How to End a Busy Day and Get to Sleep.

We are all doing much more these days and the question is “How do we quiet our mind when it is so excited?” We near bedtime and can’t wait until the next day because we are so excited. Here are my tips.

1. Try to get to bed early. After all, why wait up until late, when you can do what you need to do the next day. And probably with more energy and presence. I don’t know about you but I get tired at the end of the day and prefer to go to bed and get up the next day to attack the assignments. If you have an early morning routine that is working for you, then you will go to bed confident that you will be switched on and ready to tackle anything when you wake up.
2. No coffee or alcohol late at night. Coffee is a stimulant and will always keep you awake when you would rather be asleep.
3. In the night time make sure you carry a notebook and pen. I prefer notebook and pen because I grew up with pen and paper and I prefer to write things like this out rather than type in to a laptop or device. The reason to carry pen and paper is so that you can write things down that come to mind. Things that you need to do tomorrow. Things that might not be in your calendar. All things in fact that are on your mind.
4. Give yourself quiet time before going to bed. Is that music, reading, meditation or some other activity that is not related to work. Some people say TV works but I say “No” to TV because it awakens the brain too much and it is the brain that we want to put at rest.
5. Just stop and think. Tell yourself that you will be going to sleep now and that everything that you have to do tomorrow is under control. It is written down or will be otherwise handled by you or someone responsible.
6. It’s not just going to bed but also what do you do when you wake up in the middle of the night and your mind is racing? The fact that you have written things down should reassure your mind and put you a little more at peace.
7. Getting to sleep or going back to sleep. If you have had a big night and just can’t get to sleep or back to sleep, follow these tips: Try to focus on your breathing. This will take your mind off your thoughts, even for a second or two. What you want to do is get into a pattern or rhythm and peace. I actually concentrate on my stomach or gut. For a while now I have been able to sense a pulse or beat in my gut. When I first get to bed I will notice it and if that is racing I won’t immediately get to sleep. If I practice relaxing it, I can notice it slow down. The pace of the pulse slows down and a feeling of quiet comes over me. You can find this pulse and start to control it too. If you are aware, you will feel your breathing slow and sense that you are descending into sleep. I can’t say it will work for you but please try it.
8. Don’t worry. When my children were growing up, they used to call me into their bedrooms and say they couldn’t sleep. They were worried. It was probably partly my fault because all parents want their children to go to bed, go to sleep. I used to tell then not to worry. I said that resting was as good as sleep and soon enough sleep, which moves in waves, would come over them. Most times I was right.
9. I hope you can find peace at night. If you do you will set yourself up for a great night’s sleep and a productive day the next day.