Racing mind at night

[Emamino88]

Anyone have occasional restless nights when you're trying to fall asleep? What tips and tricks do you use to "clear" your mind??

[SantiR · Accepted solution]

@Emamino88 That happens to me a lot! What usually helps me is singing in my head. I just sing in my head and get to relax and eventually fall asleep.

Another thing I do is reading. I start reading a book and suddenly I am sleeping.

It is worth trying! 

[GolfingGrandma]

Take deep breathes. clear your mind of anything stressful, think of walking in a field of daisies. it is a beautiful spring day, just a light breeze, blue sky. you are just walking through the field.   

[Emamino88]

I would have never thought of singing in my head! I tried it, and it seemed to help. Thanks

[SantiR]

@Emamino88 I'm glad that helped! Music is magical and healthy in every way and situation! 

@GolfingGrandma What a great tip, visualizing when in deep meditation should for sure help getting some good sleep! 

[nataliesbhimraj]

Yes, my mind goes everywhere!! aha, its like just thinking about everything!

[Emamino88]

@nataliesbhimraj It's the worst! You think you're in the clear, then something else irrelevant enters your mind...

[JeaKend]

This happens to me almost every night!  What helps me to "calm" my overactive night-owl of a brain is counting backwards. I start at 1,ooo and count down, while doing this in my mind I will also try to visualize what each number looks like as I count them down.  Usually by the time I get to the 600's I'll catch myself counting the same number over and over a few times.  That's when I realize that I actually fell asleep and wasn't aware of it, lol. Unfortunately, there have also been rare times (under extreme stress) where I've made it all the way to zero and had to start counting back up to 1,000.  So this method really only works for general overthinking at night.  😕

[Emamino88]

@JeaKend I don't even know if I could count backwards from 1,000! Haha. I'll have to try that one out next time

[shwaldman]

I am usually able to fall asleep fairly quickly, but at some points in the night I get restless and my mind starts going all over the place too. It have been monitoring my sleep efficiency rating and it was getting down into the high 60s on average (using the sensitive setting). I found myself so tired all day and needing to close my eyes in meetings or even while driving - so not good!

I  recently started practicing mindful yoga before bed and it has helped me a ton. I am seeing my efficiency score up pretty consistently into the 80s. I feel so much better and getting the day without being tired. 

[Emamino88]

@shwaldman You're right about closing eyes while driving not being good! I will have to check out the mindful yoga and give it a try. Glad it is helping you to have an efficient sleep! Thanks! 

[OldPup]

One thing that works for me is listening to podcasts at a fairly low volume. Something that does not have occasional loud (shouting, etc) volume changes. They have some meditative ones, or just some mellow talks. My iPad has a sleep function at a certain time or when the episode ends. If you have a significant other that doesn't want to hear it, figure how headphones work best for you. For me I lay on my side and prop headphones on so I can hear as I can't wear comfortably and go to sleep.
It distracts my mind from thinking on its own. It's my routine now, never make it more than 20-30 minutes if not sooner.

[jeannahugg]

this is a nightly occurrence for me, my doc says it's 'anxiety' related.  anyway i can usually fall asleep ok after reading, but always then manage to wake myself up (my fitbit used to show me awake multiple times during the night but less lately).  i've been reading a book about Mindfulness (sounds very gobbly **ahem** i know) but it does seem to help.  Also i find deep breathing, and when breathing out i say 'hush' (in my head), and this seems to quiet the chatterbrain too.  I've almost forgotten what it's like to have a 7 hour sleep :((

[Labyrinth]

Love the singing in the head might try that , as I get very restless at night thankyou 🙂

[Labyrinth]

Hi Emamino88, I have quite a few so have been dealing with this for some time. I have always found not to get to anxious about it , its just the way it is. Like some of the other awesome suggestions I read , practice mindfulness ect. I love the tip singing in the head. Next thing is to try out the podcast thing although a little techno challenged at times lol 🙂 

I have found that the fitbit is really making me aware of how little sleep I do get so still working on it.

Good luck trying the tips and let us know if they work .

[Labyrinth]

I am with you Jeanahugg love the name 🙂 very rarely get 7 hours sleep the fit bit record was some what of a shock at how little of sleep I survive on.

thanks for sharing

[NellyG]

@SantiR I thought the idea of singing to yourself sounded really weird, but I gave it a go. I gotnall the way through 10 Green Bottles, decided it wasnt working, but moved on to on the First Day of Christmas (another long repetative song) and then I woke up this morning lol. So maybe it is not so weird after all. I'll try it again tonight! 

[SantiR]

@NellyG It does sounds weird! However, it works all the time! Specially for those insomnia nights, singing in your head will eventually get you to sleep. Another thing that I have tried recently was putting some chill out/nature sounds/relax music on Youtube while on bed. I got relaxed and just woke up the next morning. You can also try that to see how it goes! 

[Murph3.0]

Hey Emamino88. I suffer from CHRONIC restless nights, 9 hrs of "sleep" usually gets me an average of 3 and a half hours a night. The most common things to help with are excersice, eat right, Melatonin  couple nights a week, calm yourself for at least a hour before bed, etc. I'm sure you've heard most of these. I've found the racing mind problem is a REALLY hard thing to defeat. I'm a war vet, so I constantly find myself planning out hostile situations, hashing out situations in the past I could have handled differently and on and on... It's constant and miserable. The things I've foundhelp the most is, first off, scheduleing. Go to bed the same time every night. When my mind starts racing I try to catch myself before I really get rolling and breathe deeply and try to focus on ONE thing. Find something peaceful you really enjoy. My "happy place" is wood working, I really like carving. So I'll think of a cool pattern and follow it with my eyes, imagine what chisel to use, see the blade curling the wood, etc. Its, for all intents and purposes, meditation ( guess I could have just said that,) but it really helps me get to sleep. The staying asleep is my hard part, but I've heard from alot of Vets that Melatonin helps, but you really should consult a Doc if you wanna start that on a regular basis. Sorry I'm so long winded, but like I said this is a pretty serious problem for me too, so I feel your pain and wanna give ya what I've figured out. Hope it helps man, good luck.

[kemley12]

I try not to be on my phone or laptop within a half hour of going to sleep! This usually helps me. 

---

@Emamino88 wrote:

Anyone have occasional restless nights when you're trying to fall asleep? What tips and tricks do you use to "clear" your mind??

---