How to calm the mind before sleep

Fall asleep faster with mental tricks to calm your mind

Editor’s Note: Sleep Awareness Week is March 13-19, and CNN’s Life, But Better Sleep section will have daily tips and facts you need to get a better night’s slumber. Join us!

CNN —

You’re exhausted, your body yawning for sleep. Yet once your head hits the pillow, your mind is flooded with worry, making sleep elusive, at times impossible.

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Don’t fret, experts say: There are relaxation techniques you can use to calm that racing mind.

“Think of these relaxation exercises as tools in your tool kit for better sleep,” said sleep specialist Rebecca Robbins, an instructor in the division of sleep medicine for Harvard Medical School.

“Practice them, and you’ll get better and better at falling asleep, which is the holy grail, right? No one wants to spend time tossing and turning at night.”

Deep breathing is a science-backed method of calming the body and mind that can be done easily before you get into bed and when you wake during the middle of the night.

Changing the rhythm of your breath slows your heart rate, reduces blood pressure and stimulates the body’s parasympathetic “rest and digest” system, which can take worry and anxiety offline.

“Consciously focusing on the breath can help you separate yourself from the darting thoughts that fly through your brain,” Robbins said.

There are a number of deep breathing techniques you can try. Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing, focuses on relaxing the diaphragm, the main muscle of respiration. Start by taking a deep breath through your nose to a slow count of six, making sure that you can feel your stomach rise with your hand as it fills with air. Count to six again as you let the breath slowly escape.

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“Strive for effortless inhales that are soft and soundless while treating your exhales like gentle, extended sighs of relief,” suggested CNN contributor Dana Santas, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and mind-body coach.

Stay in the moment, Santas said, by focusing on the sounds and sensations of your breath: “Direct all of your senses to follow the path of air in through your nose, down your throat, into your lungs and out again. If your mind wanders, bring it back to your breath, happening in the here and now.”

Meditation is a centuries-old method of calming the body and the mind. Studies show it can help perfectionists stop judging themselves and can assist in the treatment of smoking, pain, addictive disorders and depression, among others.

Using direct measures of brain function and structure, one study found it only took 30 minutes a day of meditation practice over the course of two weeks to produce a measurable change in the brain.

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“When these kinds of mental exercises are taught to people, it actually changes the function and the structure of their brain,” neuroscientist Richard Davidson, professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds, told CNN in an earlier interview.

There are many resources on the internet to help someone begin to meditate. Davidson and his colleagues have created a free, science-based app designed to help people practice meditation and mindfulness.

Visualization is another sleep aid. Picture a calm and peaceful spot in your mind’s eye and fill it with specific objects, colors and sounds. Researchers have found that people who visualize in detail were able to push unwelcome thoughts more successfully from their minds.

If you have trouble populating the scene, the researchers suggest asking yourself questions about smell, touch and light, such as “Can I feel the sun on my skin? What do I smell in the air?”

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You can also visualize your body relaxing, experts say. While breathing deeply and slowly, imagine your breath is a wind coursing through the body, easing stress and relaxing tension as it moves through each part of the body and then escapes.

“I like to think of the breath as a light in your mind’s eye that grows when you inhale and gets smaller as you exhale,” Robbins said. “Those tangible strategies where you visualize something and match that to a breath are really powerful.”

Most of us aren’t even aware of how much tension we carry in our muscles until it shows up in backaches and headaches.

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Progressive muscle relaxation is a way of relaxing those muscles, thus making it easier to fall asleep, experts say. You tense and release muscle groups in the body in a certain order, starting at the head and working your way down to the toes and feet.

Each section of the body is tightly tensed and held for 10 seconds as you breathe in. Strive to squeeze each muscle hard, but not to the point of cramping or pain. Then, as you breathe out, relax the muscle suddenly and all at once. University of Michigan Health recommends you do the exercises in a systematic order that you can find here.

There’s an added benefit to the exercise, experts say: There’s no room in your brain for anxious thoughts.

Here’s a way to stop your mind from repetitively listing all the things you need to do (or haven’t done), but it only works if you do it before you hit the sack.

“Don’t worry in bed. Schedule a ‘worry time’ – a period of time outside of the bedroom, outside of sleep, to worry about the things that naturally creep in your mind at night,” said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

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“Write down a list of things you need to do tomorrow,” suggested Dr. Vsevolod Polotsky, a professor of medicine and director of sleep research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“You can even email it to yourself. It gives you satisfaction and the realization that it is night and there’s nothing you can do with your list, but you can attend to it tomorrow,” Polotsky said.

