How to fall back asleep if you wake up at night: remember these rules
How to quickly fall back asleep (Photo: pixabay.com)
About a third of people on Earth suffer from waking up in the middle of the night and struggling to fall back asleep. In the morning, they wake up feeling tired and exhausted, as if they haven't slept all night, informs WebMD.
These are the rules you should follow to fall back asleep if you wake up in the middle of the night.
Forget about time
When you wake up in the middle of the night, there's a temptation to check the time. However, each time you find out what time it is, you'll worry about how much sleep you've lost, reinforcing stress and making it harder to relax and fall back asleep. Turn the clock to face the wall and avoid checking the time on your phone.
No screens
The light from any screen, whether it's a tablet, phone, or laptop, signals your brain to wake up. Keep all devices away so you can't use them in the middle of the night. Try not to read or look at anything at least an hour before bedtime.
Move to another room
If you haven't slept for 20 minutes or longer, you might want to get up and go to another room. Avoid turning on bright lights and the TV, but move to a different room. Engage in something calm and relaxing, such as deep breathing or reading a few pages of a paper book. Wait until drowsiness returns before returning to bed.
Night is not time for activity
Resist the urge to engage in productive activities during sleepless nights. It's not the best time for cooking or reviewing quarterly reports. Your brain will immediately respond to such activity, and there's a risk of waking up even more throughout the night.
Count backward
Overactivity of your brain can be a cause of nighttime wakefulness. You need to "turn it off." Start counting backward from 100; this diverts attention from thoughts and anxieties, forcing the brain to stay in the present. After a while, you may feel the urge to sleep again.
Relax your muscles
For you to fall asleep, your muscles need to be relaxed. If you're tense, your muscles are too – and you might not even realize it. Use this technique: start with your feet and tense all the muscles in your toes for 5 seconds, then relax. Take a slow, deep breath. Repeat this technique with your legs, back, arms, abdomen, chest, and face.
Bedtime rituals
Practice relaxing rituals before bed – listen to calming music, do a few simple yoga poses, meditate, or take a relaxing bath.
Reduce caffeine intake
Your brain is forced to stay awake due to the caffeine accumulated throughout the day. It's not just coffee; it's also tea, soda, energy drinks, and chocolate. Their effect is rapid during the day, but caffeine lingers in the body much longer. If you have sleep problems, avoid consuming anything with caffeine after noon.
Noise-free bedroom
When you sleep, your brain reacts to sounds, and some can even wake you up from deep sleep. Make your bedroom as quiet as possible, using earplugs if necessary. By the way, a regular fan can block out any sounds that might wake you up.
Room temperature
Your bedroom should not be too hot or too cold. Optimal is slightly cool. Choose the right blanket so that you are not too hot or too cold underneath it. You can even take a warmer blanket and make the room a little cooler – this helps with a good night's sleep.
Avoid alcohol
You may think that a glass of beer or wine before bed will help you sleep. Alcohol increases the level of a chemical that aids sleep. However, the problem is that this chemical quickly runs out, and you may wake up long before morning. Also, you may be bothered by bathroom urges and thirst.
Stick to schedule
If you haven't slept well, you'll be tired and exhausted in the morning. Don't try to make up for lost sleep during the day or closer to the evening. Try to stick to a consistent schedule of going to bed and waking up – this trains your body to distinguish between wakefulness and sleep.
If all the above attempts don't help, talk to a doctor. There can be many reasons for waking up at night.
Previously, we wrote about the 8 basic rules for good sleep and how to eat if your routine is disrupted due to stress.
This material is for informational purposes only and should not be used for medical diagnosis or self-treatment. Our goal is to provide readers with accurate information about symptoms, causes, and methods of detecting diseases. RBС-Ukraine is not responsible for any diagnoses that readers may make based on materials from the resource. We do not recommend self-treatment and advise consulting a doctor in case of any health concerns.
