Sleep is magic for the body, mind and soul, but for many of us it can be hard to get settled down for a good night of sleep. Life's hectic, and with so much going on it can be easy to forget how to quiet your mind.

Learning to switch off and get a good night’s sleep comes down to building powerful habits and unpicking the bad habits that are affecting your body, mind and soul from relaxing and recharging.

As well as establishing a good night time routine through getting your body and mind prepared for bed, thinking about sleep earlier in the day can help you with how to quiet your mind, to boost your chances of feeling well-rested.

End the Day Strong

A good technique for how to quiet your mind before bed is to think about it way before the hours of darkness.

This is all about switching off from the day in a powerful way. Close the working day by writing down your small daily victories - what went well and what you learned, whether this is in the office or the home. This is a great way to clear it out of your mind.

Write it all down on a piece of paper. Then you can either keep that piece of paper for the next day or screw it up, throw it in the bin, and take that energy shift as clearing it out of your mind.

Doing this helps you go to bed without having the day running through your mind, helping you switch off and get to sleep quicker.

Establish Your Own Night Time Ritual

Building strong habits through establishing your own night time rituals will help your brain recognise when it's time to unwind and be ready for sleep.

Building your night time routine is a powerful way of how to quiet your mind. Just like how bathing a child, reading them a story and tucking them up in bed triggers the awareness of a pre-sleep ritual.

If you build your own night time routine, your brain will start to set to work with the shutting down the 'awake system' and switching on the 'sleep system' to help you have a nourishing night of sleep.

Take some time to sit and journal what things you find relaxing. Think about the things you could you do each night before bed in a quick 10-20 minute ritual that would demonstrate to your mind, body and soul that it is time for some shut eye.

• Is it lighting a favourite scented candle and watching the flame flicker and glow...
• Perhaps it's listening to a relaxing track, meditation or audio sleep story each night before bed..
• Or maybe it's reading 10 pages of a book to get your mind to switch off from the day..

Build your own night time rituals and after a few weeks of implementing these each night, you'll notice yourself drifting off to a calm, deep sleep far more easily.

Prepare for Sleep Before Bed

Our brains start preparing for sleep about two hours before our actual bedtime. We have billions of neurons firing up all day to keep us alert, active and engaged, and that system has to slowly come down to allow the sleep system to calmly take over, thus this is why it can take some time to quiet the mind.

Try to set an alarm an hour to two prior to your expected bedtime and use it to remind yourself to wind down from the day.

Do something you truly enjoy and find relaxing. It could be spending some time with your partner or family, taking a break, reading or even watching TV.

Mindful Breathing Cycle

Mindfulness can be a powerful technique in how to quiet your mind, perfect for life’s ups and downs and with the added benefit that making a habit of mindfulness can help to reduce insomnia and improve sleep.

By using an exercise called a mindful breathing cycle, you can bring yourself into the present moment, just before getting ready for sleep, leaving you feeling relaxed, calm and grounded.

It's all about the power of the breath. As you breathe, think about inhaling love and exhaling gratitude. Doing something as simple and relaxing as paying attention to your breathing can really help you feel calmer and more mindful.

You'll feel the benefits of this exercise even if you have as little as one minute to sit and focus on the breath.

Before you start, it's important that you feel comfortable and that you're in a space where you feel you can get into the present moment, be relaxed and bring attention to the breath.

This technique is a really simple, easy way for how to quiet your mind. You're going to breathe in slowly for four counts, pause for two counts, then breathe out slowly for four counts. During the pause, notice the stillness. If you notice your mind wandering, gently bring your attention back to the breathing cycle and counting your breath. Enjoy the feeling of stillness and peace.

Summary

In summary, the best way to get a good night of sleep is to think about how to quiet your mind well ahead of entering the bedroom. Think about how you can reset your night time routine and establish something that allows you to get into a state of restful awareness. What can you remove from your current habits? What can you add back in that you’ve forgotten you love?

Self-Guided Support for Better Sleep

Research shows that self-help materials are often enough for people to overcome mild to moderate mental health difficulties without professional support.

If you’re interested in a self-guided program that includes tools from CBT, DBT, ACT and more, be sure to check out The Mental Wellbeing Toolkit. It's "like 10 therapy sessions in one."

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