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Relaxation exercises before bedtime

To have a good night’s rest is hugely important for our body and mind. By sleeping, the body is enabled to repair and be ready for the next day. However, sometimes stress, bad sleep habits, pain, consumption of nicotine, caffeine or alcohol, or other causes can lead to sleep disorders. At Pledge Sports we recently created an article to give you some tips to promote good sleep.

However, if you have tried to reduce screen time before bedtime, to not eat late at night and all the advice we told you about and you have not achieved a better rest maybe it is good for you to learn some relaxation exercises that you can do to avoid insomnia. There are a lot of them, but we will give you the most effective ones.

ASMR

Have you ever heard about ASMR? Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response or ‘ASMR’ is a biological phenom that causes pleasure when you hear or see something that your brain likes. The goal is to relax and help sleep. Youtube is the main platform where it has been developed so there are a large number of videos in which people whisper, touch or scratch an object, cut soap, eat, turn pages of a book, and so on to create different sounds that our brain is supposed to like.

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If you want to try if ASMR works for you it is recommended to heard those videos when you are lying down with headphones. These kinds of videos are recorded with a specific microphone so, with your headphones on, you will perceive every single sound that the person is doing. Its popularity is growing rapidly because a lot of people have felt peace and relax before going to bed with ASMR. But as you know, what works for some people can not suit others, so the best way to know it is by trying it.

Autogenic training

Autogenic training is a method created by psychologist Johannes Heinrich Schultz and is well-known to fight anxiety and insomnia. This relaxation technique uses exercises to relax you both physically and mentally by slowing breathing, lowering blood pressure, and producing a feeling of increased well-being.

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To do it, you have to be lying down or sitting up and then the first step will be to slow down your breathing. When you feel you are controlling your breath, tell yourself “I am completely calm”. After that, focus your attention on your right arm and, while breathing slowly and controlled, repeat the phrase “My right arm is heavy, I am completely calm”. Do it with your left arm, legs, and then focus on your heartbeat and repeat six times. “My heartbeat is calm and regular. I am completely calm”.

You will have to repeat this with your abdomen, chest, and forehead. When you feel all of that heaviness, relaxation and warmth say “Arms firm, breathe deeply, eyes open”.

Guided imagery

Another exercise you could do is guided imagery, which is a type of meditation that consists of concentrating on a specific object, sound, or experience to calm your body and mind. You can do it using audio recordings or your own thoughts. Let’s give you some tips to practice guided imagery on your own.

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To start guided imagery, think of a pleasant memory you have. It could be a holiday, a moment in your childhood, or something that makes you feel happy and comfortable. The next step will be to dig into the memory. Try to remember how you felt, what you smelt, if it was warm or cold, who you were with, what you were doing…

To improve the process, you can use soothing music to help you relax. Once you have your memory, you can start to build upon it. By focusing on those images you can feel relaxation, insight, and wisdom. That will help you to distract from what is stressing you and relieve physical tension and psychological stress. When all those anxiety and stress are gone, your sleep quality will improve.

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You can use some of these popular techniques to fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and improve the quality of your sleep. Which one will you choose?

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