Hatch Rest+ Sound Machine And Nightlight
Full disclosure: The Rest+ is technically designed for kids but hear me out. When I used it, it helped me sleep better than it helped my son sleep.
My brother bought it for my son for Christmas and at the time, my son was still sleeping in a bassinet in our room, so I set up the Rest+ near my bed and it didnt take long for me to become dependent on it.
I found the sound machine features incredibly soothing, though other people might find the white noise feature more soothing.
Sound machines can give your brain something for your racing thoughts to focus on and listen to as you lay down to sleep.
The color night light might also be helpful, as you can program it to match your bedtime routine and program the light to slowly dim as you drift off to sleep.
If you prefer not to get a product meant for kids, the company also recently came out with the Hatch Restore aimed at adults specifically. It has many of these same helpful features to create a bedtime routine without any of the baby-focused ones.
Shop for the Hatch Rest+ and Restore.
Meditate With Calming Accessories
Falling asleep should be an enjoyable and relaxing experience, and worrying about falling asleep can be the opposite experience.
Associate your bed with relaxing activities, like meditation. Lie down, still your body, and meditate, ideally while also diffusing calming essential oils or playing music to ease anxiety.
Why You Cant Fall Asleep
When we go to bed, we want to fall asleep as quickly as possible. Everyone loves a good nights rest because it makes them feel fresh and alert and helps them achieve more throughout the day. But a lot of reasons contribute to sleep onset insomnia or simply the inability to fall asleep. This can either happen on a regular basis or once in a while, but it is frustrating nevertheless.
Stress and anxiety are usually the two most important factors that interfere with normal sleep. When there is a lot on your mind, sleep can be elusive. Until your brain shuts off, it is hard to fall asleep. Consuming caffeine and alcohol before bed can also interfere with sleep. Medical conditions and medications also cause sleep problems.
However, sometimes every person finds it hard to fall asleep, even if they sleep without any issues on other nights. This is often because of mental exertion, stress, anxiety or the wrong foods.
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Better Sleep With Hellobetter
Having taken on board these tips for falling asleep, would you like to take a deeper look at your sleep habits and systematically learn techniques to help you fall asleep and sleep through the night? Then our online course HelloBetter Sleep could be right for you. The course has been proven effective in four scientific studies and 90% of participants would recommend the course to others. For more information and to register, visit the course page linked above.
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Tips To Fall Asleep Faster
If you do not have a medical problem and are unable to fall asleep simply because of external factors, there are things you can do to make sleep come faster. The following tips are meant to help you get started on a healthy sleep routine that makes falling asleep and waking up the next morning equally easy.
Just because its time for bed doesnt mean you should be lying in bed when you arent sleepy. Make it a point to go to bed only when you feel sleepy. This will help the brain associate the bed with sleep and nothing else.
Once you get home from work, make sure to wind down with a relaxing sleep routine. From having a relaxing drink to taking a warm bath to listening to soothing music, it all helps your brain shut down and get into sleep mode.
Thats right if you must read or watch TV in bed, make sure its something boring. Theres even a channel on YouTube called Napflix that plays boring videos to help you fall asleep. Avoid watching horror movies or the 11 pm news or anything that excites you.
When youre lying in bed unable to sleep, your eyes keep going to the bedside clock. Looking at the time every few seconds makes the night pass slower than usual. To avoid this, either remove the clock from the room or turn it backward. When you cannot see the time, you fret less about being unable to fall asleep.
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Try The Military Method
The military method is a technique that focuses on muscle relaxation, breathing, and mental visualization. Heres how to fall asleep fast with the military method.
Dont Obsess Over Time Spent Asleep
When you get into bed after your normal bedtime, its easy to obsess over the fact that you may not get as much sleep as you need.
This often creates a self-fulfilling prophecy in which your anxiety about not getting enough sleep causes you to struggle to fall asleep reducing the amount of time available for sleeping during the night, and worsening your anxiety about how youll feel the next day.
When this happens, it can lead to hours spent tossing and turning as your worries about lack of sleep stick in your head.
Instead of worrying about the total amount of time youll spend sleeping, its better to accept that not every night of sleep will be perfect.
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Dont Drink Caffeine After Midday
Ditching caffeine after midday makes a big difference to your sleep, especially if you have an early bedtime. While caffeine takes up to an hour to kick in, studies show that it has a half-life of around five hours.
