The 7 Tricks to Fall Asleep When Your Mind Racing at Night
How many times have you tried to go to bed early, but when you do, you spend hours tossing and turning, thinking about your day and to-do list?
You need more sleep to be productive the next day, but you can’t shut your mind at night, leaving you feeling frustrated and tired.
You can’t open your eyes in the morning, hitting the snooze button multiple times and wishing for another hour of sleep.
So, why is it so hard to fall asleep when you deal with an overactive mind at night?
And what can you do about it?
WHY YOU CAN’T SLEEP AT NIGHT
Have you heard the expression “tired but wired”? You lay down in your bed for the night, finally ready to fall asleep after a long day of working, running errands, and taking care of your family. But nothing happens…
You feel tired but can’t sleep. Your brain can’t shut off.
You start thinking about your work, house, kids, chores, and other stuff. Those racing thoughts keep your stress elevated, preventing you from falling asleep.
When your stress level is up, and cortisol (the stress hormone) stays high for too long, you can’t produce melatonin, the sleep hormone. Melatonin and cortisol have an opposite relationship.
As a result, you want to sleep, but your body won’t let you.
Typically, cortisol levels are at the lowest point near midnight. Then cortisol level increases 2-3 hours after falling asleep and rises until you wake up in the morning. The peak happens around 9 a.m. After that, it steadily declines throughout the day until it reaches the lowest point at night again.
EFFECT OF OVERACTIVE MIND AT NIGHT ON SLEEP AND YOUR HEALTH
Going over your day, making plans, or even thinking about some exciting event that will happen the next day can prevent you from falling asleep.
Delaying your sleep can have detrimental consequences on your health over time. It can:
Disrupt your circadian rhythm
Dysregulate the cortisol curve
Change your appetite and metabolism
Lead to insulin resistance that contributes to diabetes
Circadian rhythm is your 24-hour internal clock that governs your wake-sleep cycle and many other functions in the body. If this biological clock is disrupted, you may start experiencing insomnia, bloating, weight gain, low body temperature, and hormonal problems.
As mentioned above, cortisol plays a vital role in your sleep cycle. The optimal cortisol curve is essential for your health. Based on that curve, cortisol is at its highest level in the morning and its lowest at night. Any disruptions in that curve can affect your health negatively. You may start feeling more tired during the day, more irritated at minor things, or anxious whenever you face s stressful situation.
Have you noticed when you don’t sleep enough, you tend to feel more hungry the next day?
That’s because disrupted sleep can decrease leptin hormone levels that suppress the need for food and increase ghrelin hormone levels, which increases hunger. Moreover, you may experience cravings for fatty and sugary foods.
Giving in to those cravings and overeating foods rich in simple carbs like cookies, bread, and pasta can lead over time to insulin resistance and eventually diabetes.
HOW TO STOP RACING THOUGHTS AT NIGHT
Reducing cortisol at night is the key to restful sleep. Here are the seven tricks to fall asleep when you are tired but can’t sleep:
1. Create a wind-down routine
Creating a nighttime routine allows you to reduce cortisol and encourage the production of melatonin.
Your nighttime routine should be designed to do two things: help you relax and reduce your exposure to artificial light that comes from electronics and lamps.
Too much blue light that comes from these devices keeps your cortisol high. It signals your body that it is still daylight because blue light is the same that the Sun reflects on us. As I mentioned above, the circadian rhythm governs your wake-sleep cycle. This internal clock is dependent on the changes in the daylight and nighttime.
Your routine should also include activities that help you relax and calm down. This may include reading, a warm bath, gentle stretching, meditating, or praying. Start at least one hour before going to bed. But don’t think it has to be perfect otherwise, it’s not going to work. If one hour for yourself feels like an impossible task because of your busy schedule, start with 15 - 30 minutes of nighttime routine.
2. Brain dump all the things on your to-do list
Maybe you have a hard time falling asleep because you keep going over and over again about your to-do list for the next day. Or perhaps you keep rewinding and analyzing your day. In that case, try dumping all that’s in your head on a piece of paper. Make your to-do list for the next day before putting your head on the pillow for the night. Write about your day. The goal is to get your thoughts out of your head.
