Sleep is one of the most important things we can do for our overall wellbeing but sometimes it’s not always easy. These tips could help you have a more restful night and help your life in many ways.

1. Brain dump on a notepad

If you are someone who has an active mind, then brain dumping before going to bed could be incredibly beneficial. Take a pad and write down everything that's on your mind - anything that you need to do or action the following day, jot it down. You can even sleep with a pad by your bed so that if you think of something, you can write it down and then let it go.

2. Never try and sleep

Falling to sleep is an unconscious process, so you can't actively try and sleep. When you get into bed, your objective is to put yourself into a relaxed state, so thinking of a nice place that you've walked or visited somewhere that's calm or gives you something to think about can distract your conscious mind and often lead to sleep.

3. If you need an objective, make it to relax

Your body is made of thousands of muscles, each connected to each other. Any tension held in the body can be let go of one muscle at a time.

Starting with your toes, put your attention into the muscles and tell them to relax. Imagine the muscle relaxing, even if it doesn't relax, just do the process of imagining it relaxing. Then put your awareness to your foot, ankle, and calf muscle and then follow the body upwards putting your attention into your vertebrae, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, neck, head, cheek muscles, jaw, and muscles around your eyes.

Make finding tension in your body an activity - the more you release tension around your body, the deeper your relaxation will be. Even if you don't sleep and your objective is to relax, this alone will have a positive effect.

4. Sort your mindset - "it's OK not to sleep".

Knowing that it's okay not to sleep is an important belief to hold. Saying things like, "I need to sleep," "I'm so tired," "I'm up again," "this always happens" will literally drain you of energy and make falling to sleep impossible.

Go easy on yourself.

Lying horizontally in a peaceful state is a form of recharging

Instead, realise that when your body is in a relaxed state, it is actually recharging. From this place, use your mind to release any tension in muscles and think of something pleasant. Anything that comes up that you need to remember, jot down on your notepad and let it go.

5. Preparation - expose yourself to light on waking

Go to sleep at the same time each night, wake at the same time each morning and get sunlight within an hour of waking.  If there is no sunlight, use the Upp Light at the same time each morning and your body’s rhythm will support a more restful sleep.

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