Too anxious to fall asleep? Try these 4 tips

Sleep anxiety can be a vicious cycle: First, you spend the night unable to fall asleep from your ruminating thoughts. The next night, the previous day’s anxieties and stresses may be a thing of the past, but you’re left with a new worry: not being able to fall asleep again.

This is also known as sleep anxiety, which Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine specialist at the University of Southern California and chief medical advisor for Fortune Recommends Health, defines as “the stress or worry about falling asleep or staying asleep, often accompanied by physical symptoms like a racing heart.”

Whether your anxiety is leading to insomnia, or your insomnia is leading to anxiety, there are ways to get out of the throes of sleep debt.

Calm your body

You can try a few relaxation techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation, which involves tensing and releasing each muscle in your body. Practicing mindfulness or deep breathing exercises can also help calm your mind and body before bed, Dasgupta says. 

Slow breathing, before bed and during the day, can calm the parasympathetic nervous system. Try box breathing, which involves inhaling for four seconds, holding for four, exhaling for four, and holding for another four before beginning the cycle again.

Reframe your thinking

Self-regulation can also help you relax. Dasgupta says you should change any negative thoughts about sleep or anxious thoughts about the day keeping you up at night into more positive ones. 

The first step is to recognize these ruminations. Once you’ve developed that self-awareness, try to challenge those thoughts by seeing if you can prove them wrong. Practicing positive self-affirmations and gratitude can help with this—and journaling them to process these feelings before bed is even better. One study found that writing out your to-do list for five minutes before bed can help you fall asleep faster.

Create a routine

Routines can help reduce anxiety, and having a calming one at night also makes for good sleep hygiene. Stick to a regular sleep schedule by going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, Dasgupta says, and practice the same habits prior to your bedtime.

Read Hillary Hoffower’s full article here.

💡 Aging Well Tip of the Week

Warren Buffett, the seventh richest person on the planet, recently turned 94.

“I eat like a six-year-old,” the CEO famously told Fortune in 2015, describing his love for “Utz” potato sticks and daily intake of five 12-ounce Coca Cola’s. “If I eat 2,700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I do it every day.”

So, how does “The Oracle of Omaha,” now just six years shy of 100, stay sharp and manage a vast empire while (over)indulging in junk food? The answer may lie in his other daily habits.

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