Unwind That Busy Mind for Better Sleep

It seems that everyone today is always in the middle of something – busy, no time to slow down and relax. But to get a great night’s sleep, pumping the brakes on your neural pathways is so important. Here are a few tips to powering down and quieting your overactive grey matter.

Breathe Deep

Deep breathing is known to slow your pulse and reduce stress, which are key contributors to great sleep. Proper breathing often seems like a lost art. With crazy deadlines and hyper kids running around the house, it’s sometime hard to even remember to breathe at all. So here’s a simple reminder.

– Use your diaphragm – Fill your lungs with oxygen until your belly is pushed all the way out. Forget about how you look – we all have a gut in there somewhere.

– Calm down – It’s important to remember to consciously breathe and RELAX. Let go and give yourself a little break before bed.

– Keep a steady rhythm – Proper breathing requires rhythm. So find your calm cadence and keep it up as long as you can.

Meditate

This one usually sounds a little cheesy or cliche, but it really works. Meditation is not what you think. Simply sitting silently with your eyes closed, free of distraction and practicing the breathing techniques above will do the trick. You’ll feel the difference almost immediately.

Shut ‘em down

Screens aren’t good for human eyeballs. Crazy, right? Most of us stare at them all day, so how could they be bad? Just trust us, we did science once, and, they just are. Give those baby blues a rest before you rest. Shut everything down at least an hour before bed and, viola!, you free up an hour or so to breathe, meditate and maybe even turn in a little early.

We hope these simple tips help you sleep like you’ve never slept before. If you need any additional advice on getting better sleep, your friends at The Mattress Hub are here to help.