All these mental tricks and relaxation tips serve a purpose beyond that night’s sleep, experts say.

“They are extremely beneficial from a classical conditioning standpoint,” Robbins said. “If your body knows what comes after the end of these activities is sleep, then you start to condition yourself, and after a bit of time, your body will more easily slip into a state of relaxation, which increases your chances of sleep. ”

How to Quiet Your Mind to Get Better Sleep

Can’t put that racing mind to bed? Whether it’s stopping you from quickly falling asleep or staying asleep, there’s no question an unsettled mind can be a major obstacle to slumber.

“It’s one of the most common problems we hear in our sleep clinic, especially among people struggling with insomnia,” says Lawrence Chan, DO, a professor of sleep medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

The problem is more than just annoying. Racing thoughts at bedtime — even if they aren’t anxious or worried thoughts — might contribute to sleep problems in people who have insomnia, according to a study published in November 2021 in the journal Comprehensive Psychiatry. The researchers noted that this is different from rumination, which is defined as obsessive, repetitive thinking that tends to focus on negative content.

There’s a reason many people can’t stop thinking about things before going to bed. Whether you’re exploring a new city or simply plugging away at your routine to-do list, your brain is collecting new information all day long, explains Michael Breus, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Manhattan Beach, California, who specializes in sleep disorders. He is also the author of The Power of When, a book on understanding your body clock and circadian rhythms.

“Not until you climb into bed do you have any quiet time, and all of that information, including your worries, comes flying through the door,” he says.

Anxious thoughts and rumination can also keep you awake, of course. If you tend to wake up in the middle of the night and a racing mind won’t let you get back to sleep, it may mean that something is bothering you more than you’d care to otherwise admit or address, Dr. Breus says. “It’s generally a sign that something stressful is going on in life.”

Whether you’re stressed, excited, or simply replaying your day, use these tips to help quiet your racing mind — before thinking too much at bedtime becomes a habit that’s too intense to stop on your own.

What to Do When You Can’t Fall Asleep

1. Ditch the Devices

Sleep doctors have been telling you for years to stop using smartphones, laptops, and tablets right before bed for good reason. Not only does the light from electronic screens mess up your melatonin production, which makes sleep physiologically harder to achieve, but smart devices can also heighten anxiety and worry if you’re reading stressful news on it. This habit makes the cycle of ruminating about bothersome or unpleasant news that much worse, Dr. Chan says.

Plus, the apps, websites, and news you’re consuming on such devices are meant (in large part) to keep you and your brain engaged, he adds. “The internet is designed to capture attention so that you spend more eye time on screens, which can be a detriment to sleep,” says Chan.

To protect your shut-eye, switch off your devices one to two hours before bed, ideally, or at least 30 minutes if you can’t swing that.

2. Schedule Some “Worry Time”

Just as you schedule time to see friends or get a massage, do the same with your worries. Schedule 15 to 30 minutes a day, at least one to two hours before bed, to write down those worries. In addition, create at least one action item you can do to help deal with the issue. Thinking through those potential stressors earlier in the day should help ease how much you worry about them when your head hits the pillow, Chan says. “Ideal sleep depends on creating routines and schedules, and this is no different,” he says.

3. Create a Routine to Power Down Your Brain

Most people assume that sleep is like breathing: Your body will just do it. Not true. Modern-day living has created so much stimulation during the day that brains now operate at warp speed, and if you don’t give yours time to rest, it’ll continue going at that speed at bedtime, says David Brodner, MD, founder of and principal physician at the Center for Sinus, Allergy, and Sleep Wellness in Boynton Beach, Florida.

At least 30 minutes before you go to bed, start your preparations and then do something relaxing like listening to music or reading. Keep it consistent, and you’ll train your body to expect sleep after that relaxation period.

4. Keep a Gratitude List

Now that you’ve dumped your worries, replace the void where those negative thoughts once lived with positive ones by starting a gratitude journal, Breus suggests. The impact of those positive thoughts is greater when you write them down. So try spending a few minutes each night listing three to five things you’re grateful for.

5. Practice 4-7-8 Breathing

You’ve heard how deep breathing can help combat stress, but it can also help you fall asleep. In order to sleep, your heart rate needs to slow down, Breus says, and breathing techniques are one of the most effective ways to achieve this goal.

One of Breus’s favorites is 4-7-8 breathing: Inhale for a count of four, hold for seven, and then blow out for eight. Do this at least five to seven times to slow your heart rate.

