Tips for Silencing Your Racing Mind
and Getting to Sleep Faster
Regardless of how disciplined you are on your sleep habits and rituals, there will always be those nights when your brain decides it wants to race along at a 100mph. As I write this, I can attest to these horrible nights, because I have had several of them lately due to the stresses of moving our home store to a much larger location. What can be done to stop your brain from going rogue and speeding along like this? Luckily there are tricks you can use to slow your mind and sleep a healthy sleep.
What’s Bothering You?
Is your brain racing along because of stressors? Or did you wander from your normal bedtime routines and are now paying the price for the extra caffeine or the large meal you ate too late in the evening? If your issue is stressors, then you are in luck. This article will cover those issues in particular, if you are being affected by eating or drinking too late in the evening, don’t worry, this article can help you through a little bit of those symptoms too.
Releasing The Stressors
Upon researching for this article, I discovered that just writing down what’s stressing you can help you dump out what’s causing your issues. I tried this several times in the past, and it does work. I started keeping a journal when I first started this business, and it has helped repeatedly with relieving stress during the day and helps with finding answers to questions I have kept internalized. The simple act of writing down what is stressing, or scaring you, can help dump all those negatives on paper right in front of you. When you have the issues in front of you and out of your mind where they bounce around all night, you get the opportunity to see the problem, almost allowing you to relate to it easier. Once the stressor is out in the open, you should allow it to stay out there. Focus on the fact that its there on paper and you know what it is and have the time to deal with it later.
Stay Up
If your brain is racing, stay up with it. Don’t think of it as giving up to your racing mind, but rather give yourself time to relax. Get up, take a warm bath, listen to soothing music, pick up a book, take advantage of this time and find distractors that calm your mind. Stop thinking about the loss of an hour or two of sleep, and enjoy the “me” time. “Me” time is a treasured time for relaxing. Distraction is key, and your problems will be there tomorrow.
Meditate
Slow your breathing, slow your mind. The simple process of sitting and concentrating on breathing helps clear your thoughts. Closing your eyes, finding your heartbeat, focus on relaxing your muscles, find your inner yogi. These methods do more than help you slow your brain; they help you calm yourself and help slow your pulse. If you’ve never experienced the power of meditation before, I encourage you to try it during the day and not wait until you have to use it to calm your mind before bed.
If You Can’t Beat ’em, Join ’em
If you can’t stop your mind from racing, can’t find your peace, give in. Set a specific time limit, find a space where you can sit and dissect the issue. Invite solutions into your mind, work through the stressor, if you cannot find your way through the mess accept that worry does nothing. Worry won’t help. Joyce Meyer has one of the best quotes concerning worry that you should remember at times like these; “Worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have.”
Find Wisdom in Your Sleep
Have you ever woken up with knowledge you didn’t have when you closed your eyes for sleep? Have you worked your way through a problem in your sleep? This is not uncommon.
Sleep is necessary for our brains to operate to their fullest potential, but as the great mysteries of sleep have been discovered, scientists have found that our brains work on the issues presented to us throughout our past day. Our brain replays the entire day’s events and finds solutions to the problems we faced. Isn’t that great? You can literally SLEEP your way to solutions. Does that help you lessen the stranglehold your stressors have on you? Hopefully, it does. Knowing this has helped me the most out of all these steps I have tried in the past. Not only helped me find the sleep I need but also helped me find the solutions to problems I was dealing with at the time. Sleep really is the best medicine.
We welcome your input, and tips you may use to navigate your way through stressful nights. Please leave your comments below! Remember When You Sleep Well, You Live Well.
Javier is the owner of Sleep Well, professionally trained sleep stores, specializing in specific mattresses for specific needs. He lives to give. He is an active member of his community and church. His hard work and efforts pay off for him when he can help others, and give to efforts for the betterment of others.
His spare time is spent with his beautiful wife, Gretchen. They are craft beer hobbyists who enjoy making their own beers, visiting small breweries, and making new friends. Their lives revolve around church, family, exercising, four great dogs, and keeping up with their home in Alamogordo NM.
