Having a racing mind is an all too familiar experience for many people. It can rob us of the opportunity to truly relax and get restful sleep. Anxiety, stress, and worry, can all have an overwhelming impact on our mental clarity and cause incessant ruminating about our thoughts and worries. While this can be a major hindrance to finding peace and rest through sleep, there are ways to manage and help bring our racing minds to a restful calm.
Utilizing relaxation techniques such as breathing practices, journaling, and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) can help manage and reduce racing thoughts to create the optimal conditions for more restful sleep. In this article, we will cover numerous helpful tips on how to effectively calm a racing mind for better sleep.
Continue reading to find out more self-care and mindfulness strategies you can use to help create a restful and more tranquil environment that can result in a better nights sleep.
Breathing Exercises
Learning how to breathe correctly can be a pivotal aid in helping to quiet a mind that is spinning out of control. Incorrect breathing habits is a major contributor to a heightened state of anxiety and more racing thoughts. Taking the time to practice breathing techniques can be easily done any time of day and can have a positive impact on keeping one’s mind at ease.
A few simple techniques that could be incorporated into a pre-bedtime routine are belly breathing, relaxed deep breathing, alternate nostril breathing, and even spoke breathing. All these techniques involve deep belly breathing and can be done no matter where one is located.
Journaling
Journaling can also be an effective way to express, process, and cathartically release racing thoughts. This can be especially helpful for those who tend to ruminate on worries, anxieties, and concerns about different events that are constantly running through our minds. Taking out 10-15 minutes to express these thoughts can help to create more mental space, remove distracting thoughts, and help one to fall into a restful sleep with ease.
The other added benefit of journaling is that it can provide an individual with perspective that may not be so easily accessible prior to writing. While it may be difficult to see in the moment, journaling can help to reveal and clarify what’s really going on in one’s head.
When this practice is done as a nightly routine, it can also be helpful in uncovering any recurring patterns that are commonly experienced which results in a racing mind.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
PMR can also be a powerful tool to help relax and quieten lingering racing thoughts. This technique involves the contraction and relaxation of different groups of muscles. Starting at the top of the body and slowly working down towards the toes, one can tense different groups of muscles without straining and them relax them back down.
This practice is also clinical proven to help calm and decompress tension and emotions that can be attributed to a racing mind, and can also be done when lying in bed or when seated in a comfortable position. This exercise is also often used in the treatment of anxiety and stress given its ability to quickly reduce the physical sensation of tension or stress.
Other Helpful Tips
- Creating a calming atmosphere through the use of night- mode lighting, essential oils, and calming music
- Limiting screen time (at least one hour before going to bed)
- Eating healthy, nourishing meals before bed
- Regular exercise
- Avoiding caffeine and alcohol late at night
Conclusion
These are just a few of the many practices and techniques one can use to help calm a racing mind. Utilizing these practices can be transformative in helping to keep our minds at ease and to rest more deeply. With consistent practice, one can slowly see each session delivering even more restful results and learn to quiet the mind and find peace and ease with every breath.