We have all been there. When you wake up in the middle of the night and you can't get back to sleep, it can feel like you are in a panic because you will have to wake up in a few hours, and if you don't get that proper sleep, you know you're going to feel grumpy or fuzzy-headed. So what happens when this hits you? Here are a few things to help you if you wake up in the middle of the night, but also to prevent it.
If you are someone who just jumps into bed and tries to get off to sleep, if you force yourself, this could mean you end up waking up in the middle of the night. It's important not to force yourself to sleep if you're not tired in the middle of the night, but start to relax, either in the middle of the night or learn to wind down before bed. Lots of people have a pre-bedtime routine where they do some gentle stretching, or have something that serves as a trigger to get them into a more relaxed state. Some people have decaffeinated green tea, but others go for things like Delta 8 gummies. Whatever works for you, make sure that you get into that winding down frame of mind, which means not looking at your phone, minimizing bright light, and focusing on the gentle things before bed.
If you find yourself incredibly sleepy during a boring work meeting, this could be due to a part of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens, so if you wake up in the middle of the night, start to think about something boring or read a boring book. But make sure that you have very low light.
A body scan is a technique that many people find helps them to calm down. Similar to techniques like progressive muscle relaxation, you focus on one part of your body at a time and relax each muscle. You can find a number of guided videos on YouTube, including this non-sleep deep rest protocol.
If you cannot fall back asleep within 20 minutes, it's recommended that you get out of bed and go to a different room. This might make it easier to fall back asleep when you return but you've got to stick to things that are not stimulating. It can benefit you at this point to practice something like meditation. Many people focus so much on trying to get back to sleep they find their mind is darting in all different directions. Meditation is something that can help you, but breathing exercises may also benefit, for example, the 4-7-8 technique, where you inhale through your nose for 4, hold your breath for 7, and exhale for 8.
Sleep is one of the best ways to look after yourself, but if you feel you're not getting enough of it, especially if you wake up at night, try some of these things out.
