Over 30 days of focusing on good sleep!

I am just over 30 days into my sleep experiment. I've been amazingly consistent, optimizing my days (especially my evenings) to ensure I get good sleep. I do my best to not eat after 6:00 PM and get to bed before 10:00. Today I'd like to talk about something else I credit with helping me sleep (although this isn't part of the experiment --- I've done it for years): meditation.

I've been meditating on and off for over 20 years. In the last 3 and a half years, I've been very regular, rarely missing more than 1 day a month. I meditate for 25 minutes in the morning and just before I go to bed. Even by many meditater's standards, that's a lot. Many people benefit from just 5-minute sessions!

There are many types of meditation and some people mistakenly think meditation has to be spiritual or religious. My goal with meditation is to simply be in the present with a still mind, not thinking about the past or worrying about the future. It's just a time-out for my mind.

An important skill we can develop with meditation is to not engage thoughts, especially negative ones. With lots of practice, you sense thoughts arising in your mind and you simply let them go. Some people start meditating and expect their minds to be completely quiet. That rarely happens to me and when it does it's for a few seconds. Inevitably a thought will come and we simply have to develop the skill of letting it pass.

If you don't know anything about meditation, do some research. It starts with breathing techniques which you can use to calm your body and mind at any time. As your practice deepens, you'll find you're clearer and, in my case, much happier. The first people to notice I haven't meditated are my wife and kids!

While the experiment officially will last a little less than a week, I'm confident I've developed a new habit that will be a permanent part of my lifestyle. I can say definitely that a month of good sleep is a game-changer. To 40 days and beyond!