For many of my Vedic Meditation students, sleep is one of the first things that improves when they start to meditate. Like Cooper in the quote above, my sleep wasn't terrible or anything but I I'd often wake up really early and not be able to get back to sleep. It would be 4am, I'd wake up and before I knew it my mind would be racing trying to solve whatever the main issue from the day had been.
This would go on for half an hour or so until I realised what I was doing and tried to get back to sleep. But we all know what happens when you try to fall asleep. Since I started meditating I've found that I still wake up early and the main issue of the day still comes to mind, but rather than going to town with it, I can let go of it and fall back asleep.
The reason meditation makes this possible is that it neutralises all the stress and anxiety connected with these thoughts when you meditate during the day. With the stress removed from the issues, you don't forget about them, but they no longer have control over your attention. You're free to deal with them appropriately during waking hours. At night you're free to head back to the land of nod.
