10 Tips For Sleeping At Night When You Have Anxiety
When we experience a period of stress, one of the functions that is affected is rest and the ability to sleep well, impacting and worsening our condition even more.
Sleep is essential for the proper functioning and rest of our body and brain, and for this reason we must give it the importance of being able to do it properly. Different strategies have been tested that can be useful for getting ready and going to bed, to get to sleep more easily and at the same time also benefit by reducing the feeling of stress.
One of the most important factors is to establish an appropriate routine not only at night, which helps us relax, but also during the day, setting a time to exercise or an appropriate duration in case we want to take a nap. Even so, if you see that your discomfort persists, you cannot sleep and you feel increasingly tired, go to the doctor and ask for professional help.
In this article you will learn the importance of sleeping and having adequate rest and What strategies can be used to get to sleep when you are in times of stress and anxiety?.
Sleep is a fundamental basic need for our body and brain to rest and perform other functions. For example, during the sleep period, the brain consolidates the information acquired during the day in order to improve learning, being, therefore, essential at early ages of development. Another event that occurs during sleep is the decrease in brain activity, thus allowing this organ to rest.
Although it may seem like a process that we do without further ado, we realize its complexity when problems arise in reconciling it. It is common that in times when we are more worried and anxious, it is more difficult for us to start falling asleep, stay asleep, or be able to go back to sleep if we wake up during the night. Stress keeps us active and prevents us from reaching a state of drowsiness..
We must consider the length of time this condition lasts, since if we see that it persists for more than a month and occurs most or every day, we may have a sleep disorder such as insomnia, and it would be better in this case to consult with a doctor. professional to guide us in recovery.
In order to improve your sleep in periods of greater stress, below we will see some tips that may be useful to you.
Strategies to sleep in stages of anxiety and stress
As happens in other areas of our lives, having a good, healthy sleep habit is essential for this process to be carried out correctly. For this purpose, some strategies have been tested that have proven favorable to combat insomnia in times of stress. Several of these techniques are used in therapy to deal with sleep disorders.this way we know they will be effective.
Each individual has different characteristics and, therefore, some of the tips may work better for us than others, try them and select the ones that are useful and best suit you.
1. Establish a proper routine
The time before starting to sleep is crucial so that our body knows that sleep time is approaching and thus begins to relax.. So, establish a routine that helps you calm down and prepares you to rest: set a sleep schedule, that is, what time you will go to sleep and when you will wake up, do activities that signal to your body that you are ready to sleep. such as brushing your teeth, turning on the nightlight, turning off electronic devices or reading a book.
These previous actions should not be stimulating since in this way we would be giving contradictory signals to our brain and it would remain activated.
2. Do not check your cell phone before going to sleep
Nowadays, it is very common to look at your cell phone from bed, even with the light off. This action impairs falling asleep, since our brain activates, it thinks it’s still daytime, making it difficult for the first phases of sleep to begin. As a routine before going to bed, turn off your cell phone or put it on silent and out of reach so you are not tempted to pick it up.
3. Prepare a suitable room to sleep
The environment that surrounds us when we sleep, the environment of our room, must be adequate to promote falling asleep. Make sure the temperature is appropriate, neither cold nor too hot, try to keep the room as dark as possible. and try to ensure that there are no noises or that they are minimal.
It is also important that you are comfortable in bed, that is, that your mattress and cushion are appropriate so that your body posture is correct.
4. Relax the mind
In stressful situations, it is common for constant worries and thoughts to arise that do not allow us to disconnect and continue to increase our anxiety. It may be useful for you to carry out routines that help you stabilize your mind and at the same time relax you, for example writing, reading or even watching a little television, avoiding content that is stressful. Yes indeed, It is important that they are not difficult and do not require great physical or intellectual effort.
These activities help cut our thoughts and keep us focused on something other than our worries, thus trying to fall asleep better. In the same way, writing also allows us to organize our thoughts and thus reduce stress.
5. Don’t stay in bed if you don’t fall asleep
It has happened to all of us at some point that we start tossing and turning in bed without being able to fall asleep, making it increasingly difficult to achieve our goal. If after 15 or 20 minutes you do not fall asleep, it is recommended that you get up and go to another room to relax.For example, in the living room, where you can lie down on the sofa, avoid turning on the television or looking at your cell phone, just lie down, when you notice that you are starting to fall asleep, go back to your bed to start falling asleep.
6. Avoid doing activities other than sleeping in bed
It is essential that you associate bed with sleeping and not with other activities you do while awake such as studying or watching a movie. Thus We seek to perceive the bed as a relaxing stimulus that only gives us rest when we lie down in it..
7. Perform relaxation exercises
In order to reduce anxiety, performing relaxation techniques can help you. Lie face up on the bed and start breathing slowly with slow, deep inhalations and exhalations. Relax your body and focus your attention on different parts of it.; Notice how they relax and reduce tension. By focusing your attention on your body, on how it relaxes, you also manage to stop thinking about worries.
You may be interested: “6 easy relaxation techniques to combat stress”
If we eat dinner a lot before going to sleep, our body needs more time to digest all the food and thus it will continue to be activated.. It is also likely that when we go to bed we feel very heavy and too full, making it more difficult to relax and fall asleep. Try to have a light dinner, not a large amount and food that is not very greasy or difficult to digest, also try not to do it right before going to bed; This way you will avoid bad digestion.
Likewise, do not consume stimulating foods or drinks such as coffee, Coca-Cola, tea… That is, drinks with caffeine that activate our body, giving rise to the opposite sensation we are looking for. Yes, it can help you to drink a hot drink such as milk or an infusion, since it will help you relax.
9. Play sports
Although it is not recommended to do high-intensity sports shortly before going to bed since you generate endorphins that can activate the body, doing sports during the day and doing it regularly, as a routine, does help you fall asleep more easily. , since we help tire our body more. It has also been proven that exercising is related to melatonina hormone linked to sleep.
In addition, practicing sports also directly helps reduce stress and disconnect from our worries. If you are not used to exercising, you can start with lower intensity practices such as yoga or walk a little each day, about 30 minutes.
10. Don’t take very long naps
Whether or not to take a nap depends on each person, since not all of us feel equally good or help us be more productive. But if we decide to sleep a little in the afternoon, this rest period cannot be prolonged for long. It is considered that the recommended time should not exceed 30 minutes. This duration already allows us to rest and is adequate so as not to hinder nighttime sleep.
Likewise also we will avoid taking a nap shortly before going to sleepThat is, we will try to do it early in the afternoon so that the interval between tonight and night is as long as possible.
