Hey and welcome to this calming sleep ritual.
Are you struggling to sleep?
You're not alone.
I really know what this is like.
I've been there.
And I know it's hard and can get really lonely.
But there are some tools to help you out.
Please know that your body knows how to fall asleep.
Stressors in your environment and in your mind have likely disrupted its natural abilities.
But this exercise will help you to calm down.
When we try to sleep better,
We often focus on things like sound,
Temperature,
Light,
Coffee,
Alcohol and food intake.
And indeed these things are important.
The ideal sleeping conditions are to be in a dark,
Cool room with no sudden or hard noise.
Not having had caffeine for about 10 hours prior to bedtime.
Not having had alcohol for about 5 hours prior to bedtime.
And not having had a heavy,
Salty,
Fatty,
Sugary meal for more than about 3 hours prior to bedtime.
Mild movement like a walk before sleep also helps.
But what if you've tried all those things and still nothing helps?
You might even become a little obsessive about having all these things in order.
And you might actually put extra pressure on sleep,
Causing anxiety about falling asleep.
All biological issues,
Including some chronic health issues that make sleep hard aside,
One of the key factors that makes it hard to sleep is your own mind.
Stress is the most important predictor of poor sleep.
We need to learn how to think less,
Particularly negative things,
And feel better,
Particularly in the body.
Today's practice will help you to think less,
So it will become easier for your body to do what it does naturally.
For this practice,
You will need paper or a journal and a pen.
If you happen to be in bed and are struggling to sleep right now,
Get out of bed.
Let's start.
Notice if there are any negative thoughts that are repeating themselves in your head.
Negative thoughts are words,
Sentences,
Images,
Or sounds that are in your mind.
Feel upsetting to you and keep coming back.
Let's call these thoughts your worries.
If we don't write down our worries in a journal or on a piece of paper,
Your mind will keep bringing them up because it thinks that these are potential threats that need to be addressed.
By paying attention and addressing them,
You will allow your mind to calm down.
So,
Take a moment to write down all your worries and all your to-dos in order to potentially solve those worries in the future.
Promise yourself to get back to these tomorrow.
You can press pause on this recording and continue when you are ready.
Next,
Notice if you feel any emotions like anger or fear or anxiety about any particular upcoming event or past event.
Emotions are distinctly labeled feelings that connect to a context or a target.
We are usually angry at someone or we are frustrated by someone.
Perhaps you feel anxious about an upcoming work project or anxious that you might not fall asleep or angry with your neighbor for keeping you up.
If this is the case,
Name the emotion that you feel and write down where you feel it in your body.
Again,
Emotions are signs that your body isn't feeling safe and something needs to be addressed.
We need to address them in order to release them and so writing them down so you can get back to them when you are more clear-headed will help your body to know it's safe to calm down now because the important feelings have been heard.
Write down all your emotions,
Write down where you notice them,
And press pause and continue when you are ready.
As a last part of this practice,
I would like you to write down in your journal how you will make a ritual out of this.
These practices work best if you,
Well,
Practice them.
Your mind will start to worry less,
Focus more on the positive and relax more with every time you practice.
So make a commitment to doing this practice for a week,
Every evening at a set time.
Research shows that it works best to habituate a behavior if you follow a fixed sequence.
So ideally,
You do this practice after something you do every evening,
Such as,
For example,
Brushing your teeth,
Putting on pajamas,
Or reading a book.
So think about what that would be for you.
Pick something you do close to bedtime that you always do and commit to doing this practice right after that for a week.
When you have done your practice,
Write something rewarding in your journal,
Like draw a smiley or something positive like,
Yes,
I did it again,
Or I'm proud of myself.
Practicing giving ourselves these little encouragements and writing down our positive emotions will help us to build trust,
Resilience,
And build positive habits that will last a lifetime.
Take this final moment to write down after what thing you will do this practice for the next week and what you will write down after your practice to make yourself feel good.
Thank you for showing up for yourself.
You're doing a great job.
I will meet you again tomorrow evening.
