Falling asleep by getting rid of negative thoughts that occupy the mind

Do you think of an embarrassing moment that you can't forget even though it's been years, and it makes you lose your sleep at an unexpected hour? Or do you have a situation that you worry about the future of your job, revolving around in your head until the first light of the sun? If your answers are yes, you may be having sleepless nights due to worrying thoughts swirling in your mind and unproductive days because you wake up with purple under eyes. Stress is an inseparable part of our daily life. The work we do, the projects we work on, the problems we experience in our bilateral relations, the financial problems we face, communication problems, emotional burdens or negative thoughts that grow exponentially from time to time can cause us to feel bad, decrease our quality of life, decrease our motivation, or have a negative attitude mostly.

While we are dealing with many things during the day, we usually do not find the time to get lost among negative thoughts, especially in the silence of the night, as soon as we put our heads on the pillow, we are left alone with pessimistic feelings and worries that we avoid thinking about or that we do not have time to concentrate on. Therefore, these annoying thoughts that draw us in like a deep and powerful whirlpool can cause us to have difficulty falling asleep. In fact, sometimes we can spend some nights as sleepless as the morning because we have difficulty in quieting our minds. For this reason, it is essential to spend a quiet and peaceful night by getting rid of negative thoughts in order to have a comfortable sleep and to start the next day more cheerfully. However, in order to achieve this, we need to know how to silence those negative thoughts. Falling asleep techniques show promise in this regard.

In addition to useful routines such as meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, herbal teas, aromatherapy oils that facilitate the transition to sleep, a few simple but effective techniques can also help silence the mind full of negativities that keep you up at night. In the rest of our article, we discussed; three techniques that you may have heard, never encountered, or have had the opportunity to practice, can help you get away from worrying and stress-increasing thoughts, fall into a comfortable sleep and have a peaceful night.

1. Schedule 'time to worry'

Yes, it may sound strange at first read, but it's true, scheduling 'worry time' can be an effective way to prevent negative thoughts from intruding into your mind at night. Worry time, which is actually a very simple and easy to apply technique, focuses on giving yourself space and time to worry about things. Namely; You also need to take time to think about potential stressors, such as when you plan to meet up with friends, go to the hairdresser, go shopping. This way, you have a special time to think about situations that cause you anxiety, stress or seem risky. Since you've already thought about it, you don't have to think again before you fall asleep. When you remember that ideal sleep is closely tied to routines, you can see worry time as a functional part of your routine and devote time to practice.

2. Practice the 'Night 2 technique'

Renowned psychologist Ethan Kross shares a strategy he uses to quiet his mind on mindboydgreen's podcast, noting that the 'night 2 technique' is effective for getting rid of worrying thoughts that prevent falling asleep. 'Kross' 2 a.m. In this method, which is also referred to as 'technique', what needs to be done is actually quite simple: to approach yourself like a third person and to make mental time travel. You ask, “How is it applied?” Let's explain it right away. When you approach yourself as if you are giving advice to someone else, you can change your perspective and reduce the anxiety you experience by displaying a more moderate attitude towards yourself. However, this technique alone may not work if your worrying thoughts are too intense. That's why Kross suggests time travel. That is, he wants you to ask yourself if the problem you are worried about and experiencing stress at the moment will have the same effect in a day, a week, a month or a year. “The answer you get from yourself can help you relax quickly and feel much better,” she says. Because, as Kross mentioned, “Morning is always better; It gives hope that conditions will improve.” Before you sleep at night, those worries will look very different to your eyes the next morning...

3. Visualize your 'happy place'

Maybe you have come across it in many areas: 'Find your happy place!'; namely 'find your happy place'. Instead of grappling with negative thoughts that cause stress, worry, worry, and prevent you from falling asleep, visualizing an area where you feel happy, find peace and calm, and visualizing in as much detail as possible can help you feel more comfortable. This technique can reduce the effect of stress factors that prevent sleep by helping the mind to relax by focusing on the good and the beautiful instead of dealing with worries before sleep. Maybe a forest, a windy garden, the seaside or any place where you feel happy can prepare the appropriate environment for a comfortable sleep experience and to get rid of the dark thoughts that keep you awake and become more and more difficult the more you think.