How Do I Stop Night Anxiety?
Experts say it normally takes about 15 to 25 minutes to fall asleep. Do you struggle to get to sleep at night? Night anxiety is a common problem facing people who live stressful lives. Stress causes the body to produce cortisol and adrenaline, and these hormones initiate the fight-or-flight effect that leaves you feeling anxious. As a result, you lay awake in bed all night, tossing and turning. Fortunately, you can turn things around by practicing these techniques before bed.
Ways to Stop Night Anxiety
Improve Your Sleep Hygiene
Your sleep hygiene refers to your behavior two hours before retiring to bed. We recommend the following practices to help you calm your mind and prepare you for sleep.
- Take a warm bath or shower.
- Read a few pages of a book (not a Kindle).
- Journal your thoughts to unload your mind.
- Learn a few yoga stretches and practice them.
Eat a Pre-Sleep Snack
While you should avoid eating at least three hours before you head to bed, the following pre-sleep snacks will help you fall asleep and stay asleep.
- Chamomile tea – The nervine effect of this tea soothes your mind and CNS.
- A glass of warm milk – It’s a classic remedy for better sleep.
- Brazil nuts – A source of selenium, which balances thyroid production, reducing anxiety.
Avoid using sleeping drugs like Ambien. They provide temporary relief, but they’re highly addictive, and you’ll struggle to fall asleep when you try to get off them, starting a vicious cycle of dependence.
The same applies to natural alternatives like melatonin. Many people don’t realize melatonin is a hormone, and it can disrupt your circadian rhythm, leaving you feeling groggy the next day.
Avoid drinking water 90 minutes before you go to bed to avoid the need to get up at night to use the bathroom.
Stay Away from Screens
Turn your phone on flight mode or turn on the “Do Not Disturb” setting two hours before bed and leave it in another room until you go to sleep. When you go to bed, leave your phone out of arm’s reach to stop your doom scrolling at three in the morning.
The blue light from the screen interferes with your circadian rhythm and tells your brain it’s still daytime. Avoid watching TV and browsing social media before bed; the blue light effect will keep you up.
If you must use your phone or watch TV, buy a pair of blue-light-blocking glasses to keep the blue light out of your eyes. These glasses usually have orange/yellow lenses, and you’ll notice their effect on blocking the light in the evening, allowing you to slip off to sleep easily.
Meditation & Mindfulness
Meditating before bed is a great way to calm your mind and still your thoughts. If you’re new to meditating, you might find it hard to focus and empty your mind. If that’s the case, download an app like Headspace and use it to practice meditation and deep breathing to calm anxiety at night.
Meditate for five to ten minutes and then try to fall asleep. If you find your mind racing away with your thoughts, pay attention to them and clear them from your consciousness. Don’t dwell on the thoughts; just let them pass and focus on your breathing.
Track Your Sleep
Practicing these techniques will improve your sleep, guaranteed. To see if these changes to your routine are paying off, download a sleep tracker app from the Google Play or Apple App Store and install it on your phone. These apps monitor your sleep, giving you a score for your night’s rest.
You get data on your deep and light sleep phases and REM sleep. Downloading the app keeps you accountable for improving your sleep quality. You’ll also see when you find it hard to fall asleep and analyze what days of the week affect your sleep the most.
Blue Sky Counseling – Trauma Therapy Omaha, NE
I, Carly Spring, M.S., LIMHP, LADC, CPC, offer my specialized expertise to assist in the healing process to anyone who may be experiencing and suffering from a vast spectrum of mental health issues. Such mental health issues include behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, grief, loss, trauma, addiction issues, and life transitions. I believe strongly in applying a holistic perspective addressing your whole person not just the bits and pieces of you. Contact us with any questions or to talk with a mental health counselor in Omaha today.
