Consistently getting enough sleep is absolutely critical to long term-health and your ability to perform your job in a safe and reliable way, but many people suffer from a variety of sleeping disorders. One of the most common issues is the ability to fall asleep, and the single most effective way to achieve this is to calm your mind.

Sure, that might be easier said than done – especially when it’s the middle of the night and you’re desperately waiting to fall asleep. But there are several not-so-obvious ways to quiet your thoughts and prep the brain and body for sleep.

Instead of taking a hot bath, pouring yourself a night cap or squeezing in a workout before bedtime, here are a few expert-backed ways to dupe your mind into sleep:

Try to stay awake

Strangely, one of the most effective ways to trick yourself into falling asleep is to try not to sleep. Trying too hard to sleep, and all the anxiety surrounding it, actually keeps many people up, says Deirdre Conroy, the clinical director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at the University of Michigan Health Sleep Disorders Centers. By forcing yourself to lie in bed and stay awake – a phenomenon called paradoxical intention – you’ll unintentionally doze off at some point.

Focus on your mornings

The key to getting good sleep isn’t all about what you do, and don’t do, at night. Your morning routine can have an even bigger impact on your sleep. According to Cathy Goldstein, a sleep neurologist at University of Michigan Health Sleep Disorders Centers, good sleep starts in the morning.

“Set your alarm and get light first thing – this doesn’t just cue your body when wake time is, but also when sleep onset should occur,” Goldstein says. Waking up when your alarm goes off, at the same time each day, and exposing yourself to daylight sets your internal clock, making it easier to fall asleep at bedtime.

Let yourself worry

Conroy says carving out time to worry earlier in the day can help you fall asleep at bedtime. Instead of dismissing your worries altogether, if you worry about them a few hours before bed – not right at bedtime – you can often sleep better at night. Quick tip: Take 15 minutes to jot down those concerns in a journal, so you can get them out on paper and leave them there. This can decrease worry at actual bedtime.

Think about nature

Jeffrey Durmer, a board-certified sleep medicine physician and sleep coach to the U.S. Olympic Weightlifting Team, said the sounds and darkness of nature are natural ingredients for inducing sleep. After all, nature is known to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, reduce heart rate, and decrease muscle tension.

To get to sleep, Durmer recommended thinking about nature – like the last time you slept in a remote cabin or laid out under the stars. This can even be as simple as starting a fire, lighting a candle or spending “time on a porch, patio, or deck to allow darkness and quiet to reverberate in your mind, rather than light and noise,” Durmer said.

Focus on the sound of your breath

Slow, deep belly breathing – like the 4-7-8 method, in which you inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds and exhale for eight seconds – is known to increase relaxation and bring on sleep. Simply focusing on your breath can take your mind off other worries and improve mindfulness (being in the present moment). Focusing on something other than your environment and placing it on something entirely in your control – like your breath – helps settle the mind.

Exhaust your mind, not your body

There’s a common misconception that exercising at night can help you sleep easier. While working out tires your body out, it doesn’t necessarily exhaust your mind. Regular exercise improves sleep, in general, but exercising to fall asleep won’t do much good. Instead of working out to facilitate sleep, Conroy recommends engaging in activities that tire you out mentally, like reading a book or doing puzzles.

 

Source: Huffpost

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