Each Night We Sleep

On average, we spend a third of our lives sleeping, and no less than food and drink, sleep is vital for maintaining good mental and physical health. The trouble is that rest doesn’t always come: our busy brains buzz with thoughts, and just to make it worse, we start to worry that tomorrow will be ruined by tiredness, and get irritated that we can’t control our sleep. Who can feel calm at home when that’s happening? If this sounds like a familiar problem, the first step is to make your surroundings as conducive to rest as possible.

A RESTFUL ENVIRONMENT

We all need a restful night, and the key to achieving this is our environment. From the colours of the walls to the lighting by our bedside, the removal of digital devices and keeping clutter to a minimum, our sleeping space needs to be well thought out and as soothing as possible.

We can create an environment that reduces stress, so that if we do find ourselves awake in the night, we are in a calm place and can relax in it. Most of us will have a bit of clutter around the bedroom, books on the bedside table or clothes on the chair, but too much mess is never going to be relaxing when we are trying to get to sleep. Sneaky under-bed storage and cupboards can really help when it comes to hiding things away.

USING MEDITATION TO PREPARE FOR SLEEP

Try a meditation to wind down at the very end of the day, and see if it improves your quality of sleep. A good meditation can help to let go of all the day’s thoughts and worries, to relax the body with deep breaths, and in turn, relax the mind. You can use the practice while tucked up in bed, or perhaps sitting on a rug next to it, to bring a sense of resolution to the day’s activities and practise feeling gratitude for what you have in your daily life.

A good way to start is by imagining one or two things from your day that you are grateful for, and possibly take for granted normally. They can be very small, like the warm feeling of a jumper on an icy day, or might be larger and applicable to the wider world, but picture something that inspires a sincere appreciation of the day you’re winding down from. As you hold the feelings that are inspired in your mind, notice how your body responds. Take that positivity and the feelings of contentment and gratitude, and shrink your awareness from the past to the present moment. Feel the weight of your body on the chair, floor or the bed, the warmth of the room and the restful atmosphere. Allow yourself to be grounded in that moment and let the feelings of happiness and gratitude flow through you. Bringing gratitude to the end of our day is the perfect mindful way to set yourself up for a restful night’s sleep.

HELP YOURSELF TO SLEEP SOUNDLY

Maybe we cannot sleep because you’re dealing with strong feelings. It may well be that you need to feel them, but since you can’t do anything about them right now, a notepad by your bed is a good compromise: why not write them down and see if they’re still just as worrisome in the morning? When we sleep, we breathe deeply, so it could help to increase the levels of oxygen: have some plants in the room or, if it’s a warm night, you could let some fresh air in. Keep some fresh water within reach to stay hydrated.

Your bedroom is your sanctuary; look after it and keep it as one. When we can’t drift off, no matter what we have done in preparation, we can remind ourselves that at some point we will sleep; our bodies need to. Reading a book, meditating or listening to relaxing music will take away the anxiety of not sleeping. If we tell ourselves that we can read all night, it will relax the body and mind, allowing sleep to come sooner.