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Why doesn’t counting sheep jumping over a fence help us sleep? Anxious thoughts are to blame: they prevent us from relaxing and enjoying sleep, they also distract us from the account. But there are tricks that work more effectively.
Many of us in childhood, trying to fall asleep (because we have to go to school in the morning), counted imaginary lambs jumping over the fence. And it certainly didn’t work for the majority: the brain is difficult to deceive – imagining 2-3 sheep, he returned to his usual thoughts about lessons, classmates and teenage problems. Now we are adults, and counting sheep is even more difficult: try to focus on them if the number of thoughts that prevent you from falling asleep has increased many times over the years … However, practical psychologists and inventors of useful gadgets did not waste these years either: several techniques that you definitely haven’t tried it yet.
1. Relax your body before bed
The brain gives the command to go to sleep, but you can influence this “commander” by influencing your body. For example, you can knead your toes seven times in a row and take a deep breath, then (also seven times) stroke the muscles of the legs – and do the same with other major muscle groups of the body, especially the limbs. Such self-massage will allow the body to relax. Remember that uncomfortable positions in which you lie or sit before going to bed – for example, if you watch TV for an hour in a row, leaning back against the wall of the bed, sleep will be problematic. We should not forget about the beneficial effects on the body and brain that sports during the day have – jogging, swimming, cycling. If there is no time for these loads during the day, you can do a small set of physical exercises 1-2 hours before bedtime. It is especially good to include stretching and breathing exercises in this complex *.
* D. Orman «Sleep Well Again: How To Fall Asleep Fast, Stay Asleep Longer, And Get Better Sleep Like You Did In The Past» (First Printing, 2011).
2. Get rid of disturbing noises
Adults are much more sensitive than children to outside noises. The mighty snoring of a spouse, the lonely rumbling of a neighbor’s screwdriver behind the wall, screams in the street – all this prevents you from going to the realm of dreams. You can cope with noises not only with the help of a scandal: you can turn on light and unobtrusive music – it is important that it be without words and aggressive rhythm. Very well suited for this task are discs recording the sounds of nature – the rustle of leaves in the forest, the murmur of the river. There are even special headphones (for example, SleepPhones), so thin that they are built right into a bandana that can be worn while sleeping – gentle music will allow you to turn away from the outside world.
3. Cool the room
A person sleeps better in the cool, not in the heat. At a cool temperature, the body produces a hormone – the regulator of circadian rhythms melatonin, which is often called the “hormone of sleep”, is better produced. It is melatonin that regulates the work of the endocrine system of the body and is responsible for the correct course of the biological clock that regulates the state of alertness and fatigue. If you have air conditioning in your room, set the thermostat to around 17-18 degrees or even lower if you’re not afraid of catching a cold. If the heat in the room is created by central heating radiators, be sure to air it before going to bed – the air in the city may not be the freshest, but the coolness in itself is a powerful tool that allows you to shorten the path to the arms of Morpheus *.
* C. Murray «Deep Sleep: 32 Proven Tips for Deeper, Longer, More Rejuvenating Sleep (Fall Asleep Quicker and Stay Asleep Longer!)» (EBook, 2014).
4. Write notes
One of the common causes of insomnia is the fear of forgetting an important thought or business that is scheduled for tomorrow. Get rid of anxiety by writing down everything that seems worth remembering before bed. Develop the right attitude towards work – even if you are career-minded, you should have periods when you do not think about what you have to do at the office the next day. Anxious thoughts interfere not only with falling asleep – they reduce the very quality of sleep, tormenting a person with unpleasant dreams and preventing the psyche from “rebooting” overnight. Not only notes will help to distract, but also any interesting (but not requiring much stress) business – for example, reading a good book *.
* J. Vance «How To Fall Asleep Without Drugs — A Lifestyle Guide» (eBook, 2014).
5. Forgive everyone who offended you during the day
There is a nightly ritual in a flock of chimpanzees – before going to bed, the primates put up with each other, sequentially bypassing each member of the monkey community and revealingly looking for parasites in his fur. The chimpanzee is our closest relative, and humans need similar rituals. At the end of the day, call the friends with whom you had a fight and try to reach a reconciliation. For other “offenders” – a passer-by who pushed you into the subway, a saleswoman who was rude to you in the store – forgive in your soul.
6. Use a “sleepy” diet
Carbohydrates and proteins help the brain get tryptophan, an amino acid that causes drowsiness. In order for the body to produce a sufficient amount of this substance, you can have a snack with a low-fat cheese or peanut butter sandwich before going to bed. The idea of eating before bed, of course, may not be to the taste of those who are trying to lose weight, but we are talking about very small portions of food. And it’s also good if you add some cherries to this snack: these berries are rich in melatonin, which helps the body regulate sleep cycles. To cope with insomnia allows, for example, a glass of cherry juice, which must be drunk twice a day and at least two weeks in a row. But it is better to refuse caffeine in drinks altogether, especially in the afternoon. One of the reasons why humanity has become much more likely to suffer from insomnia than a quarter of a century ago is precisely the spread of caffeinated drinks *.
* A. Christianson, S. Gottfried «The Adrenal Reset Diet: Strategically Cycle Carbs and Proteins to Lose Weight, Balance Hormones, and Move from Stressed to Thriving» (Harmony books, 2014).