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.
Why do we need a list of the best guided meditations? Lack of sleep or lack of quality sleep affects a large percentage of the human population. Sleep Meditation is an excellent option for those looking for a natural way to improve their sleep and alleviate insomnia. Sleep meditations not only help us get to sleep but, perhaps more importantly, they help us get better quality sleep. However, many of us may not know where to start.
Enter: Guided Meditations. Guided Meditations help us let go of the stresses and anxieties of our day by listening to recordings that smoothly guide us through a meditation journey. They allow us to relax our bodies, calm our minds, and drift off into sleep. Read on for a list of the 10 Best Guided Meditations for Sleep and Insomnia. Here, you will find a variety of meditation techniques found on Youtube, Spotify, and various free and paid apps. The mediations are long and short, guided by women and men, and feature longer and shorter amounts of silence or background noise, so you can find what works best for you.
Best guided meditations
1. Guided Breathing Meditation Exercises for Sleep by The Honest Guys - 17 minutes
One of the simplest types of guided meditations involves breathing exercises. Breathing exercises help you regulate or count your breath which aids in slowing down the body and mind and prepares for sleep.
2. Guided Meditation Body Scan by One Mind Dharma - 17 minutes
Another powerful meditation technique is the mind-body scan or mindful body scanning. This involves going through and noticing feelings, body part by body part, then muscle by muscle, deliberately relaxing and letting go of those feelings.
3. Gratitude Meditation for Sleep by John Moyer - 43 minutes
Gratitude and thankfulness are important to practice all day long, but some find them extra helpful when it comes to falling asleep. This guided meditation focuses on appreciation and kindness as a means for deeper, better-quality sleep.
4. Evening Ritual Guided Meditation to Close Your Day by The Mindful Movement - 1 hour
Reviewing your day is another excellent method for sleep meditation. If thoughts of your day are what’s keeping your mind awake, take the time to review your day in detail as a way of letting those thoughts go and power down your mind.
5. Guided Visualization by Relax For A While - Meditations & Sleep Stories - 30 minutes
Visualizations are particularly helpful for sleep meditation as they help you focus on calming, restful images while letting the anxious or fearful ones slip away.
6. Insight Timer App - Free and Paid Versions
Insight Timer is an entire online community dedicated to meditation. Choose between guided sleep meditations, sleep music, and sleep talks with access to hundreds of meditations in the free version. The Insight Timer library also contains guided sleep meditations specifically for children, including stories and music.
7. Headspace App - Free and Paid Versions
Headspace is a general meditation app but has excellent options for sleep in particular. They offer a variety of “sleepcasts” that provide visualization, calming stories, and music options.
8. Spotify Playlist: Guided Meditations for Sleep - Various Times
Finally, if you’re ready to choose something on your own, head on over to this “Drift and Dream” Spotify playlist filled with guided meditations for sleep.
Sleep meditation for kids
1. Sleepiest App for iOS - Free and Paid Versions
Let’s not forget the little ones! Sleep meditation for kids is helpful as well. Sleepiest is one particular app that's great for children! Full of bedtime stories and music, white noise, and other soothing sounds help them drift off to a night of deep sleep.
2. The Sleepy Sloth Sleep Meditation for Children by New Horizon Meditation & Sleep Stories - 33 minutes
The New Horizon YouTube channel offers a host of guided sleep meditations and sleep stories for both children and adults.
Guided Sleep Meditation is not about forcing yourself to sleep. Instead, sleep meditation is a practice that will help you relax your body and slow your mind – with falling asleep as a bonus. Sleep meditations help create the conditions necessary for quality, restful, deep sleep. Using the best guided meditations linked above, you can help foster those conditions with Light Versatile Pillow, which allows you to block out lights and sounds to create the ideal sleeping environment to help you settle down and drift off.
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