Millions of people in the world are struggling with difficulty falling asleep (insomnia). If you’re one of them, you may find your mind racing and your body tossing and turning when you just want to be asleep.
Gladly, there are some reliable approaches to help you drift off. One of the keys to smoothly falling asleep is relaxation. The ‘relaxation response’ is a physiological process that positively affects both the mind and body.
By reducing stress and anxiety, the relaxation response can enable you to peacefully drift off to sleep. Our step-by-step guides offer proven relaxation methods that may help with insomnia and other sleep problems.
It can take time to master these techniques, but the practice pays off. Even better, these methods are customizable, so you can adjust them over time to make them work for you.
Relaxation Techniques for better sleep
Once you’re comfortably in bed, try one of these techniques to put yourself at ease and settle gently into sleep.
Mindful Controlled Breathing
A series of slow, long, controlled breaths may enable us to calm down. This method is believed to help reduce stress in the nervous system and may prepare the brain for sleep by reducing excitatory stimulus.
We recommend two ways of doing it.
One: Counting Breaths: Inhale slowly and gently through your nose. Exhale slowly and gently through your mouth.
Count up. You can count each breath or each cycle of inhalation and exhalation, whichever comes more naturally to you.
Two: 4-7-8 Method: Place the tip of your tongue near the ridge behind your front two teeth and hold it in this location throughout the breathing exercise. With your mouth closed, slowly inhale through your nose while counting to four.
Hold your breath while counting to seven.
Open your mouth and exhale while counting to eight. Because of the location of your tongue, exhalation should cause a whooshing sound.
Repeat this 4-7-8 cycle three more times.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Mindfulness involves slow, steady breathing and a non-judgmental focus on the present moment. By reducing anxiety and rumination, it has been found to have sweeping health benefits, including an ability to help reduce insomnia.
There are many variations of mindfulness meditation for different situations. One easy to use style is the body scan meditation.
Focus on slowly inhaling and exhaling at a comfortable pace.
Notice the position of your body on the bed.
Notice any sensations, good or bad, in your legs and feet. Let your legs be soft.
Continue the “body scan,” observing, from your legs up to your head, each region of your body and its sensations. The goal is to stay present and observe your body without judging or reacting and then letting each part of your body relax.
After scanning each part of your body, reflect on your body as a whole and allow it to relax.
The good news is that anyone can meditate but it can take more practice to get used to. As a result, it usually works best for people who can devote at least five minutes per day to increase their comfort with it.
Imagery
Visualizing a peaceful image from your past and all of its details engages your attention in order to promote relaxation.
With your eyes closed and in a comfortable position, think about a place or experience in your past that feels relaxing, such as a quiet natural setting.
While slowly breathing in and out, reflect on the details of this setting and how it looks.
Continue focusing on this image by adding details relating to your other senses (smell, sound, taste, touch) and experiencing the calmness of this mental imagery.
This technique is great for Visual thinkers who easily recall past scenes replete with details are ideally suited to using imagery as part of their bedtime relaxation.
What to Do About Mind Wandering
Even experts in meditation find that their minds can wander during these relaxation techniques, so don’t worry if it happens to you. Instead, stay calm, keep breathing slowly, and try to bring your mind back to the main focus of attention.
If you get into bed and cannot fall asleep after 20 minutes, get up, go to another part of your house, and do something soothing, such as reading or listening to quiet music.
Lying awake in bed for too long can create an unhealthy mental connection between your sleeping environment and wakefulness. Instead, you want your bed to conjure thoughts and feelings conducive to sleep.