How to Sleep Better
Do you struggle to fall asleep? Maybe you stay busy all day, and when you lay in bed all of the thoughts come rushing to you. You toss and turn, fall into the trap of counting the hours you’d be able to sleep if you finally fall asleep, and have difficulty quieting your mind in order to rest. Here are tangible ways you can improve your sleep.
When you were a kid, did you have a nighttime routine? Brush your teeth, put on pajamas, read a book, be tucked in, and lights out? There is a reason for this typical routine - it cues to your brain that it is now time to rest. Now that you are an adult and don’t have anyone telling you that it is past your bedtime, you may have fallen out of this routine. Without this shift, your brain doesn’t get the cue that it is time to rest. It is being stimulated with lights, music, and laughter while you are scrolling on your phone. So, developing a nighttime routine can help create this oh so needed shift. You can incorporate similar activities from your childhood - brushing teeth, putting on pajamas, whatever fits best for you. Some ideas that I recommend include putting down your phone and other screens at least thirty minutes before bedtime, using a calming lotion (lavender is my favorite), practicing gratitude, and lastly reading. Reading can be so impactful on sleep because when you read fiction you are hopefully engulfed enough in the story to be taken away from your daily life stressors and anxieties. At the same time reading fiction stimulates the same side of your brain as dreaming. This means that reading fiction before bed essentially serves as a warm up for sleep! When you start to feel yourself getting tired, put down the book, turn off the lights to a comfortable setting, and try and rest.
Okay, so you did all that and still can’t fall asleep? Don’t worry, here are more tips!
Guided sleep meditations can be a great tool to focus your mind and help fall asleep. YouTube is a great free resource, additionally Spotify and Peloton have a plethora of meditations as well. Through guided meditation, your brain has something to focus on that is not your own anxieties. Many of these also incorporate deep breathing, which puts your body into a relaxed state.
If guided meditation isn’t your thing or for whatever reason it isn’t accessible to you, here are two more ideas. These tools are also great for people who wake up in the middle of the night and then can’t fall back asleep. They may seem silly but stick with me…there's a reason behind the silliness.
My personal favorite is to count backwards from 300 by 3s. The response I usually get when I recommend this is “what the heck?!” And again, that’s the point. This counting exercise is difficult enough that you need to focus on it (and not on your worries or to do lists) but easy enough that you can fall into a rhythm. Counting not your thing? That’s okay! Instead, imagine packing a suitcase, and for each letter of the alphabet pack one thing. For example, I am going to pack Airpods, a Bathing suit, a Comb, etc. The same idea of difficult enough that you need to focus, but easy enough that you fall into a rhythm applies here too. If packing isn’t your thing, you can essentially do this exercise with any activity as long as you go through the alphabet. I have created an imaginary Thanksgiving dinner, gone imaginary grocery shopping, and packed specifically for an imaginary cruise.
These tools are ones that I personally use and recommend to all of my clients who struggle with sleep difficulties. Not all of them may work for you and that is okay. Once you find what does work best for you, stick with that. That then becomes part of your nighttime routine.
Sleep is imperative for your mental health and other aspects of your well-being. I see it as a pillar of overall health. Sleep difficulties are especially common with college students who are trying to balance and manage it all. Learn more about how Helix Marriage and Family Therapy can help support you if you are a college student looking for therapy.
