If you are experiencing anxiety or stress due to some reason, be it work, family, or just pandemic and want to know how to sleep well in these times, read on…
How does sleep work?
Let us first understand how sleep helps us. As a part of the animal kingdom, we are always on our guard to always protect ourselves and hence vigilant to our surroundings. Hence, our brains are always working and constantly evolving to handle the dangers around us.
Despite the stress, we go through every day and the threats around us, many of us are still able to control our behaviors and reduce the impact of these challenges around us through our sleep. The reason for this is that sleep reverses our state of consciousness to our surroundings and hence better prepares us for navigating the stressful times ahead. In the long run, it also helps us boost our immune system.
How to sleep well when stressed?
Here are some important tips you can follow to manage difficult situations in your life and learn how to sleep better with anxiety –
- Keep your daily schedule the same: Stick to your regular schedule of getting up, eating breakfast, working time, lunches, dinners, and sleep time. Find a rhythm that works best for your body and keep these normal timings for yourself.
- Get some sun: Try to spend at least 20 minutes each day in the morning in the sun. Light controls your natural body clock so even if it is not so sunny, the light coming indoors is good to know for your body that it is a daytime.
- Work out: Do any type of exercise every day. Whether you like jogging, walking, aerobics, dancing or any other. Exercises help improve your mood as it helps in blood circulation and reduces stress.
- Reduce caffeine: Avoid having too many teas or coffees during the day to keep you awake and working. Rest when you need to.
- Avoid electronic devices at least one hour before sleep: Keep your televisions, tabs, mobiles, and laptops away at least an hour before sleeping.
- Minimize drinking alcohol: Although some people can sleep better with alcohol, it can also cause difficulty for many. So, avoid it as much as you can.
- Avoid being in bed without sleeping: One of the important tips you must keep in mind when you want to know how to sleep better with anxiety is that if you are not able to sleep, get out, read something, or walk around and then try to sleep again.