When It Comes To Restful Sleep

Allow yourself to soak up the healing moonlight. Make a connection with the Earth. Taking in the smell of the clean night air. Hear the hum of cicadas or crickets. Feel a light, cool breeze on your skin. This magical healing garden is fully illuminated by moonlight. Notice stars twinkling in the night sky, celestial patterns of wisdom and inspiration. Soak up relaxation and healing. Soak up the wisdom of the night sky. Allow yourself to sink into the groundedness of the Earth as you contemplate the beauty of the night sky. You can improve the quality of your sleep by sleeping on your side. Studies have suggested that sleeping on the right side is better for the heart.

Taking The Trouble

Sleeping on the left side is believed to be better for digestion because this position gives your other organs more room to hang and stretch out. Research also shows that side sleeping improves the efficiency of the brain’s glymphatic system, which is the system that helps clear out brain waste. And apparently it’s also the most popular sleep position among humans and animals alike. Lie down while you hold some acupressure points, like the one suggested below, or listen to mantras or guided meditations. In traditional Chinese medicine, they are said to bring emotional balance and stability since they regulate all other organs. Using your hands, hold on to your elbows. We are specifically holding and calming the Triple Warmer Earth point for grounding our system. I am grounded in my being. Olive essence is wonderfully replenishing. It restores your whole system when you are overworked, overwhelmed, or exhausted to the bone. It’s also excellent for chronic fatigue. Deeply revitalizing after a long struggle, olive applied to Triple Warmer elbow points is nourishing and grounding.

Save Some Time to Dream

Alternatively, you could visualize an olive tree in place of the essence. I am grounded in my being. This ritual is especially helpful if you are overtired and cannot rest well. Mudras are rooted in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is said that we can access the energy of the planets and the elements within ourselves through our fingers. We can activate and strengthen the flow of different energies through specific mudras. This breath meditation practice utilizes a mudra called Hakini mudra, which symbolizes the power of a balanced mind. Tune in to the weight of your body. Feel supported through your seat, feel the connection to the groundedness through your seat, rooting downward while lengthening through your spine. Visualize or imagine that connection, from the top of the your head up into the heavens. Feel yourself grounded through your seat, connected to the Earth and elevated through that connection from the top of the head. Open to the energy and the intelligence of the heavens.

All Or Nothing At All

Lightly hold this mudra. Just the fingertips and thumbs come to touch while the elbows remain in and relaxed at the sides. Gently hold this triangle of sorts, with the fingertips resting and lightly touching. Fingers should be spread out. Hold this mudra in front of the heart space. From here, simply inhale for a count of five, hold for a count of five, and then exhale for a count of five. Repeat the cycle of breath all over again, just gently going at your own pace. You’re breaking the breath up into three equal parts, mimicking the sides of the triangle, the symbol of equilibrium and balance. Balancing past, present, and future in this moment through breath and through the energetic hold of this mudra. In the yogic lineage, there is the belief that we contain planetary energy at our fingertips. We are a microcosm of the universe. By holding the fingers pressed in this mudra, we bring the universe into balance within ourselves, balancing the energy of the elements within ourselves. Continuing with this breath, repeat for three minutes or more. When you are ready to end this meditation, finish the cycle of breath, inhaling deeply and exhaling completely. Release the hands down to rest and take a moment to just sit in stillness. Notice the different shifts of energy in your system. Plenty of sleep aid commercials and ads use imagery of sheep jumping over a fence, one by one, with a sliver of moon in the background. Are we supposed to think of them as fluffy, white clouds of calm, or is it that sheep are nonthreatening and boring? So utterly boring that counting them sends you off into dreamland? And how did insomniac shepherds out in the fields come to dictate such a longstanding cultural trope? The idea of counting sheep did come from an actual tracking system. Shepherds in medieval Britain used a special counting structure at day’s end to track their sheep on communal grazing lands. One of the fables is a humorous tale that suggests counting sheep was so mundane that it might put a king to sleep. However, when it comes to restful sleep, counting breaths might be better than counting sheep, since it is a great way to engage the parasympathetic system for rest. And while counting breath, you could listen to binaural beats to shift your brainwaves for calm. Binaural frequencies help entrain the brain by playing two different tones in each ear, creating the illusion of a third frequency. Take a moment and settle into your body. Just notice how breath moves in and breath moves out. Notice the natural flow of breath and notice the gentle rise and fall of your chest. From here, simply begin to count your breaths slowly and gently. Slow down the inhale. Slow down the exhale. Slow it all down as you count. One, inhale exhale, two, inhale exhale, three, inhale exhale, four, inhale exhale, five, inhale exhale, six, inhale exhale, seven, inhale exhale, eight, inhale exhale, nine, inhale exhale, ten, inhale exhale. Continue counting, steady and slow. Count until you drift off into sleep or until you’re simply done in. Either way, you will have engaged your parasympathetic system for deeper rest.