How to Fall Back Asleep After Waking at Night

Why does nighttime waking happen ?

Most people wake up once or twice during the night. The reasons why are endless. For most, it’s likely behavioral or environmental reasons like drinking caffeine or alcohol late in the day. It may also be due to a poor sleep environment. There may also be deeper reasons such as a sleep disorder or another medical condition. 

Generally speaking, adults need about 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. You can expect to cycle through light, deep, and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep several times during a full night of sleep.

The majority of deep sleep happens early on in the night. In the morning, you’re mainly in REM and light sleep. That’s what makes it easier to wake up.

Health implications of waking at night

Waking up in the middle of the night is extremely common. However, chronic waking and insomnia can have harmful effects on the body. If you wake up in the middle of the night, that means you haven’t achieved deep sleep.

In a meta-analysis of 74 studies researchers found that disrupted sleep patterns correlate to a higher risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease. According to the CDC adults who sleep less than 7 hours a night are more likely to report health problems like heart attack, asthma, and depression.

Meditation & Relaxation Techniques

Meditating to fall back asleep is a great option to calm your restless mind. Using meditation:

• activates the parasympathetic nervous system
• lowers the heart rate
• encourages slow breathing

One study showed that participants who engaged in a mindful awareness practice showed significant improvement over those who received sleep hygiene education.

Deep Breathing to Fall Back Asleep

Deep breathing is a well-known method of stress reduction and relaxation, if done correctly. Taking slow deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth using the diaphragm, can help relax the body and mind and in turn help with sleep.

Start by putting your hand on your stomach. Close your eyes and take a slow, deep breath through your nose, making sure that you can feel your abdomen rise. Try to breathe in for a slow count of six. Release that breath very slowly — to the same count of six — through your mouth. 

Try Guided Sleep Meditations

Meditation, of course, is a great way to calm the mind. But if you’re not a practiced meditator, the act of trying to keep your mind focused might become a source of stress.

You could try a guided sleep app, some of which actually embed delta sleep waves. Put it on loop so you don’t wake up

 

Progressive Muscle Relaxation 

Another option is progressive muscle relaxation. Starting with your toes and working your way up to your forehead, tightly tense each of your muscles for 5 seconds and then let them relax completely. Do this until you’ve tensed and relaxed the entire body, from your face to your toes.

 

Stop the Mental Blame Game & Avoid Clock Watching

If your brain has been in high gear all day, it has a harder time shutting down. Bring it back to neutral at least a couple of times a day with 5-minute breaks of breath work. 

You also start repeatedly worrying about the effects of lack of sleep. And as with most worries, you probably judge yourself for it.Throw yourself a little compassion and become calm about the situation.It’s important not to get worked up about one bad night’s sleep because anxiety itself makes it difficult to fall back asleep.

Avoid watching the clock again and again as you usually end up trying to determine how much time you have left to sleep and worrying about whether you will fall back to sleep in a reasonable amount of time. Seeing the time may only rev you up again.

Set Your Environment up For Sleep Success

Go for an environment that’s dark and cave-like, yet safe and comforting. If you want to make some tweaks to create a soothing space, the following tips can help:

• Install blackout curtains to keep your room light-free.
• Use an eye mask and earplugs.
• Invest in a white noise machine.
• Listen to a soothing playlist.
• Replace night lights with red lights.

One study showed that red light had a less disruptive effect on sleep phases than blue light.

Don’t Drink Alcohol or Coffee Before Bed

As alcohol is metabolized it forms acetaldehyde which is stimulating.Therefore if you drink too much alcohol right before going to bed, in about four hours it is converted to aldehyde which can disrupt sleep and wake you up.In addition to awakenings during the night, alcohol can cause frequent trips to the bathroom because it inhibits a hormone called antidiuretic hormone (ADH), resulting in increased urination.

Coffee consists of caffeine which causes you to stay up and awake. This causes sleep disturbances.

Write Down Your Worries

It’s best to try to get rid of your worries as much as possible, well before bed. Experts say. “Close the day by capturing anything left to do tomorrow so you don’t have to work on that at 3 am and bullet point ongoing issues so you have a clear picture”. Do a quick writing dump of worries, thoughts and ideas before sleeping and release pending tension.

Avoid Electronics

As tempting as it can be, don’t pick up your phone when you wake in the early morning. There are a few reasons why this affects your sleep. First, you can get sucked into whatever is popping up in your inbox or trending on social media and become too stimulated to sleep.