6. Do Progressive Muscle Relaxation

As you lie in bed, tense and relax all of your muscles one by one, starting at your toes and ending at your head. Not only is this incredibly relaxing, as the name implies, but it also forces you to think about the physical parts of your body, directing your attention away from whatever thoughts or stressors you’re fixating on, Breus says.

7. Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule

Going to bed and waking up at the same times each day is one of the pillars of sleep hygiene — those guidelines sleep docs recommend for ensuring a good night’s sleep. It helps the mind, too. “If you try to go to bed early, when your brain’s not ready to sleep, it will focus on other things,” Breus says, which keeps the brain excited and awake.

What to Do if You Wake Up in the Middle of the Night

1. Get Out of Bed

As counterintuitive as it may seem, climbing out of bed after about 20 minutes of worrying is the tried-and-true advice sleep doctors tell everyone they help and one of the hallmark steps of therapy for insomnia. If you spend time in bed worrying, your brain will begin to associate the two and not be able to sleep, Chan says. You’ll create a vicious cycle for yourself, whereby your bed increasingly becomes a space where it is difficult for you to sleep.

Instead, get out of bed and do something calming, such as reading a book, doing light chores, or journaling. As soon as you start getting sleepy, head to bed. “The goal is to increase your sleep efficiency, meaning that when you’re in bed, you’re sleeping,” Chan says.

2. Slow That Heart Rate

You may have used the 4-7-8 breathing technique or deep muscle relaxation before bed. Now try them again, as your goal is to not only lower that heart rate but also take your mind away from your thoughts, Breus says.

3. Write Down Your Worries

Keep a notepad and pen by your bed to scribble down worries that are at the front of your mind, Dr. Brodner says. This isn’t the same as pre-bed structured worry time, since you’re not creating solutions; you’re just getting your worries out of your head so your mind can rest.

4. Turn on the TV (and Half-Close Your Eyes)

This tip may be controversial, but a much-loved movie or TV show can take your mind off whatever is bothering you and potentially help you relax, says Breus.

Now, we know what you’re thinking: Yes, TVs emit blue light, which can mess with your melatonin production and make it harder to nod off. But unlike smartphones and tablets, which you hold close to your face, TVs are usually positioned “so far away that you’re not getting as much blue light as you think,” says Breus. Plus, most people aren’t actually watching TV as much as listening to it with their eyes closed, and blue light can’t penetrate closed eyelids.

Note, though, that most sleep guidelines recommend against TV in bed, including some experts from Sleep Foundation.org, so if listening to the TV isn’t helping you sleep, don’t do it.

It’s also worth stating that everyone has trouble sleeping from time to time. But if restless nights become the norm, rather than an occasional occurrence, tell your doctor. If you’re experiencing symptoms of insomnia, there are ways your doctor or a sleep specialist can help.

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What really causes insomnia and how to calm the restless mind to sleep? Drugs, diseases, insomnia genes - what's the deal?

There are many reasons why your brain is active when it should be sleeping. Maybe it's the genes, or irregular sleep patterns, jet lag, or certain drugs. In this article, we will talk about common sleep problems.

Content

Social jet lag
Stress and sleep
Health problems
Medicines, alcohol and nicotine
Aging and sleep disturbance
Note: genes and sleep

We recently wrote about what circadian rhythms are and how to improve sleep patterns. Insomnia is a general term for a wide variety of sleep problems, from difficulty falling asleep to disturbed sleep quality. Insomnia occurs due to anxiety, illness, various psychological conditions and stress. Let's try to figure out what to do if you can't sleep. nine0006

Social jet lag

Do you find it difficult to fall asleep because of anxious thoughts or unfinished business? You are not alone. This is a fairly common problem. While we are trying to do everything: build a career, educate ourselves, meet friends, do not forget about sports, it is easy to sacrifice quality sleep.

Violation of the circadian rhythm of the body is sometimes called social jet lag. If you sacrifice your sleep schedule several times a week, sitting up with friends at a bar or finishing work tasks until late at night, it causes a jet lag effect, like when changing time zones. Jet lag disrupts your body's natural circadian rhythm, leaving you feeling tired and ill-rested. nine0006

Advice ☝️If work tasks and meetings haunt you, make a to-do list before bed so your brain can relax. Also, at the end of the working day, you can try to do several small tasks instead of one large and cumbersome one. In this way, you can get rid of the feeling of unproductiveness.

