It doesn’t matter how much you sleep, but how well you sleep. Before going to sleep it is extremely important to free the mind and body of any type of tension, for which meditation is a highly beneficial practice. In fact, it is of little use to comply with the recommended eight hours of rest, if they are not carried out in depth.
The ‘glossolalia’ is an ancient form of meditation that even appears in the Old Testament. Repeat invented words, without a specific syntax, and in an unintelligible language. According to the book ‘Yoga: The Mystery Behind the Mind’, ‘glossolalia’ continues to be used to achieve deep relaxation of the unconscious.
This simple exercise with which you will take advantage of the benefits of meditation before going to sleep consists to sit on the side of the bed with the light off for fifteen minutes. She closes her eyes and begins to mutter, hum or make any nonsense sound. The important thing about this practice is to distract both the mind and the body, to bring them relaxed and without any tension to the adequate rest they deserve.
If you want to know other less peculiar ways, you can also use the breath to reach the appropriate level of relaxation. Lie down on your bed, put on some soft music, and close your eyes. Listen carefully to the melody, and try to feel how each inhalation fills your lungs with oxygen, and how each exhalation frees you from all those tensions and problems suffered during your day. Without thinking about it, you will be able to reconcile a deep and well-deserved rest.
This meditation exercise can also be done by counting backwards. Lying down, and with a few inhalations and exhalations performed, start counting from 1 to 10. Then, increase the count, starting at 1 and ending at 20, and so on. The concentration will make the unconscious gradually give in, making the depth reconciled by sleep greater.
In case you want a guide, there are specific meditation audios available for the moment before sleeping and for each of the person’s needs. On the Internet you can find entire libraries of audios, podcasts, and downloadable files that will help you meditate before bed. It is worth mentioning that if audio equipment will be used, it must be previously programmed with the volume adjusted, so that it does not have to be reincorporated to turn off the device. Another tip is to avoid using headphones, because you don’t want to wake up with a tangle of wires on your face or neck.
You can use your whole body to meditate before sleep, you can use progressive muscle relaxation. This technique consists of systematically tensing and then relaxing each muscle group. Start by contracting your brow and then relax, then go down, do the same with your eyes, mouth, shoulders, until you finish with each of your toes. By focusing attention on the tissues, ten or fifteen minutes later we have to achieve a total state of relaxation.