If you still think about work, house, or kids, finish your day by reminding yourself that you did your best today and now you desire to get some rest. Let go of your thoughts by telling yourself that you will take care of everything else tomorrow.
3. Let go with deep breathing
Another trick to calm your racing mind involves deep breathing. There are many different techniques for how you can do it. However, you can keep it simple and still get the results.
Start by laying down in your bed for the night. Close your eyes and put your hands on your stomach. Take a deep breath and fill your belly with air as you count to four. Feel your hands raising. Pause for a brief moment and breathe out the air slowly, counting to eight until your belly empties. Feel your hands going down. Repeat the cycle multiple times until you feel drowsy. Remember to focus on your breathing. This will help you let go of any other thoughts.
4. Diffuse essential oils for better sleep
Using essential oils is another great way to lower stress and get you into a deep, restorative sleep.
Essential oils are extracted from the flowers, barks, stems, leaves, roots, fruits, and other parts of the plants. Those oils are concentrated; therefore, they should be diluted with carrier oils when used topically. You can also diffuse them in the air and inhale them.
The basic mechanism of these essential oils may involve stimulating your cells to send specific signals to the brain to release certain messengers like serotonin or endorphin to produce calming and relaxing effects.
Some of the best essential oils to reduce stress, calm your racing mind, and promote restorative sleep include lavender, clary sage, Roman chamomile, and ylang ylang.
5. Sip warm nighttime teas to promote sleep
Warm tea as part of your nighttime routine can improve your sleep. Even though more research is needed to assess the effectiveness of different herbal teas, enough data is available to suggest that some people can benefit from them.
Some of the best teas for more restful sleep include:
Valerian root
Chamomile
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Passionflower
Magnolia bark
6. Enjoy sleep-inducing foods
In general, eating a heavy meal before bed can disrupt your sleep, causing you to toss and turn. But if you feel hungry in the evening, having a small snack couple of hours before bed may help you sleep better.
So, instead of reaching for cookies or chips to relax at night, try swapping these snacks for the following healthy foods:
Few Almonds
Tart cherries
Lettuce salad
Whole grains with veggies
Warm Milk
7. Incorporate sleep meditation to boost melatonin
The sleep hormone melatonin is crucial for being able to fall asleep. But if you are stressed, you don’t produce enough of this hormone. Rutgers University found that meditation can boost melatonin levels by an average of 98%.
Meditation may take a few different forms:
Guided meditation or visualization - you create mental images of places or situations to help you relax. During this process, you try to use as many senses as possible. You can do it yourself or listen to a person that guides you.
Mantra meditation - you repeat silently a calming word or a phrase to prevent distracting thoughts.
Mindfulness meditation - you focus on the present moment and the flow of your breath. You learn to observe your thoughts and emotions without judgment.
Yoga is a more active meditation where you perform specific postures and breathing exercises to help you relax. Concentrating on the movements enables you to focus less on your busy day.
CONCLUSION
If you deal with a racing mind at night, you may have to experiment with different techniques to relax and get your mind off your busy thoughts. You may see results quickly, or you may have to give it more time to find what works for you.
References:
Babar A., Naser A., Saiba Sh. Aftab A., Shah A. K., Firoz A. Essential oils used in aromatherapy: A systemic review. 2015. Science Direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221169115001033
Cheong M. J., Kim S., Kim J., Lee H., Lyu Y., Lee Y. R., Jeon B., Kang H. W. A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of the clinical effects of aroma inhalation therapy on sleep problems. 2021. National Library of Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33655928/
Davenport S. 7 of the best essential oils for sleep. 2022. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/essential-oils-for-sleep
Hirotsu C., Tufik S., Anderson M. L. Interactions between sleep, stress, and metabolism: From physiological to pathological conditions. 2015. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4688585
Lugo E. Meditation for CMT is a No-Brainer. 2020. Hereditary Neuropathy Foundation. https://www.hnf-cure.org/wellness/meditation-for-cmt-is-a-no-brainer
Hi! I'm Kinga Zerhouni.
I am a functional health coach. I work with stressed-out and tired working moms who feel like they are drowning in the thousand things they have to do between work and home.
I help them learn how to nourish and listen to their bodies to figure out which lifestyle changes are right for them, so they can regain their energy and feel calm again.