Mindfulness meditation practices triggered improved sleep quality for older adults with moderate sleep disturbance in a clinical trial comparing meditation to an even more structured program emphasizing changing poor sleep habits and establishing a bedtime routine.
Sleep disturbances really are a medical and public health concern for the nation’s aging citizenry.
David S. Black, Ph. D., M. P. H., of the Academy of Southern California, Los Angeles, and coauthors conducted the small clinical trial in La in 2012 and their analysis included 49 individuals (average age 66). The trial included 24 individuals who took part in a standardized mindful awareness practices (MAPs) intervention and 25 individuals who participated in a sleep hygiene education (SHE) intervention. Differences between the groups were measured utilising the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a widely used self-reported questionnaire of sleep disturbances.
Participants in the MAPs group showed improvement relative to those in the SHE group.
“According to our findings, mindfulness meditation appears to have a
task in addressing the prevalent burden of sleep problems among older
adults by remediating their moderate sleep disturbances and deficits in
daytime functioning, with short-term effect sizes commensurate with the
status quo of clinical treatment approaches for insomnia issues.
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The Mindfulness Meditation:
1 . Get Comfortable
Locate a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Ideally this would be described as a room in your house where you can be alone and at peace.
2. Get in position
You could try sitting cross-legged on a low cushion on the floor, or upright in a chair. Some people prefer to meditate lying down.
3. Get relaxed
Close your eyes, set a timer for five full minutes if you are just beginning, and begin by taking a couple of deep, cleansing breaths. Breath in deeply (but naturally) throughout your nose, and out through either your nose or mouth-whichever feels more comfortable for your requirements. Let the breaths flow all the way down in to your abdomen.
4. Give attention to your breaths
Discover the sound of one’s breaths as you inhale and exhale. As you inhale, you inhale all the peaceful and joyful things around you. As you exhale, you rid your mind and human anatomy of all the stress and toxins that have been bothering you. Let the mind become mesmerized by the rhythmic pattern of your breathing.
5. Bring your thoughts back again to center
Your mind will wander. When you notice your thoughts wandering removed from your breath, do not chastise yourself-it’s totally normal. Simply acknowledge it and bring your focus back once again to the center, back to your breaths. Simply take in your immediate surroundings. What do you hear? What do you feel today, at this moment? Try perhaps not to ruminate on the past or worry about the future, but be present in this pure moment.
6. Make a commitment
Like exercise, meditation takes practice. And the more we practice, the better we get and the stronger that mindfulness muscle becomes. Even just five to ten full minutes per day has demonstrated an ability to make an enormous big difference to well-being after just eight weeks of meditation practice.
