How to help yourself if you can't sleep
Insomnia seems to have become a problem of the general population, which is not only the fault of pandemics and conflicts, but also unhealthy habits.
“You’ll sleep through your whole life,” is a sentence we have heard very often throughout our life. However, lately, everything has come together for us - stress, illness, anxiety, and we first feel the changes and have the consequences in bed.
The main trigger is stress
Insomnia most often develops due to stressful situations such as the death of a partner, illness, loss of a job, but also physical illness and inadequate sleeping conditions such as too hot or too cold room, ambient noise, or uncomfortable mattress.
In situations of increased stress, the body is under the onslaught of hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, whose evolutionary task is to prepare us for the 'run or fight' reaction, which is extremely important for survival in the short term. We can all remember how we slept intermittently, woke up, and felt sleepy in the morning before an important exam or a long trip.
What not to do before bed?
Surely you have read or heard on many pages that the body is a slave to habit and that one should go to bed at the same time every night. According to psychologists, this habit is good for children due to the establishment of the sleep rhythm, but it can cause a counter-effect in adults.
"Just as we are not hungry at the same time every day, we cannot expect to sleep at the same time every day. Therefore, for some this rule worsens insomnia because they try to fall asleep on time, and failure to do so supports their belief that 'I can't sleep', " said the psychiatrist.
How to help yourself fall asleep easier and wake up more rested?
Sleep applications, says a psychiatrist, can help us relax, which will then lead to easier sleep. But there are a number of ways and techniques that can help us, and the most effective are breathing exercises. Deep breathing slows the heart rate, calms the nervous system, relaxes the mind and body, and increases the secretion of oxytocin - the hormone of happiness.
A popular breathing technique is the "4-7-8 method" which is performed as follows:
1. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
2. Close your mouth and inhale through your nose counting to four.
3. Hold your breath counting to seven.
4. Open your mouth and exhale with a sound counting to eight. Repeat three times or as many times as needed.
