How do I calm my mind so I can sleep?

What happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom. Except it keeps you awake all night long, and you can’t function the next day. I mean a busy brain! What did you think I meant? So, how do I calm my mind so I can sleep?

Night, worries, and… Little sleep

Sleep has become, for many, a rare luxury. Indeed, for a lot of people, it’s almost impossible to switch off the mind before going to bed.

As a result, you can find yourself lying in bed for hours, knowing time carries on its slow progression throughout the night while you can’t fall asleep.

As for what is keeping you awake, it’s your personal list of worries, likely. You know, the thoughts that you can’t shake, the ones that affect your mood.

Ack, but it’s night now and time to rest! You ask, how do I calm my mind so I can sleep?

The short answer is learning to relax. Really, it’s a long answer though as it’s a delicate art to master.

But it isn’t impossible.

The key to a good night’s sleep begins in your mind. Here is how to take back control once and for all.

For a calm mind to sleep, cut down on screen time

There is so much you can do with your smartphone. You can pass an order in a few clicks.

You can keep in touch with your friends and coworkers. You can check on your business.

But, there’s one thing your phone can’t do for you, and that is sleep. In fact, the blue light from your screen can affect your sleep dramatically.

The blue light convinces your mind that it is still daytime, which means that your brain fights off the urge to sleep. Ug.

Additionally, excessive screen time can increase stress levels before bed. That’s especially true if you’re checking the news or your work emails.

In that case… Make a rule of putting your phone down at least one hour before you intend to go to sleep.

Don’t fall into extreme numbing strategies

I can’t relax. I worry too much!

You’re not the only one to feel that way. However, don’t be tempted to use extreme measures to put your mind to rest.

It’s not uncommon for women who have to handle high levels of stress to relax in the evening with a glass of wine. But, when the glass turns into a bottle, you miss out on the relaxing benefits of moderate alcohol consumption.

Drinking too much has a numbing effect, which ultimately makes you believe that you can let go of your worries. Even though you fall asleep, though, your brain can’t go through full sleep cycles, which means you wake up feeling tired.

Additionally, relying on alcohol is the quickest way to build an addiction that will require alcohol rehab treatment. Help yourself to herbal tea instead, you’ll feel a lot calmer from it.

A more effective and less potentially troublesome strategy can be to give your body what it naturally produces when it comes time to sleep. You can instead look at a sleep aid supplement that provides things like melatonin, L-theanine, and L-ornithine, the hormones that your body produces when it’s time to sleep. That way, you might be able to more gently get yourself into that sleepy state where you can fall under more easily.

How do I calm my mind so I can sleep? Stop dwelling on the past

Holding grudges or worrying about your past actions serves no purpose. You’re wasting your energy dwelling on things that bother you about months or even years ago.

The more you think about those events, the less you sleep. Things can seem so much worse after you replay them over and over at night while in bed too.

The more you think, the more you lose yourself. Learning to let go is not easy. But as you practice mindfulness, you can find a path forward.

Focus on the bright side

Happiness is in everything if you know where to look. As such, practicing gratefulness and keeping track of your happy and positive memories every day can gradually soothe your mind.

Journaling is a fantastic tool to build a happy place, for instance.

Do happy people sleep better? The answer is yes.

Not because they are luckier than you, but instead because they understand how to ease their minds. Soothing your mind every day can improve your sleep.

And when you wake up energized the next morning, you’re ready to tackle what life has in store for you!