According to The Sleep Foundation in an article titled “Relaxation Exercises to Help Fall Asleep,” almost a third of adults experience chronic insomnia, “a sleep disorder characterized by persistent difficulties in falling or staying asleep.” For those without insomnia, one of the biggest causes of having trouble falling asleep is stress. “During periods of tension, the body activates its natural stress response, beginning with a cascade of hormones that make us feel more alert and trigger additional physiological changes,” the article states. “Our breathing becomes more quick and shallow, our heart rate and blood pressure [increase] and our digestion slows.”
Fortunately, the article also lists a number of relaxation exercises that can help one fall asleep. “These exercises lower one’s heart rate and blood pressure, slow and deepen breathing and create an increased sense of well-being.” First, they listed breathing exercises: diaphragmatic breathing and 4-7-8 breathing. Then, they listed visualization exercises, called body scan “a type of meditation that [features] a slow, focused attention to different parts of the body,” and autogenic training, which “takes [one] through the same steps as the body scan, but adds in self-statements about heaviness and warmth.”
Next, they listed progressive muscle relaxation, which is “based on the idea that it’s hard to be tense when your muscles are relaxed,” and self-hypnosis, which “is similar to progressive muscle relaxation, with the added step of focusing on a specific thought once you’re fully relaxed.” Lastly, biofeedback enlists the help of electronic devices to help monitor processes within the body. All of the techniques listed are followed by instructions on how to perform them.
For more information, visit www.sleepfoundation.org.
