5 ways to improve sleep through mindfulness.

Getting a good night’s sleep is important for our physical and mental wellbeing and yet so many people don’t sleep peacefully through the night, have a hard time waking up and so many of us wake up and feel worse than when we went to sleep. Most of us these days are not sleeping because our minds are riddled with worry, stress, and a constant stream of off obsessing over what is going to happen tomorrow or next month! Here are 5 ways that you can get a goodnight’s sleep and feel rested when you wake up.

1. Journal- If you are one of these people that find it hard to shut off your thoughts writing them down will help to not only get them out of your head but also, give you a “bigger picture” so to speak. Writing down on paper and being able to read it in it’s entirety will help you gain an understanding of what the problem is that you are obsessing over and start to generate some ideas and strategies about how to resolve the problems. Also, it allows you to get the thoughts out of your head so that you can stop thinking about it.
2. Start an evening routine/ritual and stick to it! – Having a consistent bedtime routine will help your body and your mind begin to learn that it is time to sleep. For example, shutting down the t.v. and the computer at 8:00 pm and making a chamomile tea and sitting in your favorite chair, lighting a candle, and reading a book for an hour. Signals your brain to know that it’s time to rest, relax and prepare for sleep. Having a hot bath with Epsom salts and lavender oil will relax the body and the mind. It will be something that will signal your mind and body to go from the daytime “busy” to nighttime “relaxed” mindset and sleep will become easier. Starting a nightly Gratitude journal as well will be great for your mind, when you have gratitude you feel better also it becomes an “evening” thing to do which again will signal the mind and body that it is preparing for sleep.
3. Meditation – Learning to meditate is a wonderful way to disengage your mind that has been busy all day with thousands of thoughts and then to be able to sit in a place of peacefulness, acceptance, and love. To be able to disengage the mind before trying to sleep is very beneficial. It will also help with other areas of your life and has many health benefits as well.
4. Distract the mind – Another way to prepare for sleep is to distract the mind from obsessive thoughts by doing a crossword puzzle or word search. This will distract the mind from thinking and focus it on something else. It might also be a soothing and peaceful activity while you are sitting in your bath?
5. Oiling your scalp, ears, and feet – Yes, you heard me right! This is an ancient practice for hundreds of years. It is said that when you massage the scalp at night and the ears and feet with coconut oil or sesame oil that it helps the body to be able to sleep. You might also try Spiced milk before bed which is milk that is heated up, not boiled, and add spices such as saffron, cardamom, and cinnamon. These will help you to feel tired and want to sleep.

Keep in mind that it takes repetition for something to become a habit, so continue to do this every day for a month and see how your nights go. Please send me a message and let me know how it worked for you! Sleep is so important to well-being. Also, keep in mind that success in anything requires 80 percent mindset and 20 percent action! When you make a decision to act then nothing else matters! I will talk to you next week!

Joanne Hughes is a Lifestyle Strategist that helps people to position themselves in a space to be able to move forward fearlessly and realize their true potential!

Joanne can be found at www.joannehughescoaching.com