Cultivating good sleep habits help you stay active and alert during the day.
Your quality of sleep often affects how you feel and perform throughout the day. Your sleeping routine, bedtime schedule, stress level and day-to-day habits all have an impact on your quality of rest. Incorporating relaxation techniques for sleeping into your sleep habits and nighttime schedule will help boost energy levels during the day and help you sleep better at night. Start the technique you'd like to try about 15 minutes before you'd like to go to bed. Eliminate distractions like cell phones and television.
Progressive Body Relaxation
This relaxation technique is one of the most useful techniques because it concentrates on each part of the body individually. The goal with this process is to relax each major part of the body in progressive order. Lie on your back, preferably on your bed, and close your eyes. Starting with the feet, tighten the muscles and release. Concentrate on breathing deep, even breaths. Move in progressive order up your body to your ankles, shins, knees, thighs, buttocks, lower back, torso, hands, arms, shoulders, neck and head. When you've reached the end of your progression, feel your body for any tense spots that you might have missed and repeat the process until your entire body is relaxed.
Deep Breathing Relaxation Technique
Deep breathing techniques are used to literally breathe relaxation into your body, and is especially used in yoga for this purpose. Lie on your back, on your bed, and close your eyes. Check your body for any particular tense spots. Inhale slowly through your nose and release the breath through the mouth. Imagine your lungs filling with air from the bottom of the lungs to the top. When your lungs feel full, hold your breath for a few moments. Release your breath slowly. Send your breath to any tense spots in the body. Many people like to count to 10 as they hold and release to help regulate the process. Repeat the technique as much as necessary to relax you enough to fall asleep.
Guided Imagery Technique
Guided imagery as a relaxation technique is often considered the most fun because it uses your own imagination. The goal of this particular technique is to jump-start the dreaming process while imagining yourself in calm surroundings. Some people like to choose a place that has meaning to them, or where they feel safe and happy. Any setting where you feel at peace is acceptable for this exercise. Guide yourself through your five senses in the peaceful scene you have chosen. What does your scene feel like, smell like, look like, sound like, taste like? Concentrating on these details helps the mind relax enough to fall asleep.
Musical Relaxation and Sound Technique
Many people like to use soft and relaxing music to help fall asleep. This technique might require a little preparation, like making sure you have your music player and music cued to where you want it. If music is too distracting, some people use ambient sounds like sounds of a tropical jungle, whales singing, rain falling or the sounds of the ocean. This particular technique is used like the guided imagery technique to induce the dreaming process, and these techniques are sometimes combined. You might need to experiment a few times to see what works for you.
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