Stressful thoughts are one of the most common complaints of people who struggle to fall asleep. When you have busy days, personal and professional stressors, and family and friends to worry about, it’s no wonder that falling asleep is hard. Letting go of stressors before going to bed is an important part of getting a good night’s rest, which is why we’ve put together a list of tips to help you unwind before bed.
Try Meditation
Meditation is a go-to way to relax and destress, but leading yourself in meditation can be challenging. While there are many different meditation apps to choose from, picking one that focuses on preparing you for sleep is important. Guided meditation is great way to let go of stressful thoughts, while breathing exercises can help you to calm down your central nervous system.
The Rest App has meditations that are focused on helping you get ready to sleep. With a wide variety of lengths and types of meditations, the app can set you up to have a stressless evening.
Listen to Some Sleep Sounds
Sleep sounds range from the sound of rain to soundscapes to music to white noise. Sleep sounds help with falling asleep in several different ways. One way is that they block out environmental noise. Another way is that sleep sounds help to distract your mind from racing thoughts because the patterns give your brain something else to focus on.
Do a Little Journaling
Writing down your thoughts before bed can help you destress. Journaling allows you to process your thoughts from the day and work through any strong emotions. You can also write down lists of things that you feel like you need to get done during the evening or for the next day. This clears out these to-do lists from your mind so that way you don’t have to worry about remembering them.
Limit Technology
From news to notifications, there’s so many attention-grabbing things on computers and phones. While keeping in touch and staying up-to-date is important, limiting it during the evening can help you unwind before bed.
Find a way to mute any notifications, especially from news and work, as it gets later in the evening. Whether that’s setting up nighttime mode on your phone, or finding progams that limit access to different apps after a certain time, getting away from tech can help you calm down in the evening.
Set Up a Routine
Creating a bedtime or sleep routine can provide a signal to your brain that it’s time to start settling down for the evening. The routine can be something as simple as setting aside 30 to 60 minutes before going to bed to do calming activities like taking a warm bath, journaling, or listening to white noise – all of the things we’ve already listed!
By setting aside time to intentionally wind down and give yourself space before sleep, it makes it easier to let go of that stress. You already know what your evening will look like each day, which means fewer active decisions to stress over.
