PRACTISE MINDFULNESS—AND SLEEP WELL!

My favourite comedian Groucho Marx was a lifelong insomniac. He tried most things to help him sleep, but apparently to little avail. ‘I can sleep anywhere but in bed,’ he once exclaimed.

According to a 2015 study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, mindfulness meditation is one of the most powerful tools for improving your sleep ... and the quality of your sleep.

In the study, 49 adults, all of whom reported having sleep troubles prior to being enrolled in the study, were split into two groups. One group was instructed to complete a mindfulness meditation program while the other simply attended sleep education classes which mostly focused on instructing the participants on various ways to improve their sleep habits. Each group participated in their respective programs for six weeks. By the end, the results showed that those who were meditating experienced less insomnia, fatigue, and depression compared to those who weren't practising mindfulness meditation.

The results confirm a 2008 study which demonstrated that wellbeing and mindfulness are positively associated with sleep quality and with a morning circadian preference. Results from a sample of 305 undergraduates revealed positive associations among measures of emotional, psychological, and social well-being, mindfulness, sleep quality and morningness (that is, the characteristic of being most active and alert during the morning).

As I see it, there are two elements of mindfulness that are helpful in dealing with insomnia—choiceless awareness and non-resistance. You can’t sleep? Don’t resist it. Stop fighting against it, for whatever we resist persists. Simply be aware—non-selectively aware—of whatever passes through your mind. Watch it. Observe it. Don’t fight against it. Give those mental movies no power, by being only barely attentive to their content. Let it pass … for it will. And let it go. Try this—and you will be amazed at the difference it makes.

Studies:

Black D S, O’Reilly G A, Olmstead R, Breen E C, and Irwin M R. ‘Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality and Daytime Impairment Among Older Adults With Sleep Disturbances: A Randomized Clinical Trial.’ JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175(4):494-501. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8081

Howell A J, Digdon N L, Buro K, and Sheptycki A R. ‘Relations among mindfulness, well-being, and sleep.’ (2008) Personality and Individual Differences, 2008;45(8):773-777. doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.08.005

CAN’T SLEEP? TRY MINDFULNESS

‘I can sleep anywhere but in bed,’ quipped the great Groucho Marx [pictured left] who suffered from insomnia most of his adult life. Indeed, despite his quip, Groucho had trouble sleeping anywhere, and not just in bed. He even wrote a book about beds entitled---yes, you guessed it, Beds. Now, had Groucho known about mindfulness he might not have been up half the night.

New research just published in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that mindfulness can help the involuntarily sleep deprived to get their much needed sleep. The study---a randomized clinical trial using real-world interventions with real people---found that the use of a standardized mindful awareness practices (‘MAP’) intervention resulted in improvements in sleep quality at immediate post-intervention which were superior to a highly structured sleep hygiene education (‘SHE’) intervention.

In the study adults 55 and older with at least moderate problems sleeping were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups. One group received a 6-week SHE program. The other group participated in community-based MAP taught by a certified instructor. They also received sleep hygiene instruction.

The MAP group met 2 hours per week for 6 weeks. As stated in the NIH clinical trials database, those in this group were guided through in-class meditation practices and were assigned daily meditation homework. Active program components included sitting and walking somatosensory-focused meditation, audio-guided body scan meditation, and loving kindness meditation.’ The SHE group also met twice a week for 6 weeks. They met as a group so as to provide equal support, attention, time and expectation of benefit. They were taught knowledge of sleep biology, identifying characteristics of healthy and unhealthy sleep, sleep problems, and self-monitoring of sleep behaviour.

While both groups showed improvements in sleep by the end of the study, the MAP group did significantly better in reporting reductions in sleep problems and also showed significant improvements in secondary health outcomes of insomnia symptoms, depression symptoms, fatigue interference, and fatigue severity.

The study also shows that the positive effects in sleep quality appear to carry over into reducing sleep-related daytime impairment.

Of course, as another great American comedian of yesteryear pointed out---the man was W C Fields---the best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep.

Resource: Black D S, O’Reilly G A, Olmstead R, Breen E C, and Irwin M R. ‘Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality and Daytime Impairment Among Older Adults With Sleep Disturbances: A Randomized Clinical Trial.’ JAMA Intern Med. Published online February 16, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8081.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: See the Terms of Use and Disclaimer. The information provided on this blog is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your medical practitioner or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on this blog. For immediate advice or support call Lifeline on 13 1 1 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. For information, advice and referral on mental illness contact the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) go online via sane.org

MINDFULNESS AND SLEEP

"... [H]e grants sleep to those he loves." (Ps 127:2) [NIV]

In this frenetically paced world far too many people find themselves unable to turn their brains off at night. In time, these people often develop insomnia. Even when they manage to get to sleep, they still worry subconsciously.

I have seen this happen to so many of my former students-at-law, especially those who now work as lawyers in the “big end of town”. The pressure of billable hours often leads to anxiety about the future. “All that worrying, obsessing, and ruminating can increase risk of illness and disease. When the mind worries, the body responds,” says Dr Jeffrey Greeson, a clinical health psychologist at Duke University.

Greeson knows what he’s talking about. He conducted a study that followed 151 generally healthy but stressed adults. They underwent some 8 weeks of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training which involved, among other things, instruction in and use of various meditation techniques.

The study showed that MBSR training resulted in statistically significant improvements in the participant group, including a 26% increase in overall sleep quality, a 16% reduction in sleep disturbances, a 25% decrease in the frequency of prescription or over-the-counter sleep medication use, and a 28% reduction in participants reporting sleepiness during the day.

Other studies, too, have found that Mindfulness can be therapeutic for sleep disturbances. See, for example, this 2005 journal article which reported on a study examining the effects of an 8-week MBSR program on the sleep quality of a heterogeneous sample of 63 cancer patients. Overall sleep disturbance was significantly reduced and participants reported that their sleep quality had improved. In addition, the patients experienced a significant reduction in overall stress, mood disturbance and fatigue.

Mindfulness teaches you not to resist whatever arises in consciousness. If there’s worry, you note and observe it, and acknowledge the worry thoughts. With regular practice, you learn to remain calm and alert and unfazed by what would otherwise throw you into a spin.

If you are having trouble either getting to sleep or staying asleep, bring your attention and awareness to what is going on in both your mind and your body. Are you worrying or thinking about something? Notice that, label the thoughts or emotions if you wish, and simply bring your mind back to observing your thoughts and emotions. Don’t fight them or resist them. Let them be. Give them no power. Do the same with your body. Bring your full attention to, and scan, your body.  Are you holding tension in any part of the body? Note it, and let it be.

Although I am a great believer in the "power of positive thinking" and a fan of its leading progenitor and expositor Dr Norman Vincent Peale (for more on him see this address of mine), with Mindfulness there is no need to replace every negative thought with a positive one. You simply note and acknowledge the negative thought, but you don’t allow it to cause you distress.

So, practise Mindfulness ... and sleep well ... naturally. (This blog sets out a simple form of mindfulness sitting meditation.)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: See the Terms of Use and Disclaimer. The information provided on this blogspot is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your medical practitioner or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on this blogspot. For immediate advice or support call Lifeline on 13 1 1 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. For information, advice and referral on mental illness contact the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) go online via sane.org