Stress and sleep

If disturbing thoughts haunt you before going to bed, it will be difficult to get enough sleep. This can also happen due to stress. In stressful situations, cortisol is released, a hormone that prevents us from falling asleep. Cortisol speeds up the heart rate, and also directs the body's resources to maintain muscle tone and overall vigilance. nine0006

Unfortunately, cortisol isn't just released when you're under pressure and your boss isn't happy with the report. The action of the hormone can last longer than the action of the stimulus itself. Therefore, already getting ready for bed, you can still feel tense. Also, do not forget that stress can become chronic. If you can't calm your mind before bed, you need to work on your overall stress level. Meditation, keeping an anxiety diary, or working with a therapist can help here. nine0006

Health problems

Various diseases can affect the quality of sleep:

Heart disease	Angina, heart failure
Respiratory diseases	Asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Neurodegenerative diseases	Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease
Hormonal imbalance	Overactive thyroid, menopause	Diseases of the joints and muscles	Arthritis
Diseases of the genital organs and urinary tract	Urinary incontinence, prostate enlargement
Sleep disorders	Snoring, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, nightmares, sleepwalking
Chronic pain	Chronic pain of any origin

All of these conditions can cause or exacerbate insomnia, and sometimes cause pain, which also negatively affects the quality of sleep. If you have been diagnosed with any of these conditions and are concerned about insomnia, your best bet is to see a doctor. nine0006

Medicines, alcohol and nicotine

Both prescription and over-the-counter medicines can interfere with your sleep, causing drowsiness or insomnia. Always read instructions for medications. If you are taking prescription medications, be sure to check with your doctor if you notice a deterioration in the quality of your sleep.

Alcohol not only interferes with the normal functioning of the nervous system, but also exacerbates problems such as snoring and sleep apnea. According to studies, about 25% of people experience insomnia even three months after quitting alcohol. nine0006

Many people think that smoking before going to bed will help you calm down, but this is not true. Studies confirm that nicotine, on the contrary, stimulates your nervous system, which leads to sleep disturbances, problems with falling asleep and the progression of depressive states.

Fact☝️ Sleep apnea is a serious problem associated with a sharp decrease or complete cessation of breathing during a night's rest. This condition increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and atrial fibrillation. nine0033

Aging and sleep disorders

Have you ever wondered why your grandmother gets up at 5 am? Up to 50% of older people complain of difficulty falling asleep or disturbed sleep. This can be exacerbated by chronic conditions and certain medications, limited mobility, daytime sleep, loneliness, and psychological factors.

Maintaining a healthy sleep pattern and an active lifestyle is top advice for those who want to prevent sleep problems, regardless of age. nine0006

Note: genes and sleep

Insomnia may be caused by a genetic predisposition. Several genes are responsible for this state, which are involved in intracellular metabolism and intracellular signaling.

Tip ☝️ Take the Atlas Genetic Test to find out if you have the genes responsible for sleep disturbance.

The Guardian: Social jetlag – are late nights and chaotic sleep patterns making you ill?
Pradeep C. Bollu, Harleen Kaur, "Sleep Medicine: Insomnia and Sleep", 2019
Alexandra N Garcia, Ihsan M Salloum, "Polysomnographic sleep disturbances in nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, cocaine, opioid, and cannabis use: A focused review", 2015
Johns Hopkins Medicine: Insomnia: What You Need to Know as You Age
Dhaval Patel, Joel Steinberg, Pragnesh Patel, "Insomnia in the Elderly: A Review", 2018
NHS: Insomnia
Harvard Health: Sleep problems, heart disease often in bed together
David S. Black, et al., "Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality and Daytime Impairment Among Older Adults With Sleep Disturbances", 2015

How to Calm the Mind: Simple Techniques for Meditation

Meditation does not necessarily put a person into a trance: many practices are aimed at finding a balance between the material and the spiritual, they help relieve tension, train attention and develop the ability to visualize.

T&Rs talk about basic meditation techniques that anyone can do.

How to prepare for meditation

Meditation is work with our mind and body. Meditation techniques allow you to listen to yourself and calm your thoughts, help train attention and renew energy. nine0006

Maina Miletich

Has been managing industrial projects for more than 15 years, practicing meditation as a way to deal with stress at work. Maina took a full course of Vipassana in a Buddhist monastery, conducts classes on mindfulness meditation at the HSE Center for Psychological Counseling

There is no need to force yourself, you must have an inner need. However, if you decide to exercise, it is important to do it regularly. There are many techniques, but their main difference is in the object on which you need to concentrate. It can be an external object, breath, body, phrase. nine0006

Before meditation, choose a quiet, ventilated place. The duration of the practice depends on you: you can start with 10 minutes, gradually increasing this time. The main thing in meditative practices is comfort, for full immersion, you need to create a safe space in which you can feel relaxed.

