Can you start jogging for an hour continuously right after you have been inactive for so long? The answer is no. Your body can’t take it.
You will be out of breath and your body will stop responding at a certain time because you forced your body to do something out of the usual routine.
Likewise, you can’t allow your active mind to go to sleep as soon as you lie down on your bed after all the chaos it has just been through.
You need to prepare your mind to fall asleep gradually, just as you’d prepare a child to go to bed.
Sometimes just the thought of a comfortably cool fitted sheet that will help you sleep like a baby is enough for you to yawn, but if your mind is filled with thoughts, only meditating will help, or a natural sleep patch.
If you’re still wondering how to relax at night to sleep when you are too stressed to sleep, we have listed below some expert techniques that will help you fall asleep within five minutes:
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Avoid Exposure to Blue Light Before Bedtime
Blue light in the daytime keeps us active and awake, however, you don’t want to function the same when it’s time to go to bed.
Exposure to blue light in the nighttime can reduce the melatonin levels in your body and mess with your circadian rhythm which helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle.
Therefore, you should totally avoid using laptops, tablets, phones, and other light-emitting electronic devices when it’s almost bedtime.
It’s also best to turn off fluorescent bulbs and LED lights to help you sleep calmly.
Meditation
Meditation allows your thoughts to process in a positive manner and it is well-known to help people with insomnia. You can try the following kinds of meditation right before bed:
- Body scan meditation – This technique requires your focus on your entire body or certain body parts. To diagnose pressure or pain in your muscles, you have to observe it by concentrating on the parts of your body.
- Mindfulness meditation – To cleanse your body from all the negativity and thoughts before going to bed, you need to be present in this very moment and don’t allow your thoughts to wander away. With practice, you will be able to master this skill. You can also incorporate different types of shouxing balls for meditation for a better result.
- Guided meditation – If you’d like someone to accompany you virtually, this kind of meditation is best for you. You can play nature sounds or YouTube meditation gurus that will help you relax.
Take a Warm Shower
Sometimes the reason for uncountable tosses and turns at night is your body’s temperature is too high.
Taking a warm bath or shower with a bunch of soothing scented candles helps your mind relax and, in terms of body functioning, it helps lower your core temperature which is one of the circadian sleep signals allowing you to catch undisrupted sleep.
Jot Down Your Thoughts
Unnecessary emotions and thoughts can clutter your mind to the point where you can’t sleep peacefully. The solution?
You should keep a journal on your bedside table where you can jot down your thoughts and feelings.
Whether it’s anger or frustration, writing down all these emotions will help with your heavy heart which will calm down your anxiety.
Don’t Force Your Body to Sleep
The worst thing that you can do to your body when it’s bedtime is to not force it to sleep.
To be honest, I’ve been there, and it messed up my sleep even more, as my thoughts would wander off to the point where it would trigger my sleep anxiety.
To save you from this situation, my experimented method is to go to bed when you feel your body is trying to shut itself off, and it’s too tired to stay up.
Till then, you can read your most-loved book or any favorite magazine to help you unwind and stay away from toxic thoughts.
I won’t really recommend catching up on a series that you’ve been obsessing over lately or scrolling through your social media feed as it will disrupt your sleep due to the reasons we’ve just talked about above. (Exposure to blue light – remember?)
Practice Yoga
Low-impact stretching or yoga right before bed can help your sore muscles relax and your body to calm down.
According to researchers, practicing yoga lowers your blood pressure and lowers the amounts of cortisol, a pesky stress hormone.
All of these aids a better sleep by getting rid of your anxiety and insomnia.
Keep in Mind: Don’t practice overly aerobic yoga as it will only exhaust your body which may instead cause a hindrance to your sleep.
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