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How To Sleep With Anxiety: 5 Tips to Calm Anxiety at Night Naturally

Why do people get more anxious at night? Are there ways to calm anxiety at night naturally and fall asleep?

How to Sleep with Anxiety at Night

You’ve had a rough day at work. Your boss has been breathing down your neck these past weeks over a project that’s due for submission in three days’ time, and you come back to find that your dogs have turned the house inside out in search of fun while you were away. After making some sense out of all the mess, you finally crash on your bed. But your mind has other plans for you. Rather than have a sound, hearty sleep, your head fires up with different kinds of events and worries, and your dream of a wonderful sleep flies through the window.

Does that sound like you? Then keep reading this article for tips on coping with anxiety at night. But first, let us first see what causes anxiety at night...!

Why Do I Get Anxiety and Can't Sleep at Night

One of the causative factors of nighttime anxiety is the quiet, and private atmosphere created by night. Because there are no distractions, and you are lying alone in a dark room without any distractions, thoughts start popping into your mind until they become overwhelming and you lose control.

Night anxiety can also be caused by a sleeping disorder which prevents you from sleeping until anxious thoughts start surfacing in your mind. For insomniacs, sleep time is a dreaded period that involves a lot of tossing/turning around. In the course of trying to sleep, they become lost in thoughts, most of which are innocuous in real-life but at the moment insurmountable. And this vicious cycle continues to play every night.

Why Does Anxiety Cause Insomnia

People who suffer from anxiety are often under enormous stress. This can be real stress due to situations in their life or emotional boundaries that have been broken. When you suffer from an anxiety disorder, the stress can also come from your mind and make the problems you are having seem much bigger and scarier than they actually are.

Insomnia is often a direct result of stress. However, people who do not have an anxiety disorder occasionally report difficulty sleeping when dealing with a specific stressful event or problem. When stress causes insomnia, the sleep problems go away once the stress is relieved. However, this is often not the case for people dealing with anxiety. Even while you're being treated for your anxiety disorder symptoms, you're still dealing with stress. This directly contributes to your sleep problems.

If your anxiety becomes uncontrollable when you are about going to bed, here are 5 helpful tips to calm anxiety at night naturally and help you fall asleep:

5 Tips to Fall Asleep with Anxiety

As with your anxiety disorder, insomnia is likely to leave you feeling helpless and hopeless. Many people with insomnia feel it is something beyond their control and there is nothing that can be done about it. However, this is not true. Whether insomnia is contributing to your anxiety or you're stuck with an anxiety that's causing insomnia, there are things you can do to treat both conditions and make you feel emotionally healthier and physically better feel rested.

1. Get some Exercise - Exercise earlier

Get some exercise and fresh air during the day if you can. Establish a bedtime routine that includes rituals and consistent activities that will help prepare your mind and body for sleep.

Doing vigorous exercise late in the evening can make your nervous system too active for sleep. You can restructure your exercise time to the morning or use meditation to relax your mind after exercise.

2. Avoid caffeine

Caffeine is a powerful stimulant that can rob you of sleep if taken too close to sleep time. It takes about six hours for the effects of a single cup of coffee or tea to wear off.

Trouble getting through your afternoon without a cup or two of coffee? Try Chamomile tea instead.

Chamomile tea is a herbal drink that has been used for centuries to help people relax and sleep better. This herbal tea provides a natural way to relax and unwind before bedtime. Chamomile has been shown to have sedative properties, which can help promote sleepiness, reduce anxiety, and improve mood. You can order quality chamomile tea bags online here → Chamomile Tea for Anxiety and Sleep.

Some people have found that meditation or light physical activity (walking, going up and down stairs, etc.) helps them get through the afternoon.

3. Do light activity before bed

While sleep is a natural process, it can be enhanced by doing activities that are not anxiety-inducing close to bedtime. Set a routine that keeps your body in sleep mode before you sleep. This will put you in a relaxed mood and make it easier for your body to ease into sleep. Things you can do to wind down include brushing your teeth, washing your face, taking a shower, putting on your pajamas, and so on.

Also, set up an environment that welcomes and encourages sleep. Make sure your bedroom is dark and your bed is comfortable.

Important: Refrain from using electronic devices, like your smartphone before going to bed.

4. Take a bath

A bath is a soothing activity that helps the body relax, calms the mind and is a low-cost way of reducing anxiety at night. Also, a bath lowers your body temperature, which primes the brain to release melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone.

If you are a fan of essential oils, adding a few drops of it to your bath water can aid the sleep process.The benefits of using essential oils in a bath is that they have a relaxing effect on the body and mind. They can also help you sleep better because they have natural sedative properties. Check out here → Essential oils for bath for anxiety and sleep on Amazon.

5. Take a deep breath and relax

Deep breathing can help de-clutter your mind and free it of anxious thoughts. Experts say that breathing in and holding one’s breath for a few seconds before breathing out can help your mind and body relax and slow things to a manageable pace.

Practicing Relaxation Techniques regularly also greatly helps in reducing stress and anxiety. Here you will find some simple and effective ones → Relaxation Techniques: Natural Remedies for Anxiety and Stress.

There are also a number of natural remedies that can help with the anxiety that causes insomnia. Find out what is right for you and create a plan to treat the combined effects of each condition. Find here → 11 Must Know Natural Remedies for Anxiety.

Hope that these simple yet important tips help you get a better night’s rest. Do you suffer with anxiety at night? If so, we’d love to hear from you. How do you cope with it? Any tricks or tips that would benefit others? If so, please use the comment box below to let us know.

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