Mindfulness Daily Check-In August 20, 2017

Hey, everyone! I hope you all are enjoying your weekends. I want to take a moment to write about sleep! Being mindful while getting ready for bed and falling asleep is important because it creates healthy sleep patterns by reducing stress and training your brain to associate your bed with relaxation.

It can be difficult to practice mindfulness as we try to relax our bodies and fall asleep. Past and future events tend to visit us as we lay still and close our eyes: remembering things we did or conversations we had during day; planning for our futures; and thinking of all the things we want to do or accomplish in life. Even though we can't stop these thoughts from visiting us, we can divert our attention away from them by returning our attention to the present moment.

Two ways that we can practice mindfulness while preparing for sleep include 1.) focusing on our breath and 2.) completing a body scan.

Being aware of our breath can serve as an anchor into to the present moment. It's also a relaxation tool, especially if we take deeper breaths or do diaphragmatic breathing. If our minds wander, we can notice that our mind wandered and bring ourselves back to the present by focusing on the rise and fall of our chests or stomachs, on the temperature of the air as it enters and exits our noses, and on the sensations of the air as it enters and exits our noses. With each breath, we can imagine ourselves sinking deeper into our beds and becoming more relaxed.

Body scans are great tools to anchor into the present while preparing for sleep as well. They can last as little as a minute or as long as we need them to. During a body scan, we can close our eyes and become present to our body sensations. We can start noticing sensations in our toes and feet, working our awareness up to our heads or start at our heads and move to our feet and toes. Sensations that we can notice include temperature, muscle or skin movement, a sense of heaviness or lightness, the feeling of our sheets or blankets, the feeling of our pillows, and the feeling of our pajamas against our skin.

Since mindfulness is a journey and takes practice, we should remember to be patient with ourselves when our minds wander during these exercises. It's inevitable, and it's okay! We should also remember not to judge ourselves or our thoughts when we find our minds wandering. We should just notice that our minds wandered and return to the present moment. Just keep going and practicing!

Have you tried any of these methods? Are there other mindfulness sleep techniques/exercises that work for you? If so, please share! Have a great week, and stay mindful.

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