We’ve all experienced it. An aching feeling when, despite everything you’ve tried, you can’t fall asleep. Even worse – you’ve woken up in the middle of the night from an unsettling dream.
Do you get up? Or do you pull over the covers, shut your eyes, and lay there counting down the minutes until daybreak?
First and foremost, we must stress that good quality sleep is about routine and consistency. If you’re having trouble with ongoing insomnia then it’s time to look at the bigger picture. What are your daily habits? What’s your exposure to natural light and regular exercise? What are you eating? And how are you shutting down your mind?
But as this won’t help you in the moment, we wanted to create a guide to help support you when the lonely hours through the night are closing in. The bigger work can come in time.
Here are five simple and easy emergency sleep inducing techniques we recommend you try next time you have trouble falling asleep...
-
Stop the urgency to fall asleep. Reframe. To help the mind and body wind down, it’s important to not put any extra pressure or stress onto yourself. Accept you are awake. Accept that it’s not the end of the world. You will cope if you don’t get to sleep. And you will eventually fall asleep.
-
Deep breathing. There are many different breathing techniques you can use (the 4-7-8 is regularly mentioned) but any form of deep rhythmic breathing is just as good. Close your eyes. Relax your body. And breathe in and out in circular motions, breathing deep down into your belly (down into the base of your pelvic floor). Ensure you fill your lungs and expand your ribs as you inhale. Breathe in through your nose, and exhale out of your mouth. Be mindful of any tension you’re holding throughout your body. Feel the weight of your duvet, the feedback from your bedding, and ensure your senses are grounding you in the here and now. Try also imagining that the air you’re breathing in is filling your body with golden, soothing light. If it’s safe to do so, open your bedroom window slightly to allow cool and fresh air to enter the bedroom. This will aid with your breathing technique.
-
Distraction. If you’ve awoken from a bad dream, there’s a technique that’s particularly helpful. Count down from 9,000, backwards. When the brain is on high alert it’s more helpful to give it something to concentrate on, so it can wear itself out. As you focus your concentration on the difficult task of keeping track of the numbers (9,000, 8,999, 8,998, etc), you’ll soon discover that you’ve drifted off to sleep. If you get to zero, congratulate yourself and start again.
-
Escapism. Transport yourself to a different place. Imagine a burn, winding through your favourite nature spot, trickling clear mineral water across smoothed rock. Picture waves gently crashing on sand, leaving a pearlescent sheen and sparkling oceanic bubbles on the shoreline. Imagine a meadow. Listen to the tall grass as it sways in the warm breeze. Recount your favourite day, holiday, or moment. Pay attention to details. Similar to the distraction technique, this exercise will help your body unwind and your mind find a place of peace.
- Progressive relaxation. Starting from your toes, and gradually working your way up, tense a part of your body for around 20-30 seconds and then relax or release. Pay close attention to the sensation before, and after. Move from one body part to the other. Do this slowly and ensure every part of your body has gone through the exercise.
At Ava Innes, we believe that sleep is naturally simple. We’ve developed a weighted and patented duvet fill using the forgotten luxury fibre of cashmere guard. The gentle weight sends sensory feedback to the body and in turn the brain, allowing you to instantly relax and unwind. Our customers tell us they are sleeping longer, more soundly, and with reduced disturbances to their sleep thanks to our cashmere guard duvet.
We talk to people of all ages from around the world, battling with different nighttime temperatures. Specifically, we have first-hand experience of hormonal changes and how best to support the body during menopause. We have also supported both men and women undergoing different medical treatments that affect their sleep.
If you’d like more information, or to organise a one-to-one call with one of our Ava Innes experts, please feel free to contact our friendly Elgin-based team on +44 (0)1343 611740.
