By Dr. Max Hirshkowitz, PhD, DABSM and Patricia B. Smith from "Sleep Disorders for Dummies"
Stress can keep you awake at night, turning problems over and over in your mind in a frustrating, endless loop. If you’re ever going to sleep well, you have to take steps to manage your stress and keep it from interfering with your rest.
Remember
If you don’t have the authority or the ability to change a stressful situation, you can at least change how you perceive the situation. Stress management techniques will not solve your problems, but they can relax you enough to allow you to fall asleep.
Warning
Don’t use a relaxation activity at bedtime until you have mastered it and don’t have to think about the actual relaxation or breathing exercise itself. Only when you’re to the point where you can automatically go into relaxation mode can you try it at bedtime. Otherwise, the exercise becomes a distraction that may actually prevent you from sleeping.
Using Imagery to Get to Sleep
Imagery is using your imagination to form mental pictures of places, things and events. You can use it to put yourself in a relaxing and delightful place before you go to sleep and to distract yourself from the worries that may be keeping you awake. Try this imagery exercise before bedtime:
1. Sit in a comfortable chair, lean back, and close your eyes.
2. Concentrate on the rhythm of your breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Take slow, deep breaths.
3. Imagine your worries falling away from you like autumn leaves from a tree.
4. Think of some wonderful place you’d like to be — a beach at sunset or skiing down a snow-covered mountain, for example. Put yourself right into the picture; imagine you’re there, laughing, relaxing with your family and friends, and having the time of your life.
If all this sounds silly to you, don’t talk yourself out of trying it. Clinical studies attest to the power of using imagery to relax and unwind. In one study, cancer patients halved their use of pain medications simply by using imagery to take their minds off their pain.
Breathing Deep Before Sleep
Something as simple as breathing can help you manage stress or calm you down —slow, controlled, deliberate deep breathing that fills every inch of your lungs with air. Deep breathing’s ability to calm and relax you is backed by many clinical studies.
To start deep breathing:
1. Lie down on the sofa, the floor, or on an exercise mat.
2. Take a minute to relax all your muscles and get comfortable.
3. Put one hand on your chest and the other over your abdomen and breathe normally. Feel how your hands rise as you take in air.
4. Close your mouth and breathe in through your nose, pulling in as big a breath as you can possibly hold.
Feel your lungs expanding as you breathe in, and watch how much higher your hands rise than when you breathed only shallowly.
5. Hold the breath for a few seconds, but not long enough to become uncomfortable; remember, this exercise is about relaxing.
6. Exhale through your mouth, emptying your lungs as completely as possible.
As the air flows out, imagine it’s a cleansing stream that’s carrying away all your stress and tension.
7. Think of something pleasant, something you love to do or want to try, or picture your favorite place, and hold this image in your mind as you breathe.
8. Repeat these steps several times and don’t rush.
Relaxing Your Muscles to Help you Sleep
Progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) is a technique to relax your muscles deliberately, group by group. Many people tend to hold most of their tension in their head, neck, shoulders, and upper and lower back. Relaxing muscles tight with stress can help you get to the refreshing, restorative sleep you need.
Choose a set of muscles to work on, for example, your neck. Clench all your neck muscles as tightly as you possibly can and hold this position for a few seconds. Next relax the muscles, and then focus on relaxing them even further.
