Still Not Sleeping?  Or waking up in the middle of the night?

Some folks have shared with me in my practice that getting to sleep is not the problem.  Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep is the issue.  The mind starts thinking about everything, the “to-do” list gets longer by the minute at 3am.  Or, you’re just lying there with your eyes open awake.  Here are a few more tricks to try in the middle of the night if you’re having trouble getting back to sleep.   If you’ve arrived here but haven’t read the Sleep tips yet, check them out too to help you fall asleep with more ease early in your night’s sleep.

Get up and go to the bathroom.  Eliminate anything in your bladder.  Sometimes this alone will help you fall back to sleep.

Keep a pen and paper handy by your bed.  If your brain is stuck on your list and you don’t want to forget what you remembered that was so important the next morning, write it down.  Get the list of things out of your head!  You can think about it again in the morning.

Focus on your breathing.  Count backwards slowly breathing in and out “10”, breathing in and out “9”, all the way down to 0.  If your mind starts wandering, once you notice that you lost track of your counting, start all over at “10” with your focus on breathing and counting down to 0.  Give this exercise a try a couple of times.

Read something really boring, like an encyclopedia topic on something you’re not interested in.  Do not turn on your computer or look at your cell phone, emails!

If you’re not back asleep after a little while get out of bed and do something else boring, slow and quietly.

Open a window and put an extra blanket on your bed.  The cooler temperatures help with falling asleep and the extra weight of another blanket may also be comforting.

If you’d like to schedule an appointment with Susie to see if she can help too, contact her at whispersofnatureherbs@pm.me or 360-298-8665.