Taking the Stress out of Sleep

Taking the Stress out of Sleep

Taking the Stress out of Sleep 253 220 Sarah Rutherford

Do you wake up in the middle of the night worrying about your to-do list and then lie awake worrying about everything else, including not getting enough sleep? We are a nation of worriers when it comes to sleep and how much we should be getting.

It’s actually the struggle of trying too hard to get to sleep that fuels it. The harder we try to fix it the worse it gets. We can create a lot of anxiety about not getting our recommended 8 hours. We are all different, some people need more and some less, so we mustn’t get fixated on 8 hrs.

If we learn to accept being awake and don’t panic about the consequences of not sleeping, we are more likely to drift back to sleep. Don’t be tempted to get up, as sometimes recommended. Instead, we should accept our body has woken us up, do a bit of mindfulness if our mind is racing, or practice some breathing exercises. This way we get the benefits of staying in bed and resting. If we get up and start doing tasks we will just wake up fully. Don’t be tempted to look at the time either as it serves no purpose apart from creating more frustration. It’s the quality of the sleep rather than the quantity. Sleep well!