Six Ways to Transform your Bedroom into a Meditation Haven
Get a better night of sleep.
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Sleep is underrated. Period.
Making sure you get a good night’s rest isn’t just about pampering yourself with a lie-in that yields a more youthful complexion or clocking in late out of laziness. A good sleep is essential for a well-functioning body and mind.
But how do you get a good sleep? According to researchers from Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester and Surrey, many of us are sleeping an average of almost two fewer hours per night, than we were in the 1960s. The result is that our health is deteriorating. And it’s partly due to the way we spend the time immediately preceding bed.
In our over-worked and gadget-ridden society, many of us are ‘switched on’ right until the moment before we turn out the light. It’s no wonder that we can’t sleep — because we’re not digital like our devices. Instead, human brains require time to wind down — a more analogue process.
That’s where meditation comes in. According to findings by The Good Body, the number of people practicing meditation has tripled since 2012 and the value of the meditation market is set to double from $1.2 billion in 2017 to $2 billion by 2022. Meditation app, Headspace, alone has been downloaded just under 40 million times since it first launched in 2012.
My bedroom is my sanctuary, as it is for so many of us. It’s where I know I will not be disturbed and where I experience my best meditation. But it wasn’t always like this. Because my room is also filled with bookshelves, paperwork, and the occasional pile of clothes, the latter of which also used to be my focal point for deep-breathing exercises. Hardly the most relaxing ‘soft focus.’
Since I invested some time into changing my bedroom environment, however, I’ve been able to meditate before bed and sleep smooths over me like a shadow. And you can do it too.
Six ways I transformed my bedroom into a meditation haven:
1. Introduce a plant focus
You don’t need to have green fingers to keep plants in your bedroom. If you prefer potted plants, there are plenty of false alternatives around. Or, if you have more space to spare…
