What should i think about when i try to fall asleep

Aka, another way of counting your blessings every night, but it really works! Everyone takes things like their family, their friends, or their health for granted at some point, but closing your eyes each night and thinking about why you're so grateful for those things — and even more minor things, like your favorite shoes or your gym — is guaranteed to put a silly, sleepy smile on your face.

And trust me, you'll fall asleep long before you reach the end of that list. Sometimes, even remembering a nice smile someone gave me or a dog I saw on the way into work is enough to get all of the pleasant thoughts flowing. My coworker Tom suggested doing this, and I immediately tried it out. The thinking is that if you have, let's say, a killer tennis swing, you should go through every step of how you do it, from picking up the racket to your follow-through.

I'm pretty good at doing puzzles, so I imagined myself going through the process of turning over the pieces and putting them together, and before I knew it, I was drifting off to sleep. Many years of poring through atlases and taking Sporcle quizzes mean that I'm an amateur geography buff.

When I feel like thinking about something a little less personal at night, I just try to visualize and name every country I can think of. If that's not your thing, you can also try naming best picture Oscar winners, all of the U. Maybe you're laying on the beach, cocktail in hand, surrounded by friends, reading your favorite book.

Maybe you're curled up on your couch with the fireplace roaring with the snow falling outside as your favorite candle burns. When it comes to sleep, this effect of anxiety is a cyclical problem. Because your brain struggles to focus when it is tired, it often leads to racing thoughts. Anxiety and racing thoughts then keep you awake, a lack of sleep is bothersome, and sleep deprivation continues to contribute to anxiety.

So, how can we break this cycle of anxiety and sleeplessness? This infographic provides some advice for calming your brain and getting to sleep faster. If you are frustrated and tired, try these cognitive behavioral therapy techniques.

You may discover a more relaxing and effective way to get the sleep you need. This can be a very frustrating problem that seems to become worse the more you think about it.

For this reason, we recommend avoiding lying awake in bed. Go back to your relaxing activity — journaling, reading, meditation, listening to music…Then, when you begin to feel sleepy, try to go back to bed. This CBTi technique is called stimulus control. It may sound counter-productive, but many people find that engaging in a relaxing activity outside of bed helps occupy the brain in a positive way.

This works to break the negative association that insomniacs and restless sleepers often develop in relation to bedtime. Relaxation training is what many commonly associate with calming exercises. Though these methods may feel silly at first, guided imagery, medication, and mindfulness are all beneficial for a racing mind.

More specifically, you can focus on slowing your breath and using progressive muscle relaxation to take your mind off stressors. Rather than trying to simply ignore these thoughts, try to eliminate them from your thought patterns before bed. It might also help you unwind before bed 7.

It can be practiced any time you feel anxious or stressed. Your body has its own regulatory system called the circadian rhythm. This internal clock cues your body to feel alert during the day but sleepy at night 1. Waking up and going to bed at the same times each day can help your internal clock keep a regular schedule.

This has been shown to be the optimal sleep duration for adults 1. Lastly, give yourself 30—45 minutes to wind down in the evening before getting in bed. This allows your body and mind to relax and prepare for sleep 9. Irregular light exposure can lead to the disruption of circadian rhythms, making it harder to fall asleep and stay awake During the day, exposing your body to bright light tells it to stay alert.

Both natural daylight and artificial light, such as the kind emitted from an e-reader, have this effect on your alertness 11 , At night, darkness promotes feelings of sleepiness. In fact, research shows that darkness boosts the production of melatonin , an essential hormone for sleep. In fact, the body secretes very little melatonin during the day 13 , Get out and expose your body to sunlight or artificial bright light throughout the day.

If possible, use blackout curtains to make your room dark at night. Shop for blackout curtains online. When people are stressed, they tend to have difficulty falling asleep Yoga, meditation, and mindfulness are tools to calm the mind and relax the body. Yoga encourages the practice of breathing patterns and body movements that release stress and tension accumulated in your body.

Research shows that yoga can have a positive effect on sleep parameters such as sleep quality, sleep efficiency, and sleep duration 15 , Meditation can enhance melatonin levels and assist the brain in achieving a specific state where sleep is easily achieved Lastly, mindfulness may help you maintain focus on the present, worry less while falling asleep, and even function better during the day 18 , Clock-watching is common among people with insomnia.

This behavior may cause anxiety about sleeplessness To make matters worse, waking on a regular basis without falling back asleep may cause your body to develop a routine. As a result, you might find yourself waking up in the middle of the night every night. If you need an alarm in the room, you can turn your clock and avoid watching it when you wake up in the middle of the night.

Due to poor sleep at night, people with insomnia tend to be sleepy during the day, which often leads to daytime napping. While naps of short duration have been linked to improvements in alertness and well-being, there are mixed opinions about the effects of napping on nighttime sleep.

Some studies have shown that regular naps that are long at least 2 hours , and late may lead to poor nighttime sleep quality and even sleep deprivation 22 , In a study of college students, the poorest nighttime sleep quality was observed in those who reported taking three or more naps per week, those who napped for more than 2 hours, and those who napped late between 6 p.

A study found that older adults who napped frequently had lower quality nighttime sleep, more depressive symptoms, and more limited physical activity. They were also more likely to be overweight than those who rarely took a nap A recent study of high-schoolers concluded that daytime napping led to shorter sleep duration and lower sleep efficiency To find out if naps are affecting your sleep, try either eliminating naps altogether or limiting yourself to a short nap 30 minutes or less early in the day.

It seems that the food you eat before bed may affect your sleep. Instead, high-fat meals could promote a deeper and more restful sleep 27 , If you still want to eat a high-carb meal for dinner, you should eat it at least 4 hours before bed so you have enough time to digest it Music can significantly improve quality of sleep. It can even be used to improve chronic sleep disorders , such as insomnia 32 , A study of 24 young adults demonstrated that sedative music promoted deeper sleep Listening to Buddhist music may be another great tool for better sleep, as it can reduce the amount of time it takes you to fall asleep.

This parameter is known as sleep onset. Buddhist music is created from different Buddhist chants and is used for meditation Exercise can increase the duration and quality of sleep by boosting the production of serotonin in the brain and decreasing levels of cortisol , the stress hormone Excessive training has been linked to poor sleep The time of the day when you exercise is also critical.