If you have just returned home after a day's work, you must first switch, because you will not be able to start meditation right away. Do physical exercises, take a contrast shower or do a little cleaning, and only after that you can proceed to the meditation itself. nine0006

Maina Miletich

You can practice on your own or with an instructor. He will explain what to focus on and guide with his voice. You can meditate with music, but you need to understand that this is another external object to which attention will be directed. In the practice of mindfulness, it is better to focus it completely on yourself. At least part of the time, you need to be in silence.

Remember that extraneous thoughts are absolutely normal. They do not need to be driven away, watch them and be aware of them. During practice, anxiety may appear - this is also natural. nine0006

Basic meditation techniques

Breathing meditations

During this meditation one concentrates on the breath. First you need to observe the natural inhalation and exhalation until you feel that the mind begins to calm down. The next step is to control the breath with a simple technique:

Inhale through the nose for 4 counts
Breath hold for 16 seconds
Exhale through the mouth for 8 seconds

You may feel slightly dizzy - in this case it is better to return to natural breathing and then resume the practice. Subsequently, you can increase the duration by counting by 8-32-16, respectively. The back must be kept straight so as not to restrict the movement of the respiratory organs. After this technique, stay in silence for some more time, observing how your breathing and emotional state have changed.

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation is aimed at returning to the present moment, a person feels his presence here and now. This technique helps to distract from thoughts about the future and the past.

During mindfulness meditation, we focus not on the object, but on the subject - ourselves

Sit on a chair with both feet on the floor, or cross your legs on the floor. The back should remain straight.
Listen to external sounds, fix them, and return your attention to your body. nine0006
Focus on the process of breathing, feel the pace at which you inhale and exhale.
Watch the thoughts that arise without any evaluation: you must accept them and let them go.
Pay attention to smells: try to feel what objects surround you and how they might smell.
Return to the breath and take deep breaths in and out.
Put your hand on the energy center: it is located in the lower part of the abdomen, feel what changes occur in it during breathing. Imagine how this energy begins to circulate through your body. nine0006
Focus on the body and its sensations: what temperature it is in, whether it is cold or warm, whether it is tense or relaxed. If you feel tight, you need to pay attention to this part of the body.

Mindfulness meditation can also be practiced in everyday life. For example, you perform monotonous actions - washing dishes, arranging books on a shelf, being in the shower. The main thing is to direct all attention to a certain action.

Focus of meditation

During this meditation, attention should be directed to an object. For example, in trataka practice, you focus on a flame or a dot on a plain wall. You can choose an object yourself - be it a flower, a painting or a figurine. This technique not only helps to relax, but also develops the skill of visualization.

At the very beginning, you need to consider the object - to see its shape, details, shades that you did not notice before.

Imagine touching this object first with one finger, then with your whole hand. Observe the sensations by changing the position of the imaginary hand. Experienced experts say that at this stage you feel the energy of the object.

Now you need to smell the object without approaching it. Describe this scent.
If you focus on the flame, focus on the sounds. For a more accurate perception, you can close your eyes. What do you think this sound is like? What is the rhythm, pace of the combustion process? nine0006
At the last stage, with your eyes closed, you need to imagine this object in empty space and mentally draw it, not forgetting about the details. Remember what this object feels like, smells, mentally touch it and observe how the attitude towards this object has changed.

Body Relaxation Meditation

One of the most popular techniques to relieve tension in the entire body. It is necessary to gradually relax parts of the body, transferring attention to them. It is better to start from the toes and gradually rise to the crown. It is best to do it before bed. If some areas remain tense, analyze why these sensations arise, what is the cause of discomfort. For example, a clenched jaw is most often associated with innuendo, and tense shoulders are most often associated with the responsibility that lies with you. nine0006

Mantra meditations

During these meditations, you need to repeat the text of the mantra 108 times, but it is not necessary to memorize the texts in an unfamiliar language, you can say any word that is meaningful to you, such as “love” or “peace”.

Express your intention - why are you saying these words?
Sing the phrase while feeling vibrations throughout your body.
Next, proceed to reciting the mantra.
Start whispering it.
The last step is to say the mantra to yourself. This step must be taken only in a state of complete calm.

After you have uttered the mantra, stay in this state for about 10 minutes more and observe the state, changes in mood, breathing.

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