Those few hours before going to bed should be the time you use for your own pleasure, to do the things you love.
Before you reach for those sleeping pills, try to give yourself some time to slowly peel off the passing day, to slow down and gradually prepare your body and your mind for a healthy, revitalizing sleep.
We live in a fast-paced world, and I’m sure you’ve all felt like your days are way too short for all you need, want and desire to do. Your life is busy, and your schedule hectic. Your phone rings and buzzes, reminders keep on popping up, and your to do list keeps on getting longer. And after days filled with activities and stress it is difficult to relax, to slow down, and release the tension from your body and mind.
You toss and turn but can’t seem to fall asleep because your brain is busy processing all the things that have to be done, making plans and worrying about the future. And instead of getting some peace and rest, you are getting more anxious, stressed – frantic, frenetic, and all the more listless.
But before you reach for those sleeping pills, try to give yourself some time to slowly peel off the passing day, to slow down and gradually prepare your body and your mind for a healthy, revitalizing sleep.
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Realize that the end of the day is YOU time
Those few hours before going to bed should be the time you use for your own pleasure, to do the things you love. Choose something you really enjoy, something that gives you pleasure and relaxes you. Spend time with friends and family. Read! Laugh!
2. Switch off your phone, TV and don’t browse social networks
At least half an hour before going to bed try to “disconnect” yourself from the world. Many of you love to fall asleep with phone in your hands or with TV on, but all those activities are stimulating your brain activity and your mind is active. And there is always a risk you will come across something that can upset you and it will be much harder to reach that peace necessary for healthy night’s rest.
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Turn the lights off gradually
Nobody likes to be bossed around. Your body and mind are no exception to that. Switching the lights off in a room previously glowing with the lights of television, laptops, and the like, is a haphazard and poorly-executed command. In order to prepare for sleep, to slow yourself down gradually, decrease the intensity of lights in your living space. Both your body and mind will interpret this as signal to relax and prepare for rest
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Make amends
Throughout the day we interact with a large number of people: while commuting, at work, buying groceries, going to lunch.Some of those interactions can stink, bring about a negative feeling. Whether that one waiter who was rude or that time where your boss was unfair, at the end of the day, the best thing you can do is make amends with everybody who has upset you. Holding on to anger or frustration causes stress which tenses your muscles, overwhelms your mind, and delays the satisfaction and much-needed rejuvenation of a good night’s sleep.
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Be grateful
Once you are in bed think of 5 things from a passing day that you are grateful for. Practicing gratitude makes you change perspective from “I want” to “I have”. It allows you to see your life as a string of wonderful things, people and events you are bestowed with. Feeling grateful raises your optimism and the level of happiness which will get you relaxed and calm.
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Lay in peace
Now you are relaxed with a hint of smile on your face. It’s a perfect time to empty your mind or just let your thoughts lightly drift to some nice, sunny place, to somebodies embrace or just let them linger on those things you are grateful for. You are most certainly falling asleep by now. If not, just stay a bit longer in that perfect, peaceful place…feel the sun or embrace…breathe in the peace. There they are, the wonderful dreams.