Four easy steps to a better nights sleep

Having problems sleeping or simply unable to switch of from thoughts keeping you up at night? 

Then you might like to try some relaxation techniques from the field of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.  Primarily used for treating stress and anxiety, their calming effects also make then incredibly effective at helping you sleep.  This will also help you get back to sleep if you have sleep apnea. This is the best sleep aid you can have as you’ll learn how to take yourself to a state of deep relaxation.

You see, we have much more control over our physiology than we realise and with these simple techniques, you can unlock your body’s inbuilt relaxation response.  You can listen to the recording when you’re in bed and see for yourself how a short relaxation routine can help you to sleep. This also works if you wake up in the middle of the night and need some help drifting back to sleep.

Many of my clients have used this to help them come off over the counter sleep aids such as Phenergan. Whilst Phenergan is one of the strongest sleep aids over the counter, it has become increasingly difficult for people to get hold of, and I know of people paying up to £20 for a pack. This relaxation recording, however will give you your own natural sleep aid.

These relaxation techniques together work to: 

• lower blood pressure and heart rate, relaxing the body and helping you to drift more easily into sleep. 

• calm down the central nervous system by deactivating our fight and flight response and switching on our rest and repair mode. 

• re-orientate attention away from those thoughts keeping you awake at night, helping to bring stillness and sense of calm to the mind. 

• lower arousal levels by releasing any tension or stress that’s manifested itself in the body. 

• create a sense of self agency as you develop your ability to relax your body.

So if you are in bed and unable to get to sleep just try out these four easy steps and allow their calming and relaxing effects to guide you into a deep and blissful sleep. 

Find out more below how and why these four simple steps make for a better night sleep.

Step 1 - Just Breath

The first step is simply to take some deep relaxing breaths.  Breathing deep into the diaphragm helps to calm down the central nervous system, triggering the body’s natural relaxation response.   

The key here is to make the outbreath that bit longer than the inbreath. This works to activate the bodies rest and repair mode.  The inbreath works in reverse and plays a key role in our fight and flight response. You can see this in your own response when taken by shock or surprise we will naturally take a sharp intake of breath whereas we will slowly breath out when signing with relief.

For those new to this type of breathing it is recommended to start with four rounds of breath in the beginning, building up to 8 and done at a pace that is right for you. 

Step 2 – Release the tension

Hunched shoulders, clenched jaw and a frown are common ways in which stress manifests in the body.  Our body becomes incredibly tense but by scanning our body, identifying and releasing tension, this lower arousal levels, helping you drift more easily into sleep. 

We start at the top of the head and then systematically work down through each key muscle group, becoming aware of any tension stored and then letting this go on the exhale. 

By practicing this overtime we start to become more attuned to our bodies, to spot when we are stressed so this tension can be released more automatically.

Step 3 – Total Body Relaxation

This builds on the previous step to take the body to an even deeper level of relaxation.   This time the focus is on cultivating the feelings that accompany a deeply relaxed state. 

This starts by bringing our attention to the arms and repeating ‘My arms are heavy, warm loose and limp and I am completely relaxed’ three times.  This is repeated for the legs and finally to bring the focus to the entire body and repeating ‘I am calm, relaxed and at ease’. 

This step is based on autogenic training a relaxation technique used for a range of anxiety disorders as well as treating insomnia.  This works to induce a state of relaxation deep into the body, acting as form of self-regulation. 

Step 4 – Back to the breath

The final step brings us full circle as the focus comes back to our breath.  This time we are just allowing the breath to rise and fall at its own natural pace, all the while keeping the attention on the breath for a count of ten. 

Once you’ve reached ten or until you find yourself too relaxed to continue counting, just allow yourself to drift off to sleep.