This post is sponsored by Nature’s Way®
Sometimes we find ourselves absolutely exhausted but instead of being able to fall asleep like a baby, we end up tossing and turning for hours. After a long day of work, school, social activities, and responsibilities, it can be difficult to turn off your brain and drift into relaxation mode. The next time you find your mind racing in the middle of the night, try one of the helpful tips below to calm yourself into sleep mode. And if this nighttime distress is a frequent occurrence for you, these nine small tricks are sure to help put you at peace.
Journal Your Thoughts
When thoughts seem scattered and heavy, a great way to clear them is by journaling them out. If writing doesn’t come easily to you, try a guided journal that provides prompts along the way. Keeping a daily journal helps many to reduce stress, manage emotions, and overall improve wellbeing. When tracking one’s daily thoughts, it’s easier for a writer to prioritize different aspects of their life, identify when they’re participating in negative self-talk, and recognize what factors of their life may be negatively triggering them. The next time you can’t sleep due to those racing thoughts, try putting a pen to paper and writing them out.
Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule
It’s recommended that adults should get about seven to eight hours of sleep a night. That being said, keeping a consistent sleep schedule is about more than just the amount of hours one sleeps, it’s also about when they go to bed and wake up. Falling asleep and waking up at the same time each day keeps one’s internal clock aligned and makes the body feel more rested. Furthermore, the more we work at maintaining a sleep schedule, the better our overall health becomes. If you’re having trouble getting started with your sleep routine, try taking a supplement for restful sleep.*. The melatonin included in these Nature’s Way Sambucus + Immune GummiesⓇ helps with occasional sleeplessness while the Vitamin C and zinc work to support a healthy immune system.* Get your sleep on track with these gummy supplements.
Exercise Daily
Participating in regular exercise such as walking, running, biking, etc. helps to reduce one’s stress levels and keep a calm mind. Not to mention, it may help to boost your body’s endorphins and make one feel more happy and positive. If you’re constantly running into restlessness before bed, try exercising daily to sustain a clear headspace. However, make sure to wrap up any activities 90 minutes prior to bedtime to allow your body’s core temperature to cool and calm before resting. Using an exercise tracker such as a Fitbit encourages you to set small health goals for yourself that are attainable and rewarding to accomplish. If you’re struggling to sleep at night, get an exercise tracker, and attempt to maintain regular exercise so that your body is tired and your mind is calm when it’s time to fall asleep.
Diffuse Calming Essential Oils
Diffusing oils or lighting a candle with a soothing scent can do wonders for stress relief. Scents such as lavender or peppermint have been shown to decrease stress and have a calming effect. Not to mention, they’re perfect for setting one in a tranquil mood prior to falling asleep.
Take a Warm Bath
There is nothing more peaceful than a hot bath with a relaxing drink in hand, a light-hearted book to read, and relaxing music to listen to. To set yourself into a calm mode before bed, try detoxing from social media and computer screens by sitting in a warm bath and reading or journaling. Set up your bathroom with candles and smooth music to ease yourself out of the busy day and into the stillness of nighttime.
Drink a Hot Cup of Decaffeinated Tea
Ingesting high caffeine levels sporadically or regularly is known to increase the body’s response to stress. Minimizing one’s caffeine intake by cutting back on the consumption of coffee, tea, or energy drinks can assist in decreasing one’s cortisol levels. However, switching to drinking a cup of decaffeinated, hot tea at night can help digestion while being very soothing. Before heading to sleep, pick out your favorite mug, boil some water, and pour yourself a comforting cup of tea.
Maintain a Healthy Diet
Nutrition actively affects our bodies and how they function, therefore, it affects how we sleep as well. It’s vital to enrich our bodies with the vitamins and nutrients it needs to function and carry us from day-to-day. A healthy diet may look different to each of us, but keeping up daily with eating what sustains us is important. Oftentimes, the main thing impeding us from cooking and eating right is time and convenience. One thing that can help combat that is by learning how to meal prep and have what we’re going to eat set aside ahead of time. If you find the time to nourish your body and a good headspace, a solid sleep cycle will follow.
Practice Mindfulness & Meditation Techniques
One of the best ways to clear a spastic mind is by meditating and focussing on breathwork. The next time you’re tossing and turning in your sheets, try downloading an app that provides guided meditation exercises. There are specific sessions that focus on winding down at night and drifting into sleep. Normally these exercises help to ground you by tuning you in to your breathing and clearing your head of the day’s worries. If you find yourself staring at the ceiling when you should be snoozing, give a meditation app a whirl.
Avoid Blue Light Emission
The blue light our phones provide actively suppresses our melatonin secretion, which is okay during the day. However, when nighttime rolls around and we need our melatonin levels to sneak us into sleep, this can have a negative effect. Turning off your phone prior to bed and participating in a calming activity such as reading or listening to soothing music can help you nod off faster. Another thing that could help reduce your exposure to blue light waves is a pair of blue light glasses that are both cute and effective!
*These products have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
