4 Essential Steps to Getting More Sleep
Hey there moon child !
If you struggle with sleep or insomnia, this is for you. We’ve all been there when we are laying in our bed and our thoughts are just spinning. We are replaying situations that have happened during the day or even situations that have happened years ago. Your brain is going saying, “remember that cringy thing you did back in 3rd grade? Well let’s remember it right now”. If someone tells you that they haven’t struggled with sleep, they are lying. This is a normal experience and sleep is often the first thing that is affected with stress. So how do we fix this or at least make it better? Here are my four go-to moves to getting more sleep.
Do A Brain Dump
If you like to write, this is perfect. Before doing any kind of bedtime routine, find a space to journal everything that is running through your mind. I find that if you make this part of your day for 30 minutes, it helps to reduce all the chatter that goes on when you lay down.
Make Bed A Space To Sleep, Not Think
This might sound wild, but your brain is trying to help you. So when we start getting in the habit of trying to solve all our problems when we lay down, your brain is going to start doing this more often. So to stop this, we can do a brain dump like said above or if we find ourselves still not being able to sleep, go to an uncomfortable chair, usually is a bar stool in the kitchen, and write it out. Write about everything you’re stress about and if you really want to get into it, try to rationalize or challenge the thought.
Meditate & Breathe
Whenever a client comes in with sleep issues, one of my biggest recommendations is that they try a body scan. Honestly, it has worked wonders for me and I use it every time I can’t sleep. There are great resources to find free meditations, such as Mindful.org. Maybe you’re thinking meditation isn’t for me, what I can say to that is, you don’t know it’ll work until you give it a try. So try it for a week and if it isn’t for you then that’s okay too.
Have A Healthy Bedtime Routine
You know I’m gonna say it but you gotta reduce your screen time before bed. I know everyone is guilty of using their phones until they are literally passing out, but that isn’t good for us in the long run. Try cutting your screen time an hour before bed and try to do something else: read a book or color. Do not do work. This is your time to wind down so use it. The whole day is spent on what you have to do for other people, do use this time for yourself.
With any of these recommendations, I can only say to give it a try at least for week and continue to use the skills that work for you. Sleep is so important to our physical and mental health, so make sure it’s a priority. Even though being a moon child is pretty awesome, doesn’t mean we have to lose sleep over it. If you would like to learn more about how to improve sleep, call for a free 15-minute consultation call at 512-522-2765.