation help me sleep? Our approach is above all to promote naturalness and ease in living. We're all about trust -- trust in life, trust in oneself. Ultimately, it's about relaxation -- letting go of the tension that comes when we try too hard, resist what is happening, or are in conflict with ourselves. It's about relaxing into the flow of life and living. This approach to meditation, or any other meditation style that promotes deep relaxation, should certainly improve the quality of sleep. Sleep comes about as we relax and let go of the concerns of the day.

I'm falling asleep during meditation, am I doing something wrong? In the deep relaxation of meditation, the body takes what it needs. If you are not getting enough sleep, the body will naturally fall asleep. So many of us are not getting enough rest, so when sleep comes in meditation it's a blessing, even if it's an unplanned afternoon nap! Practicing meditation in the style we teach should lead to greater alertness and clarity. But that doesn't mean we have to be alert and clear during meditation. (After all, we are not alert and clear during sleep, but a good night's sleep results in greater clarity and alertness during the day.) If you were totally rested, your experience during meditation would probably be one of enhanced wakefulness and energy, but if that isn't what is happening, that's fine. Whatever happens is what needs to happen at the time. So we recommend not resisting sleep when it comes. The sleep you get in meditation will be particularly deep and refreshing to the system.

Is it OK to meditate at bedtime? There is no hard and fast rule about this. If meditation makes you more alert and energized, you wouldn't want to meditate right before bed. If meditation is mainly relaxing and you slip easily into sleep while meditating, then by all means meditate before bed. The ideal would be to have another meditation earlier in the day as well. Sitting up and meditating during the day will make it more likely you'll stay awake, and different benefits can be derived from that. If you can do it, make twice daily meditation part of your routine!

On guided meditation. As those of you know who listen to our podcast meditations or use our apps, guided meditations guide you in meditation. They can be designed to simply help you achieve a meditative state, or they can have a specific focus and take you on a journey with a particular theme. We have both kinds of meditations. Some will be conducive to falling asleep, while others will be more stimulating and may not work well right before bed. You will need to try the different meditations to see what works for you.

Our new iSleep Easy app. The guided meditations on our new app are specifically designed for bedtime, and one is even designed for when you wake up in the middle of the night. All of the meditations are designed to help you let go and relax, much like our other meditations, but they are more focused on falling asleep and promoting a sound sleep. The app also gives you the ability to create a Playlist with several meditations in a row. Currently the app is available on iPhone -- you can read about it in the iTunes store. If you get the app, let us know how it works for you!