Insomnia and Anxiety: 10 Tips to Finally Get Some Rest

There is nothing worse than feeling exhausted, laying down to go to bed, and having your mind race or your eyes wide open. Insomnia and anxiety often go hand-in-hand, Fortunately, there are things you can do to help!

As a mental health therapist, I’ve seen how creating certain patterns and making small adjustments can relieve people’s restless nights. This post is ALL ABOUT insomnia and anxiety.

Keep an Anxiety Journal

One of the biggest reasons you might struggle with insomnia and anxiety is that as soon as you lay down to rest, all of the anxious thoughts that you’ve been avoiding during the day come flooding back.

Your mind is wanting to process this information, whether or not you consciously want to. What could be helpful is, an hour or so before bed, sit down for a few minutes and journal all of the anxious thoughts that naturally come into your mind. This will allow these thoughts to be out of your head and onto paper before you lay down to sleep.

Click here for some journal prompts for anxiety!

Acknowledge and Release Thoughts

It’s important in anxiety recovery to explore and learn to work with your anxious thoughts. However, it doesn’t have to be right before bed! If your anxious thoughts come up at night, practice this mindfulness exercise to release them.

Start by acknowledging the thought that comes up. Then imagine placing the thought on a leaf and placing it in a stream, watching it float down the river. Repeat this until all of your thoughts are floating away.

You can also practice putting these thoughts in balloons and watching them float up into the sky.

Create Rhythmic Movement

In addition to your mind racing when you’re anxious, it also dysregulates your central nervous system. One way to regulate your nervous system and tell your body that it’s time to calm down is to move rhythmically.

Rhythmic movement could be anything from slow yoga (click here for yoga for anxiety), to a calm walk, to swaying back and forth, and even just rocking in a rocking chair. Try adding this for 5 to 10 minutes as part of your nighttime routine.

Be Aware of Light

Your body has a natural circadian rhythm, with certain cues that indicate when it’s waking time and when it’s sleeping time. Insomnia and anxiety can disrupt this rhythm, but one way to get it back on track is to be intentional with when you are getting sunlight.

Getting sunlight first thing in the morning (within the first hour of waking) tells your body when to start your internal clock. Similarly, shutting down lights about two hours before bed is just as important (click here for the full article).

Try sitting outside in the morning, going for a morning walk, or at least sitting by a window. If you live in a place that is dark in the early mornings, then try buying a UV light to simulate sunlight.

Pro-Tip: Light from phones, computers, and television have been shown to impact your brain’s ability to shut down for the night. Try and avoid these for an hour or two before bedtime.

Get Some Exercise

Regular exercise has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as improve nighttime sleep. Getting exercise can be tough when you are already physically exhausted. Try setting some realistic goals!

Exercise doesn’t have to be intense or rigorous. In fact, only moderate aerobic exercise has been linked to improved sleep. Try taking a daily walk, doing vinyasa yoga, or even an online dance routine, like this one, to help get in 20 minutes or so of exercise a day.

Progressive Relaxation

Progressive relaxation is great for insomnia and anxiety because it helps to release tension that you may be holding onto, as well as helps you focus on relaxing your body.

Progressive relaxation follows a series of muscle activation and release until you’ve covered most of your muscles from head to toe. Click here to receive a free Step-by-Step guide on progressive relaxation.

Create a Safety Mantra

Anxiety’s main purpose is to keep you safe when your body and brain believe that you are unsafe. However, lying in bed, it is likely that you are not in immediate danger. To calm your mind, prepare a mantra that you can say to yourself to remind yourself that you are safe.

This could be as simple as, “You are safe,” or it can speak specifically to your anxieties, “You are doing the best you can. It’s okay that you make mistakes sometimes.”

Imagine a Daydream

Have you ever gotten lost in a daydream? Daydreaming can be a fun way to express your creativity. While too much daydreaming CAN be an avoidance technique, it can be helpful when you’re needing to distract yourself from anxious thinking.

Remember, it’s important to have a separate outlet to explore and resolve your anxiety, or it may not go away completely.

To create a daydream, start by creating characters in your head and creating a story for them. These can be characters from movie scenes, people you know, or new characters. If you struggle with creating storylines, you can always play a familiar movie in your head. This can be a great habit to practice until you drift to sleep!

Shift your Nutrition

Nutrition is not necessarily the cure for insomnia and anxiety, but it can create a huge difference! Some foods directly impact your ability to sleep and remain calm.

Caffeine and sugar are two of the biggest culprits when it comes to poor sleep and anxiousness. Both of these can give you excess energy, simulating anxiety, as well as making it hard to fall asleep. Try and limit your caffeine and sugars to earlier in the day, as well as reduce your overall intake.

On the contrary, some foods can help! Getting plenty of omega-3s, tryptophan-containing foods, and micronutrients have shown to be helpful. Some examples of these foods are nuts and berries, fish, turkey, eggs, leafy greens, dark chocolate, and turmeric.

Create a Nighttime Routine

Routines are great for all kinds of mental health reasons. Specifically, when it comes to sleep, try to give yourself a routine for the last hour or so before bed. Your body will eventually begin to pick up on these cues and tell your brain to start shutting down.

Some examples of nighttime routines include journaling, taking a shower, reading in bed, listening to calming music, stretching, and/or massaging your hands or face.

These are some of the most helpful tips for insomnia and sleep that I’ve seen work with clients. What has helped improve your sleep? Comment below!