In the article the Health Benefits of Meditation, we learned that recent scientific research had shown that meditation was 75% effective in naturally helping cure those suffering from insomnia.  The meditation techniques used in these studies were Mantra Meditation, such as So Hum Mantra Meditation or Breath Awareness Meditation, such as Zen Meditation Technique.  Without a doubt, these 2 types of meditation are excellent to help you with your insomnia, and are also known to bestow many other incredible health benefits as well.  In this article though, I am going to teach you a very different type of meditation technique to combat your insomnia, which is equally easy to learn and practice, and like the other meditations, it too will benefit you in many other profound ways.

The biggest cause for insomnia is stress, worry and endlessly thinking.  The insomniac is simply not able to relax and let the day end, and they end up lying awake in bed for hours, obsessing.  This is primarily why insomnia strikes during times of great stress or excitement.  So, how do we solve this problem of endless thinking and worrying?  With the use of what I call Reflection Meditation.

Reflection Meditation is really quite simple to practice, yet it is an incredibly effective technique to cure insomnia.  There are primarily 2 ways to do this meditation, one method is geared towards obtaining self-knowledge, while the other is to use this technique more for falling asleep.  Below, in the practice section are the simple steps for how to practice this meditation.  Also, listed below are the major benefits of this technique.  

Reflection Meditation Technique will be the 18th entry in our ongoing and popular Free Online Guided Meditation Techniques E-book.  Also, as always please follow all guidelines for meditation and yoga practice as I have laid out in the Beginner’s Guide to Yoga Practice and Guidelines for Kundalini Yoga Practice. 

Benefits of Reflection Meditation Technique:

  1. Leads to Self Knowledge and wisdom.
  2. Completes emotional reactions, preventing them from spilling into the deeper mind.  From a Karmic perspective, this prevents the accumulation of Karma.
  3. Bestows insight into the ways of the ego.
  4. Helps cure insomnia.
  5. Promotes inner balance and harmony.
  6. Builds mental focus and concentration.

How to Do Reflection Meditation:

  • As I mentioned there are 2 ways to do this meditation.  One geared more towards self-knowledge, while the other geared more towards putting you to sleep.  I will describe each of them below. 

  • To use Reflection Meditation to cure insomnia do the following.  Lie in the position most conducive to you falling asleep.  Then begin to recall you day from the moment you woke up chronologically up to the present moment.  You won’t get to the present moment, believe me, you will be asleep far before that .  The key is to keep you mind on the recall process and not let it get pulled back into the topics that are dominating your thoughts. 

    As you do the recall, try to attend to the small details as well.  So try to rebuild the entire day from the time you awoke as well as you can.  Just like replaying it in a movie.  This meditation, will keep you from obsessing and worrying, by keeping the mind on the topic of the recall.  You will soon find yourself drifting into sleep.  Enjoy. 

  • Although the above technique will certainly give you self-knowledge and insight into the ways of the ego, if you wish to use the meditation primarily for this, then make the following small adjustments.  First, take a posture where you normally can’t fall asleep in.  I can’t sleep on my back so that is how I practice this meditation.  Then begin your recall, but look for points in the day where you had an emotional reaction or outburst.  Then study that reaction, understand why it happened and all details around it.  In addition, study any situations where you were not completely honest and forthright.  Study the situations where you pretended a little, or tried to manipulate reality to portray a particular image, etc.  Study areas where you were tense and stressed.  Times when you could not go with the flow.  Times when you were less than good, kind and affectionate.  Times where you lost your moment to moment awareness. 

    Such daily reflection is an awesome way to make personal and spiritual progress.  You will gain incredible insight into yourself and your real nature.  Also, even though you are not in a sleep conducive posture, chances are very high that you will fall asleep midway.  That’s ok, just do your best.  

Summary of Reflection Meditation:

Reflection Meditation is part of my recommendations for things you should do everyday.  It is item #7 is the 10 Things You Should Practice Daily article.  As you can see above, this meditation is not just for curing insomnia, but can play a key part in helping you find peace, balance, harmony and Self Knowledge.

For those interested in other natural cures for insomnia, you can check out the following yoga breathing exercise, which is also excellent for promoting relaxation and sleep.

Ujjayi Yoga Breathing for Those Who Can’t Sleep

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