Bedtime Ritual for Anxiety Sufferers
Whether you are suffering from chronic anxiety or nervously anticipating an upcoming event or circumstance, stress can interfere with our sleep cycles, affecting our ability to catch those crucial Zzzz's. Instead of counting sheep, try these techniques to help create a bedtime ritual to help relieve anxiety and ease you off to sleep.
Make a List
Anxiety always knows the most inconvenient times to creep up on you, and one of those circumstances is while lying in bed. You are drifting off to sleep, when suddenly you remember that you forgot to leave a note to remind yourself to grab the paperwork on your desk to bring to the office, or to pack the kids extra snacks for their field trip. In order to decrease these thoughts from entering your sleeping space, try to organize your day ahead of time. The first thing in your bedtime ritual should be writing down your thoughts for the following day. Take 5 or 10 minutes to sit down and plan out the next day. Where will you be going? What do you need to remember to bring with you? As you are writing down your list, imagine the thoughts flowing out of your brain through the pen, and releasing onto the paper. Visualizing the words escaping your mind can help you transition into relaxation.
Accomplish a Task
If you find yourself stressed or anxious about an upcoming event, or overwhelmed about the size of your “To Do” list, sometimes it's helpful to get to get out of bed (even if it is 2 in the morning)and simply do the work. When you have been able to make a check off of one task, suddenly that list seems a lot smaller, while showing you that accomplishing what you need to finish becomes less daunting. When you put off what needs to get done, anticipatory anxiety increased. By completing tasks, you may find it easier to fall, and remain, asleep afterward. Sometimes it is best to just to do the work, or at least complete one task as a part of your nightly routine.
Stretch out Your Muscles
While stretching relaxes your muscles, deep breathing relaxes your mind, so both are essential and better if done together. Try watching a nighttime yoga video, listen to relaxing music, or create your own stretching routine. Try not to do any rigorous exercise too close to bedtime, since we are trying to create the opposite effect of calming, instead of invigorating, your body. Adding some deep breathing to your routine focuses on freeing your mind and extending the stretches and positions.
Breathing and Meditation
As you can see from your stretching exercises, deep breathing has a huge impact on soothing your nerves. This can also be done while you are in bed to help you fall asleep.A simple breathing exercise is to breathe in through your nose for 5 counts, hold the breath for 7 counts, and release through your mouth for 8 counts. Make sure when you breathe out that you are doing so fully to expel any breath leftover in your lungs. Try this exercise for a few times as your very last step when you are already in bed.
Heat Therapy
Heat has been shown to have positive benefits towards relaxing your muscles. After you have done your stretches, use a heated gel, heating pad, or hot towel (or compress), ors tones and set them on any sore muscles, specifically your neck and shoulders, which is where most people hold tension. This would be another excellent time to utilize the breathing exercise above to help relieve tension.
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy comes in many forms and scents, each with its own benefits. To relieve anxiety and stress try:
- Chamomile- (drinking chamomile tea is also recommended)
- Bergamot
- Cedarwood
- Lavender
- Rose Geranium
- Sandalwood
- Vanilla
- Sage
- Jasmine
- Ylang Ylang
Use any of these scents by dispersing them into the air (with a pillow mist, an atomizer, or a diffuser), mixing oils or salts in a bath, using a hot compress, or using a body lotion infused with one of the aforementioned scents. This is another chance to do some deep breathing to take in the scents and also create a calming effect. This bedtime ritual is just one example of how to create a calming space to fall asleep. When you figure out what ritual works best for you, remember that you have to regulate the time and activities you choose and stick with it on a nightly basis as much as possible.When you engage in certain activities only before going to sleep, your mind and body will associate these activities with sleep, and thus will condition yourself to relax and ease into a stress-free slumber.
Find an anxiety therapist near me. Call the Center for Growth at 215 922 5683 x 100 and speak to a therapist now.
