Shutting Your Brain
Off At Night
Nov 7, 2019
Sometimes your body may feel ready for bed. However, your mind may be telling you otherwise. There’s nothing more frustrating than having your body feel exhausted after a long day. However, your mind just does not seem to want to calm down and turn off. For some, laying down to go to bed can mean your brain begins to turn on rather than shut off. All of your worries or stresses can come flooding into your mind, and the next thing you know, you are wide awake, far past your initial bedtime. While there may not be a cure-all or a button you can press to turn your mind off, there are a few things that you can do to try and shut off your brain at night.
Create and Stick to a Sleep Routine
We cannot put enough emphasis on how important it is to try to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time in the morning. In addition to this, it is also very important to create a routine before it is time to go to sleep. Giving yourself about 30 minutes to an hour every night to complete your bedtime ritual can have a huge impact on being able to shut your brain off when it’s time to sleep. Take a shower, try to turn off all electronics, perhaps read a book, and get into a comfortable sleeping position. Allowing your body to get used to this schedule will make it easier to fall asleep once it is time for bed.
Identify What Is Causing Your Stresses
Pinpointing what exactly is causing you to lose sleep at night is a great first step to being able to shut your brain off at night. Taking a small amount of time out of your day to write down what is on your mind and what you can do about it can alleviate some of that energy when it’s time for sleep. By identifying these worries beforehand, you can have a plan of attack on how to handle any of them that may arise when you are trying to sleep.
Exercise
Partaking in some form of physical activity can help to make you feel more tired at night, as well as can help to reduce anxiety. In addition to physical activity, try some relaxation exercises to help slow your racing mind. Deep breathing, creating silly mental lists, or even a small amount of yoga can all help to contribute to relaxing your mind.
