It’s time to go to bed. But your heart rate is up and your mind is racing with the events of the day, expectations for tomorrow and things on your pesky to-do list. Sound familiar?
If so, you’re not alone. Roughly 60 million Americans deal with insomnia and about one in three will have insomnia at some point in their lives. Experts believe stress is a leading cause.
It seems a hamster wheel at best, a terrible spiral of doom at worst: If you can’t sleep due to stress, the next day of sleep-deprived stupor is probably not going to help your stress level.
But there are things you can do to move yourself away from this spiral. Below are the first five of 15 relaxation techniques that, done regularly and even right before bedtime, can quiet your mind and body and help you capture those precious Zzzs. (We’ll share the other techniques in subsequent blogs because this one would be way too long with them all included.)
Ready to get started?
- Make time for yourself. It doesn’t matter how hard this seems at first, it’s important enough to do. Period. You will be better able to invest in other people, tasks and responsibilities if you do this. You will also be more likely to get to the bottom of what’s keeping you awake at night if you give space for it to manifest in your consciousness.
- Be present. Find a place where you can be alone and at peace, and tune out the crazy world for a moment. Be with yourself.
- Breathe deeply. Just focus on your breath for a minute or two.
- Tune in to your body. Feel small sensations you usually ignore. Try slowly tensing and relaxing each muscle group from head to toe or vice versa. Tense each muscle for at least 5 seconds and relax for 30, then repeat. Pay attention to where you feel tension, and use a foam roller or gentle stretching to release it.
- Warm up. Before bed, a warm bath is an amazing thing. Make sure you give yourself enough time to really enjoy it. Or, if you’re not the bathing type, place a warm heating pad or wrap around your neck and shoulders and focus on relaxing your muscles. Afterward, the sensation of gradual body cooling often brings on a pleasant sleepy feeling.
According to the Mayo Clinic, practicing relaxation techniques can reduce stress and anxiety symptoms by slowing your heart and breathing rates, lowering your blood pressure, reducing your stress hormones’ activity, increasing blood flow to major muscles and reducing muscle tension and pain, improving concentration, boosting confidence and reducing anger and frustration—among other things.
Of course, getting enough sleep is key to managing stress, so if these things help you sleep and nothing else, they’re doing you a world of good.
Sounds like a no-brainer. Stay tuned for more great relaxation ideas in our next blog.
Sleep Tight, Urbanites!