The Art of Falling Asleep

The Art of Falling Asleep

Often in my clinical practice I have been confronted with the question of how to fall asleep. I have had multiple clients, particularly in the workforce who seem to follow the same pattern. They get up early, go to work, get home at around 6pm, have dinner, relax a little and then try to fall asleep. The last step in the process seems to be where the difficulty comes in. They lie awake and simply can’t get to sleep. Usually they report that the more they try to fall asleep, the more frustrated and anxious they become and then the harder it is to fall asleep. I have had clients who tell me that they usually fall asleep from exhaustion by about 4am, only to wake up to the alarm for work three hours later and then repeat the whole process again. This pattern can be draining, exhausting and extremely frustrating.

Lack of quality sleep has been shown to reduce concentration, lower mood and emotional functioning and be implicated in the development and maintenance of physiological and psychological health issues. We all know what it feels like to try to move into our day after not having had sufficient sleep, it’s unpleasant.

So the question remains, how can you break this pattern and learn to fall asleep? The answer is there is no quick fix. Rather, learning to fall asleep is an art form, interconnected with the entire rhythm of your day. As soon as you wake up in the morning, the return of daylight helps your brain to stop producing melatonin, a hormone largely involved in managing your circadian rhythm, your sleep-wake cycle. The brain needs sunlight, which enters through the eye in order to suppress the sleep hormone. Therefore, the best thing to do upon waking is to go outside and look up at the sky for a few moments. This practise not only helps to suppress melatonin production, but is also a good way to enter the day with a mindful intention for health and wellness.

The next issue worth mentioning is caffeine intake. Ask yourself, how much caffeine am I having every day? There is caffeine in chocolate, black tea, green tea, Coca-Cola and other so called “power drinks”. Assessing and adjusting your caffeine intake is paramount to creating a healthy sleep-wake cycle. It may seem obvious but if you are ingesting caffeine, make sure it’s not too much and try to limit it to the morning only if you would like a better chance at falling asleep at night.

The next very important issue to mention is when you finish with work, how do you switch modes? It is important that we are switched on and focused during the day so we can be productive. However, when we are finished working, we need to find a way to gently wind down so that we can move into sleep with ease when the time comes. A good practice is to think of a ritual you can do to symbolise the movement from work-mode into evening-mode. For example, mindfully taking off your shoes and leaving them at the door before entering your home. In doing this you may think, I am “taking off” my day-mode and entering my evening mode. Another example is to have a shower to symbolise “cleaning off” the day mode and entering evening mode. Once the ritual has been performed it’s important to switch off from work tasks and emails. I know this is not possible for some, so a way you can tailor this practise is to set a certain time that you switch off by. For example, you might elect switch off completely by 7pm.

This brings me to my next point which is very important, screen usage. Screens radiate blue light rays, which to our ancient brains, communicate that it is morning and time to wake up. The blue light can be very disruptive to our melatonin production and sleep-wake cycles. Therefore, ideally we would switch off from screens completely by the time it’s getting dark. However, I know that is not possible (or likely) for some, so another option is to make sure you set your devices to “night-mode” which decreases the amount of blue light that is being emitted. You can also get ‘blue-light-blockers’ in your glasses which do the same thing. Again, if you can set a time that you switch off from screens by, this is a good way of communicating to yourself that it is time to wind-down, go inward and begin easing into sleep. We are ancient brains in a modern world. Our brains still register red light (firelight and starlight) as indications that it is now night and time for sleep. Therefore, create a screen-free space in your bedroom and use candles and red-light lamps.

Lastly, if you find yourself ruminating or experiencing anxious thoughts when trying to sleep, slow breathing practices can be helpful in calming down the mind. It is important to remember that the more frustrated and anxious we become about falling asleep, the less likely it is to happen. So try to stay calm, be gentle on yourself and remember that resting your body is good enough until sleep comes. Over time these practices may help to adjust your circadian rhythm back to one that is more natural, helping you to fall asleep at night with more ease.