How to wind down and drift off

We all need a break at the end of a long day, and sleep time should be precisely that, a break. Night-time is not time for thinking, be it to worry, problem solve, to work something out, or to plan. You need to allow both your body and mind to relax, allowing you to drift off and get some well deserved rest.

Here are a few things you can do to try to stop your brain whirring:

• Write a to-do list for the next day before you go to bed- know that everything is written down and ready to go so you don’t need to keep it in mind or worry about it now

• Make yourself as comfortable as possible and then focus your attention on these small comforts; a hot water bottle, your favourite pyjamas, the smell of fresh linen. Try the ‘self-compassionate touch’ technique that you can read about in our guide on ‘Self-Compassion in Self-Isolation’.

• Think of 3 things today that you are grateful for. Try to keep your mind on these, rather than things that are problematic and need something doing about them.

• Use Imagery. Try imagining yourself somewhere where you feel completely at peace. You might imagine people, or a place you have been in the past. Vividly imagine what it feels like to be there- the temperature, the sensations.

• Slow your breathing down- really focus on what each breath feels like in different parts of your body (your chest, your abdomen, your shoulders, your wind-pipes, your nostrils etc.). Try counting down from 30 with each breath. Every time your mind wonders or you forget what number you are on, just return to 30 and start again.

• Tackling difficult thoughts. When difficult thoughts do slip in, remind yourself that if they’re important they will still be there tomorrow. You can think about them then, when you’re more alert and able to make sense of things better.

What about bad dreams?

We can be as good as we like with sleep hygiene, and worry time, but if we are waking up every night with nightmares this can be really disruptive to our sleep patterns.

1. If you have a recurring bad dream, try imagining a different positive ending to it. Rehearse this ending in your mind several times before you go to sleep. This can help people to access this ending in the dream itself.

2. Be prepared to recover from the bad dream as quickly as possible:

• Keep a spray bottle on your bedside table as water in the face can help to ground us and bring us back into the present, as well as cooling us down if we’re hot and anxious

• Keep something with a relaxing smell, like essential oils or a candle, next to your bed. Use the smell to bring you back into the present.

• Check back in with reality- remind yourself where you are, what has been happening over the last few days, and what your current situation is like. It can help to move around, to speak out loud and to turn a light on to check your surroundings, or even go to the window to see what is happening outside.

• Keep an object like a stress ball to squeeze and to throw to bring your attention back into the moment.

• Slow your breathing down if you are hot and breathing fast, and practice some self-compassion if you have woken up upset or crying (see our guide for Self-Compassion in Self-Isolation).

• Imagine nicer things, like your favourite place or person, and fill your mind up with images of these before you go back to sleep.

3. Practice re-orientating yourself to reality in your mind. Imagine waking up from a dream and going through the steps above.