These Practices and Pointers Can Help You Fall Asleep

You’re having a hard time falling asleep. Maybe you’re worried about something. Maybe you’re thinking about everything you need to do. Maybe falling asleep has never been easy for you in the first place—unless the TV is blaring, and your favorite sitcom seemingly lulls you to slumber. Many of us also are attached to our phones, as though they’re crazy-glued to our hands. We scroll social media before bed. We reply to email, hoping to get ahead. And, not surprisingly, sleep doesn’t happen. We don’t give “our brains a chance to go through the natural transition of entering into a state of calm before expecting ourselves to fall asleep,” said Julia Kristina, MA, RCC, a Vancouver-based therapist, researcher and online course creator. Instead, our brains remain highly stimulated. When our minds, inevitably, don’t shut off, we get frustrated and anxious, Kristina said. It doesn’t matter whether you’re doing work or playing “Words with Friends,” according to Shelby Harris, Ph.D, director of Behavioral Sleep Medicine at Montefiore Health Systems in New York City, “the brain ‘reads’ the blue light from electronics as if the sun is still out, making it harder to fall asleep.” “Sleep isn’t an on/off switch; it needs to be more of a dimmer switch for our bodies and brains,” Harris said. As such, here are a range of tips for dimming the lights. Structure your sleep. Psychotherapist Cheryl Sexton, LMFT, suggested working with your own schedule to s...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: General Habits Mental Health and Wellness Self-Help Sleep Habit Change Habit Formation Sleep Hygiene Sleep Problems sleeping Source Type: blogs