Brian Johnson (Optimize) presents a short Optimize +1 video arguing that a brief daily meditation yields an “instant ROI,” especially for people who struggle to fall asleep. He cites Arianna Huffington’s summary of a 2009 Stanford study reporting that a six-week mindfulness course reduced time-to-sleep from ~33 minutes to ~15 minutes. The clip then guides a one-minute diaphragmatic breathing practice (five deep breaths; optional inhale-6, hold-1, exhale-7 pattern ~4 breaths/min) and closes with encouragement to adopt regular meditation.
Questions this video answers
A 2009 Stanford study (reported via Arianna Huffington) that a six-week mindfulness meditation course helped people who have trouble sleeping fall asleep twice as quickly: about 15 minutes instead of 33 minutes.
An inhale to a six count, hold for one, then exhale for seven (approx. four breaths per minute).
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one meditation. At this point, most of us are pretty aware of the fact that it's been proven to be pretty epic for our well being. Congrats, high fives, curtsies, etc. If you're rocking a meditation practice already, if you're not investing a few minutes of your day into meditation yet, what are you waiting for? Perhaps you're telling yourself you don't have the time. Well, we know that's a pretty flimsy excuse. But if you're not meditating and you have a tough time falling asleep at night, here's some fun little data from Arianna Huffington's the Sleep Revolution that will help us quantify the immediate time roi you'll get by meditating. Ariana tells us, and I quote, A 2009 Stanford study found that a six week mindfulness meditation course help people who have trouble sleeping fall asleep twice as quickly in 15 minutes instead of 33 minutes. Recap. If you have trouble falling asleep, learning to meditate and doing so consistently can help you fall asleep twice as quickly in 15 minutes rather than over 30 minutes. Now that 15 minutes you invest this morning in meditation, you'll get it back tonight and you'll get all the other benefits of meditation as well. So check out Meditation 101 for more details. For now, how about a one minute meditation to get your practice going? Starting today, sit up nice and straight with dignity. As Jon Kabat Zinn would say, pull that thread through your head. Chest up, chin down, relax, smile. Breathe in through your nose, down into your belly. Exhale slowly through your nose a little longer than your inhale. Repeat five times.
Congrats, you're a meditator.
Here's to your calm confidence and energized tranquility today and tonight as we remember, the instant roi for from a simple meditation practice. You know what, let's actually do that right now. Five deep breaths. Follow your own count. But I'll lead us here. We're going to inhale through our nose softly, slowly down into our belly. See if you can keep your chest kind of normal and allow the air to go into your belly. Right? Nice deep diaphragmic breathing, 101 style. And then exhale through your nose again slightly longer. I like to do it in an inhale to six count, holding for one and then exhaling for seven is my count. About four breaths per minute.
Do it or whatever, whatever works for you.
But let's do it now.
Wrap up when you're ready. I'm ready to drop in for another.
5, 10, 15 minutes. There. One minute. A little over one minute, probably. There. One minute meditation. You feel that energy? How grounded, how relaxed, how calm, how confident, how energized and tranquil. We can get that quickly. Flip the switch.
