We all know that a good night’s sleep is important. A good bed, a dark bedroom and little noise contribute to a good night’s sleep. Here are my favorite five exercises which gives me nice moments to relax. Try them for yourself so that you go to bed with a calm head.
1. Breathing exercise
Healthy breathing is of vital importance. If you are just thinking about something stressful, your breathing and your heartbeat will rise. By breathing in and out very consciously through your nose you can delay your breathing. Your breathing can also help you to get out of your head and to have more attention for your body. An exercise that helps to breathe deeply and calmly is the following:
- Find a place where you can sit or lie down.
- Close your eyes and breathe in and out through your nose.
- Breathe in four counts, hold your breath for two counts, exhale for six counts.
- If step three goes well, you can try to breathe in four beats, hold two beats, and exhale eight beats. Repeat this a number of rounds.
- Return your natural breathing and feel for a moment.
2. Yoga posture: the broken candle
The broken candle is a yoga posture, known for its stress-reducing and relaxing nature.
- Find a spot near a wall, lie in front of the wall, raise your legs against the wall. You can put a folded blanket under your sit bones.
- Put one hand on your heart and one on the belly.
- Breathe calmly and see if you can feel your heart beating and your belly moving through your breathing.
- Stay in this position for about 5 minutes.
- Move your legs back down and roll up through your right side.
3. Relaxation exercise: meditation
Before going to sleep it can be nice to do a relaxation exercise, such as meditation. A guided relaxation exercise is great if you don’t have much experience with it. Make sure that you are ready to go to sleep so that you can remain lying down after the exercise. You can listen to an example of a relaxation exercise here.
4. Sleeping mantra
Are you lying in bed and you notice that you are very busy in your head? Then this exercise might help you.
- Be aware of the unrest in your head, because then you can do something about it.
- Choose three words that will make you feel good, that will make you happy.
- Make those words your own sleeping mantra. The word mantra comes from Sanskrit and literally means: man = mind and tra = control. It is about repeating a word or sentence that gives you a positive feeling.
- Repeat the words quietly one after the other so that your attention remains focused on it rather than on the troubled thoughts in your head.
5. Mindset
If you have done the above exercises and you are still experiencing sleep problems, try accepting that it is not working right now. See if you can enjoy lying a bit. To be able to sleep we go from the do position to the being position.
Sleep tight!