Meditation can end insomnia
Suffering with insomnia? Tired of waking up tired? Meditation may be an effective way for you to get your zzzzzzzzs.
Meditation and insomnia study
Results of a study conducted at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Evanston, Illinois, suggest that meditation is an effective way to improve sleep quality and depression. The findings were presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies on June 9, 2009.
The study involved 11 healthy individuals (ages 25 to 45) who had chronic insomnia. Participants were divided into two groups: one group was given sleep hygiene education and information on how to improve health through diet, exercise, and stress management. The other group also received sleep hygiene education and learned how to practice Kriya yoga, a form of meditation that focuses attention.
Kriya yoga meditation was chosen because Dr. Ramadevi Gourineni, who headed the study, believes that insomnia is a problem of hyperarousal in which individuals experience elevated measures of arousal throughout the day. In previous studies, Kriya yoga has been shown to reduce measures of arousal.
The insomnia patients who practiced meditation experienced improvements in total sleep time, total wake time, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, sleep quality, and depression.
According to the National Institutes of Health, about one-third of adults experience insomnia at times, and 10 percent have chronic insomnia.
More about kriya yoga
Kriya yoga meditation emphasizes the relationship between the breath and the mind. The technique teaches that all action, “kri,” is performed by the indwelling soul, “ya.” Practitioners believe that the breath influences the mind and vice-versa, and that this reciprocal association reveals the secret of controlling the mind.
To learn more about kriya yoga meditation and to learn the technique, you can contact the following facilities in the Phoenix/Tucson area:
Ananda Arizona (Phoenix, Tucson, Sedona)
Arizona International Buddhist Center (Mesa)
Tara Mahayana Buddhist Center, Tucson
You may also want to read: “Zen meditation reduces pain”
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