Don't you know what to do to sleep better? 3 tips for a good night's rest

With so much uncertainty and stress that the current pandemic situation has brought us, it may be that it is taking you more than normal to fall asleep. Therefore, I share with you three key and practical points that you can start applying today to sleep better.

1. Empty your mind of daily worries

Psychology shows that when we are thinking over and over about a particular issue instead of finding solutions many times we end up enlarging the problem. We mental health professionals refer to this recurring way of thinking as "rumear" yes as such as when cows are chewing the same morsel of grass hundreds of times. So it can also happen to our mind.

That is why I recommend the following strategy: on your nightstand or at the entrance of your house, place a box, it can be of the material you want and even better if it is a gift from someone who brings peace in your life. Before you go to sleep (or when you just arrived) Make a list of all those things that are currently stealing your attention from the present and that they won't change until tomorrow.

Now that you have that list, put your hands on the box with your palms up and symbolically let that list fall gently from your hands, now open the box and leave it there until tomorrow. You can say out loud: "They stay there, until tomorrow, now I'm going to focus on the present."

This exercise will help you to redirect your attention and make your mind slow down your thoughts helping you move to the next point.

2.>

Relax: this is one of the most used words in recent months. You need to relax! Best of all, there are several techniques to do it that are practical, applicable wherever you are and free. I'm going to tell you about a couple of those options that will help you change your mental and physical state before going to sleep.

The easiest: breathe deeply. Although it may seem elementary, many people do not breathe properly. Before starting this technique, take a moment to identify how you usually breathe. As you inhale, does your rib cage or lower abdomen expand? How long is each breath cycle you have? Breathing from the rib cage is the most common, but not the most beneficial.

The ideal is to breathe from the diaphragm which is a muscle that separates the thoracic cavity from the abdominal cavity. In other words, you know that you are breathing diaphragmatically when your abdomen fills with air when you inhale and empties when you exhale. You can gently put your left hand under your navel and your right hand near the center of your chest and mindful each breath until it becomes a natural rhythm.

Now that you know how to breathe properly, do this exercise for at least eleven cycles, the deeper you can breathe in and out the better.

Another mode is progressive relaxation, this technique involves contracting all the muscles of your body from head to toe, on both sides for at least 7 seconds each, and then relaxing them. This includes the muscles in your face. You can repeat it up to three times. Don't forget to breathe deeply every time you relax your muscles. This will help your body and mind learn to let go of tension.

3.>

This is the most complex part and that requires the most commitment since you will need at least a couple of weeks of continuous work to start seeing results. The unconscious is where the vast majority of information about what we were able to experience that day is stored. This is why it is of the utmost importance that learn to understand their messages so that sleep is an act of physical and mental rest but also of reconnection with your essence.

So that you can access your unconscious you will need to: have an open mind, talk to yourself before going to sleep and have a specific intention for this trip that you will take. The open mind to be able to understand your dreams, to speak to you to be able to remember that it is not just a physical rest and finally the intention will help you so that your mind does not wander when entering the dream process.

I hope these key points serve you well and that you can see positive results very soon. When you start applying them tell me how it goes in the comments.