Wind down for a restful night’s sleep

Why you might have difficulty sleeping

We’ve all been there. You do everything right — you go to bed on time, stay away from all devices a good hour before lights out, and feel 100% ready to nod off at a moment’s notice. But then sleep proves elusive and the mind goes into overdrive.

Why? Because once the day’s preoccupation — work, family, chores, news — falls away, a busy mind, suddenly free from distraction, surfaces all thoughts, as if a filter has been removed. So many people who experience restless sleep are basically struggling to settle their mind. And even when the body is sleeping, a restless, overactive mind can also wake you up … and create difficulty in drifting off again.

Biological factors can complicate things, too, including chronic pain, breathing issues, digestive issues, or psychiatric disorders. Eating too late, eating spicy foods, or consuming too much caffeine can also impact quality sleep.

And the modern day has brought screen time to the mix — a recent study found that using devices such as cell phones and e-readers disrupts our circadian rhythm — the natural, internal process that governs our sleep-wake cycle

Good habits can help those having trouble falling asleep

Investing in having good sleep hygiene, or healthy sleep habits that can help create the ideal conditions for restful sleep, can go a long way in getting better sleep. It doesn’t happen overnight, but teaching your mind and body how to relax before bed might be all you need to turn around your sleep.

The Mayo Clinic says that changing sleep habits is enough to restore good sleep for many people with insomnia, and only after trying sleep hygiene improvements do doctors move on to cognitive behavioral therapy or medications.

The big stumbling block that everyone runs into when falling asleep at bedtime or waking up in the middle of night, is “trying” too hard to drift off. The moment we “try” to do anything, there is a degree of effort involved (not to mention, mounting frustration). Too much effort actually gets in the way of rest and sleep.

The key to falling back to sleep is creating the conditions conducive to sleep … and that means winding down the mind.

One of the best hacks for unwinding the mind is to count backward from 1,000. You can mentally count or visualize the numbers, counting down from 999, 998, 997, and so on. The number becomes the object of focus for the mind and, without effort, the repetitive, steady, slow counting backwards is a great unwinding exercise. And if the mind tries to think, return to picking up the counting.