Tips to Sleep better; helps everyone, but specially those with anxiety and ADHD

 


Tips to Sleep better; helps everyone, but specially those with anxiety and ADHD


Here are some tips to relax your body, mind and spirit to get the best possible sleep and wake up well rested and ready to go! 

1. Dis-engage

One of the biggest road blocks to having a good night's sleep and getting into a state of relaxation is our screens. TV. Laptops, phones, tablets, kindles, amazon echo devices, we have it all around us all the time. The constant consumption of Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, will ensure that your brain is engaged and working on information which is essentially useless. So here is a suggestion on what you can try and do: 

                1. Keep your room free of devices, no TV, no laptop etc. Its a place of rest                     and it should be built for that purpose only. 

                2. If you can keep you cellphone outside while you sleep, do that. I                               struggle with this, as it causes me anxiety, the "what if" someone calls                      in an emergency and I don't hear it scenario. So I switch off mobile data                    and WIFI when I sleep so there are notifications from apps.  

                3. Stop screen time at least 1-2 hours before bed. This includes all                                screens. 

2. Engage - but only a little. 

  Since we are glued to our devices, initially we don't know what to do. The           first few days I did this, I was so bored I slept at 9pm, my target was 11pm.  

            1. Read: This is a great option, I rarely read, so this habit has been effective                 in making me relaxed and ready to sleep. In true ADHD fashion, I am                       currently reading 4 books simultaneously. I read whatever I feel like! Just                 to mention read a book, not an E-book on your screen! 

            2. Talk: Have some quality time with your kids or partner. Make some                            chamomile tea or milk and just catch up. Too often we are interacting with                 our loved ones while we have our phone in our hand or while watching                    TV. Give and receive undivided attention. 

            3. Play Board games old-school like Uno, Scrabble or Monopoly. Or even                     invest in a puzzle and do a little everyday. 

            4. Paint or colour in Mandalas: This is a huge relaxation activity and you                     don't have to finish it all in one day. 

            5. Self-Care: This is my favorite, a nice warm bath / shower, followed by a                 nice foot massage with a relaxing oil. I usually follow it up with a chamomile             or peppermint tea and get into bed with the book. The tea is such a powerful             ritual. My husband automatically feels like its time for bed if the tea is being             served. Its now set as a trigger for relaxation as its been repeated everyday              for years. 

3. Lighting 

I have read in many places, that make your room dark and cool for better sleep. I agree with that. But no one talks about how the lighting in your house generally can affect how you feel. In my house we have indirect lighting which means, wall lights, floor lamps, table lamps and decorative lighting. In the evening everything is on and its nice and bright. As the evening progresses, and we get closer to bedtime, I start to shut down and keep only 1-2 lamps on. This is again a great way to get into the space of relaxation and sleep. Its a great way to support your circadian rhythm. 

4. Eat Early and stay off caffeine and alcohol 

This one is an important one. Eating your dinner at least 3 hours before bedtime is the best way. If you work late and are unable to do this, then consider having a lighter dinner such as soup. See what works best for you. Try different times such as eat at 7pm if you want to go to sleep by 10pm and so on. If you get hungry before bed, have a slice of toast. This is an individual choice and trying a few combinations will help you identify what works best for you. 

Having alcohol, caffeine or sugar in the evening will affect sleep quality. Numerous studies have been done on caffeine and its affect on sleep. I know some people can sleep right after having a coffee and that's fine. But if you are sensitive like me, consider having your coffee before 4pm. Alcohol 3 hours before bed has also shown to affect the quality of sleep, lead to frequent waking up and having difficulty falling asleep. 

For some people, sugar can act as a stimulant and affect sleep. So experiment with how caffeine, alcohol and sugar affect you and accordingly incorporate into your day. 

As an example, for me, No coffee after 3pm. No desserts for dinner and I rarely consume alcohol. If I do, its on the rocks or with soda / water to reduce my sugar intake. 

5. Meditate, Breath, Listen to Music or Journal

You can try some guided meditation online or listen to relaxing music. Journaling is an excellent way to de-stress from your day and plan for your next. There are so many resources online for sleep & relaxation music and meditations. Try and see what you enjoy. 

6. Be Consistent

Your bedtime ritual will become something you look forward to. As you keep following it day by day, you will notice an improvement in your sleep, rest, mood and relationships. It will also become easier to follow. 


Its a process of trial and error to get to the best combination for you and your family. You don't HAVE to do it all at once, but do a little everyday. I started with one habit a week and kept adding on till i reached the combination that worked for me and more importantly, one that was easiest and most effective to follow for me. So good luck!! 
















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nino, the little mouse who lived on a farm

Image
Freepik ( www.freepik.com ) Nino, the little mouse who lived on a farm.  Once upon a time there was a small mouse named Nino. Nino was white and he had this heart shaped black birthmark right behind his ear. The other animals on the farm used to make fun of Nino for his birthmark because it looked like a small fly was sitting behind his ear. Growing up Nino used to get very upset. He tried so many time to get rid of this mark. He washed his ear with soap and water, tried to hide it with a wooly hat and once, in a moment of absolute desperation he dyed himself blue!  You are wondering how did that happen? Well for days, he sat on the fence and watched Mark, the farm boy, dye cotton cloth blue in the big tub of indigo dye. It was a very special dye, it was brought from a far away land where everything was colorful and bright. So he saw this day after day, pieces of pale cotton cloth would go into the tub and come out bright blue. Pale as he was himself, he thought wow, If I dipp...
Read more

Why is therapy important and why it should be made accessible to all?

Image
  Why is therapy important and why it should be made accessible to all? There is so much talk about mental health in the last few years, but still it is surrounded by a lot stigma in our society. I am part of a so called educated, well traveled, modern circle of friends, yet so often I will hear " why do you need therapy, you have everything you could ask for" or " what reason do you have to be "anxious".  My biggest revelation in therapy has been that even if you choose to show up and do the work, your environment plays a huge part in how much progress you make.  And a lot of the time , we are in therapy to work through issues that have arisen due to our environment and our interactions with our primary care givers or our spouses. So its no surprise that t herapy changes you and the way you deal with your environment.  I started therapy in my late 30s, after several years of "self help" and "self medication" which only resulted in short ter...
Read more

Turning 40 , therapy and life altering ADHD diagnosis

Image
Turning 40 , therapy and life altering  ADHD diagnosis Turning 40 is often a time of reflection and self-discovery, but also dread. For me, it came with a bag of mixed emotions. In the last 6 years, I have battled infertility, experienced multiple miscarriages, seen the business I put everything into shut down, seen myself go from a "successful" person to someone whose self esteem, confidence and bank balance hit zero. I went from feeling independent to being held hostage to my moods, anxieties and worries.  To keep it simple, I hit rock bottom multiple times, but never as bad as I did in March 2023, where 1 whole month went with really low moods, procrastination, hopelessness and just absolute inactivity. I remember waking up and thinking, what is the point of waking up, why couldn't I just stay asleep and maybe not wake up and think about life. This feeling was so intense, I started to worry and decided to seek therapy. By now I had obviously done my research, by this I...
Read more