How many times have you gone to bed exhausted, only to find yourself laying there unable to switch off your mind? Thoughts keep racing around, bouncing off the sides of your brain, never letting you peacefully drift off into a deep, deep sleep. Maybe you’re anxious or maybe you’re just stressed. Every time this has happened to me, I’ve either successfully used mental exercises for sleep or I’ve not managed to sleep at all. Sometimes they’ve worked and sometimes they haven’t. They’re not always perfect but they are worth trying when all you want to do is drift off into a long, deep sleep.
It’s obvious that sleep is one of the most important things you need as a human being. So, why are we so bad at it in general? It seems there are a number of reasons including work, stress, anxiety, screen time, health, diet, trauma, sleeping during the day and a lack of exercise.
With that said, there are a variety of mindful mental exercises you can try to get a better night’s sleep. These have worked for me and I’m sure they can work for you too. After all, they are all mindful exercises that are easy for anyone to do. In this post, we’ll explore the different exercises you can start doing today so that tonight you can drift off easier.
1. Blank space visualisation
This mental exercise for sleep is a visualisation technique to quiet your mind. When you have a bunch of thoughts keeping you awake, imagine pushing them all to one side until you are left with a very dark space and nothing but silence. Whilst this technique can seem like it takes a lot of focus, it’s actually quite easy whilst you keep your eyes closed and your head on your pillow.
The idea is to create an environment where there is nothing but darkness to fall into in your room and also in your mind.
Here’s how to do it;
- Take a few deep breaths
- Keep your eyes closed
- Picture pushing your noisy thoughts aside until they are out of view
- Focus your attention on how dark and empty the space you have created is
- Continue to surround yourself with the darkness whilst breathing calmly
2. Sensation visualisation
The next mental exercise for better sleep is another visualisation technique. The exercise involves you keeping your eyes closed and visualising a happy time in your life. However, you aren’t just picturing that happy day, you’re also being mindful of each sensation you come across.
Whilst you might think this exercise would be stimulating, it’s actually deeply relaxing and will help drift you from consciousness to dreamland quicker than you might think.
Here’s how to do it;
- Take a few deep breaths
- Keep your eyes closed
- Picture a happy time in your life and be specific about where you’re standing or sitting
- What can you feel? smell? taste? hear?
- Interact with each sensation as you would if they were real
3. Laying down breathing
This exercise is a combination of a mental exercise for sleep and a mindful exercise for sleep that involves focusing on your breathing. The idea is to focus on your breathing while noticing your tension releasing with every breath. This is the perfect mindful exercise to perform right before bed in my opinion.
Here’s how to do it;
- Lay on your bed and close your eyes
- Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds
- Breathe out your mouth for six seconds and picture your stress and anxiety releasing with every breath
- Repeat this exercise for as long as it takes until you feel a sense of calm
4. The military method
The Military method was first reported by Sharon Ackerman and comes from a book titled “Relax and Win: Championship Performance.” this exercise was used to help pre-pilots in the United States Navy get to sleep in under 2 minutes.
This mental exercise is very straightforward and easy to achieve although it might be difficult if you have something like Adhd, for example. The idea is to put your focus towards your relaxed muscles, letting go of tension in your face and shoulders.
Here’s how to do it;
- Lay down and keep your eyes closed
- Relax the muscles in your face completely
- Take long, deep breaths
- Allow your shoulders to drop to the sides
- Relax your thighs and legs and let them be heavy
- Clear your mind entirely for 10 seconds
5. Body scan
This next mental exercise for sleep is a cornerstone mindfulness meditation that always brings about a deep feeling of relaxation and so it makes for a perfect bedtime exercise. The idea with the body scan is to pay close attention to each part of your body, noticing the sensations you feel as you scan over yourself.
This is a great way to make yourself feel nice and heavy at bedtime, allowing you to drift off to sleep easier.
Here’s how to do it;
- Start by laying down and taking some long deep breaths
- Focus your attention on your feet and notice any sensations happening
- Slowly raise your focus to your legs and thighs, again, paying attention to any sensations there may be. Notice how heavy they feel on the mattress.
- Next, scan your stomach and your chest
- Bring your attention to your hands and how relaxed each finger is
- Then, scan upwards towards your upper arms, neck and eventually head, spending at least 10 seconds on each area, totally focused on any sensations there may be
6. Alone on the beach
This exercise is another mental exercise for deep relaxation. The idea is to picture yourself on a calm, beautiful beach, noticing each sensation that comes over you from the heat of the sun to the warmth of the sand.
Here’s how to do it;
- Lay down and close your eyes
- Take a few long, deep breaths
- Picture yourself laying on a calm beach with pure, white sand
- Push your hands deep into the warm sand and notice how heavy it is
- Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin as the waves crash gently
- Feel the cool air run over your body
- Notice how alone you are yet comfortable