Have you ever been in a situation where your body is just so ready to rest and call it a night, but your mind is still hyperactive? I’m sure it happened to most of us already. You must be racing with your mind.
It could be a hard day’s night where you are still thinking about the things that happened, the meetings you attended, ongoing projects, decisions made, and so on. Or it could also be because of anticipation for tomorrow’s events, or discussions, or interviews, and many other things. Whatever it is that’s keeping you from sleeping must be very big, that it keeps your mind working even when your body is tired.
This experience is not pleasant especially when you need to be as energetic as you can be for tomorrow’s day of work. Here’s a helpful tip on how you can overcome these scenarios when your mind won’t stop working and you need to sleep.
There’s this technique that will help you relax and be calm. It’s called box breathing. Box breathing is also used for yoga, tai chi, taekwondo, and more. It is a powerful, yet easy relaxation technique, and the purpose is to return your breathing to its normal rhythm. This technique has been proven to improve focus, relax your mind and body, and clear your thoughts.
Simple deep breathing sends a message to your brain to relax and calm down. Then the brain tells the body to do the same. With box breathing, you will follow a breathing pattern and the goal is the same, to make you relax, calm your thoughts, and fall asleep.
Here’s how you do the box breathing:
- Take a deep breath for five seconds
- Hold your breath for five seconds
- Breathe you slowly through your ears
- Do this cycle three to four times
After box breathing, do the calm breathing:
- Breathe in again for five seconds
- This time, slowly breathe out for ten seconds, through your nose, like that of a snoring sound.
- Do this cycle three to four times.
Three or four cycles of box breath, then three to four cycles of calming breath. As you do the breathing techniques, imagine inhaling the positive energy, and exhaling all the worries. As you continue breathing in and breathing out, you will realize that you are no longer thinking of whatever it is that’s keeping you up, and you will fall asleep eventually.
So, it’s time to Calm your Racing Mind
This is just one of the many ways to calm your racing mind and relax so you can sleep. You may also need to look at your nutrition and diet and they also play a big role in people’s pattern of sleep.