So if its still in your system at bedtime it can exacerbate insomnia and affect the quality of slow-wave sleep, where we get our deepest and most restful sleep.
How come? Among other things, caffeine blocks the sleep-promoting receptor in the brain and keeps us alert. Experiment with different times until you find a caffeine cut-off point that works for you. Don’t forget, it’s found in soda and chocolate too.
Understanding Anxiety And Insomnia
Whats behind the more stress, less sleep connection? If youre frequently triggering your stress response, your body never gets back to its baseline, says Johns Hopkins sleep expert Luis F. Buenaver, Ph.D., C.B.S.M.
Stress and sleepless nights are closely linked, Buenaver says. If youre in pain, tend to worry, or are coping with a difficult situation in your life, you may have more stress hormones than usual circulating in your body. A poor nights sleep adds even more. And those hormones may never be fully broken down. Its like running an engine in fifth gear all the time.
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What Do My Habits Have To Do With It
Some people lay in bed staring at the ceiling in part due to chronic pain, depression, medications or other substances that can interfere with sleep. When you treat those issues, often it will naturally help improve your ability to sleep.
However, despite addressing other medical or psychiatric conditions, sleep difficulties often will persist. People who have chronic insomnia worry excessively about sleep and the effects of insomnia. They also become more and more agitated and tense as bedtime gets closer.
If youre very worried about getting good sleep, you can put a lot of effort into getting sleep and have a lot of anxiety at night, says Dr. Drerup. This makes you more alert and can keep you lying in bed wide awake.
How To Get A Good Night Sleep When Stressed
Another sleepless night spent worrying as you stare at the ceiling? Stress and anxiety can often keep you from getting the sleep you need.
Many people with anxiety disorders have trouble sleeping and at some point its hard to tell whether youre having trouble sleeping because youre anxious, or youre anxious because you cant sleep. The answer may be both. The fact is that stress and anxiety can cause sleeping problems, or worsen existing ones. Too little sleep affects your mood and can contribute to irritability and sometimes depression. Vital brain functions occur during different stages of sleep that leave you feeling rested and energized and that help you learn and build memories.
Here are a few tips to help you practice good sleep hygiene so you can wind down both your body and mind:
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Causes Of Anxiety Before Sleep
Everyone experiences anxiety differently. Those that have anxiety when falling asleep may have that problem for their own unique reason. Some of the causes include:
These are only an introduction to the different issues that may cause anxiety when falling asleep. There are a variety of other reasons why a person with anxiety may struggle to fall asleep including something as simple as what you ate or drank before going to bed.
Effects and Symptoms of Nighttime Anxiousness
Anxiousness, when you are trying to get to sleep, causes both mental and physical struggles. See if these descriptions of the types of problems encountered by anxiety sufferers trying to get to sleep match up to your own experiences.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms when trying to sleep, you should take the steps outlined below to help you escape the torture of being too anxious to get a good night’s sleep.
Which Comes First The Chicken Or The Egg
Before we get into the possible treatment of anxiety and recommendations for better sleep, it is important to distinguish which comes first the anxiety or the sleep disturbance? That is usually the main problem in the very diagnosis of anxiety or a sleep disorder.
As mentioned in the introduction, anxiety can cause sleep problems, and sleep problems can cause anxiety.
This means that there is a direct connection and causative relationship between anxiety and sleep problems.
Studies have shown that sleep disturbances directly co-occur with psychological disorders, like anxiety and depression.
Therefore, you as a patient need to discuss both of these issues with your doctor. You also need to treat both of them to see some relief to your mental health as well as improvement in the quality of your sleep.
If left untreated, anxiety, as well as disrupted sleep, can have harmful effects on your life they can cause cardiovascular problems, diabetes and stroke among others.
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How To Fall Asleep In 10 Seconds : Relaxation Exercisesjuly 2021
The idea of falling asleep in 10 seconds stems from what is often known as the “military method.” While this doesn’t actually get you to fall asleep in a mere 10 seconds, this unique bedtime routine can help you fall asleep quickly and enjoy better sleep.
If you’ve been struggling with sleep problems for some time, this distinct practice could be just what you need.
Exercise Earlier In The Day
Regular physical activity is associated with better sleep and may even help to prevent insomnia. Although researchers are not entirely sure why exercise promotes better sleep, some suggest that people who struggle to fall asleep may have problems lowering their core temperature at night. Working out may help regulate the bodys temperature.
