One of the main persistent barriers to sleep is stress. In order for us to achieve good quality sleep then we need to be in a truly relaxed state, and obviously stress prevents us from achieving this. There are a couple of possible solutions to this. First of all, you could just remove whatever is causing you stress. However, this is clearly considerably easier to say than to achieve. If your main source of stress relates to your relationship or your job then you cannot just remove yourself from this situation.
An alternative then is to find ways to deal with this stress more effectively. Here a couple of relaxation techniques that I have often found useful:
Visualization
Lie in your bed with your eyes closed, making sure that you will not have any interruptions. Think about somewhere relaxing that you would like to be. It doesn't matter whether it is somewhere that you have been to before, or even whether it actually exists, as long as you can actually visualize the place you are imagining.
Now, you need to visualize the place you are imagining in detail, thinking through each of your sense. So, imagine how the breeze feels on your face, imagine the sounds you would hear in your chosen place, what you would smell and, of course, what you would see. You can return to this place frequently and develop in your mind all the different things that you would experience.
Progressive Relaxation
Lie in your bed with your eyes closed. Start with your toes and tell yourself that they are relaxing and that this relaxation is going to spread slowly over your body. Move next to your feet. Again, you should tell yourself that they are becoming gradually more relaxed and feel their weight sink slowly into the bed. Repeat this process working your way up your body. It is important to take this very slowly and not to rush it. Imagine each part of your body become progressively relaxed and sinking into the bed. When you feel that you have worked your way all over your body then you should consider the whole of your body and if you feel that any part of you is still tense then repeat the process for that part of your body.
Download this Guide to Find Out More About How to Use Relaxation Techniques to Help You Sleep
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