However, exercising too soon before bedtime may keep some people awake at night. If you regularly struggle to fall or stay asleep, avoid working out less than two to three hours before you go to bed, especially in a brightly lit gym. Bright lights and vigorous exercise before bed may disrupt some individuals sleep cycles and prevent the body from releasing hormones required for sleep.
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Good Daytime Habits For Relieving Nighttime Stress
In addition to relaxation techniques, there are steps you can take during the day to relieve stress at night. A common aid is to exercise during the day. In addition to other health benefits, daytime exercise has been linked to better sleep in patients with generalized anxiety disorders. Exercise can also assist with issues such as insomnia. Another strategy for sleep hygiene overall is to wake up at a regular time. Even on the weekends, research shows that consistent wake times are an important component of sleep hygiene.
Keep in mind there is no exact schedule for how quickly youll be able to feel less stressed and anxious before going to sleep. However, consistent practice of relaxing techniques can help long-term. If you have questions or concerns about which strategy or strategies are right for you, consult your physician.
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Improving The Sleep Environment
This may not be the most necessary step towards a good nights sleep, even with anxiety. However, by taking care of where you sleep, and how your sleep environment looks like can improve the quality of your sleep.
So, if you want to be comfortable, relaxed and to finally fall and stay asleep, improving your sleep environment will definitely help. Heres what you can do
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Sleepless Nights Try Stress Relief Techniques
In a recent national survey, 44 percent of adults said stress had causedsleepless nights at least once in the previous month. All that tossing,turning and staring at the ceiling can leave you feeling tired andmore stressed the next day. If youre caught in this vicious cycle ofanxiety and insomnia, theres good news: Simple stress relief techniquescan help you sleep better and feel calmer.
Schedule Some Worry Time
Just as you schedule time to see friends or get a massage, do the same with your worries. Schedule 15 to 30 minutes a day, at least one to two hours before bed, to write down those worries. In addition, create at least one action item you can do to help deal with the issue. Thinking through those potential stressors earlier in the day should help ease how much you worry about them when your head hits the pillow, Chan says. Ideal sleep depends on creating routines and schedules, and this is no different, he says.
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Tips For Trying Relaxation Exercises
Related Reading
- While these exercises can be helpful tools on their own, they may be more effective when combined with other improvements to your sleep hygiene, such as maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and cultivating daytime habits that promote sleep.
- Just like learning any new skill, relaxation exercises take practice. Repetitive and ongoing use of relaxation exercises is usually more effective than one-time or short-term use.
- While its tempting to look for the best and most effective relaxation techniques, whats most important is to find what works for you. That may take some experimenting, so if one exercise doesnt work, just try another.
While these exercises are safe for most people, others may benefit from talking to their doctors before trying these techniques. This is particularly important for those with epilepsy, psychiatric conditions, or a history of trauma.
Maintain A Consistent Sleep Schedule
Going to bed and waking up at the same times each day is one of the pillars of sleep hygiene those guidelines sleep docs recommend for ensuring a good nights sleep. It helps the mind, too. If you try to go to bed early, when your brains not ready to sleep, it will focus on other things, Breus says, which keeps the brain excited and awake.
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Teapigs Snooze Sleepy Tea
Everyone has heard that chamomile tea can help you sleep. Why? Well, its commonly called a mild tranquilizer and has an antioxidant called apigenin, which binds to specific receptors in your brain that may decrease anxiety and help make you sleepy.
This sleepy tea takes chamomile up a notch by also adding in lavender, another ingredient that has been used for centuries to help calm nerves. The tea is also naturally caffeine free and, well, its simply delicious.
Eliminate All Sources Of Caffeine And Alcohol
Some people are more sensitive to jolts of caffeine than others, so watch how much youre consuming and when. You might need to put a freeze on coffee at 2pm, or even earlier if youre still struggling to sleep at night after making adjustments. Dr. Foldvary says to also check hidden sources of caffeine, and stop consuming those at 2pm, too. They include chocolate, hot chocolate, green and black tea, some pain relievers, and soda.
Alcohol is another big one, says Dr. Foldvary. Its deceiving. A lot of people feel its helping them to fall asleep, and while it can cause sleep onset, research shows also shows alcohol fragments sleep. This is especially true for women: A 2011 study found that women slept more fitfully and for less time after a night of drinking than when they were sober, and that they slept less soundly than men with the same blood-alcohol content.
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