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Rob
Hi. I’m Rob from Psych for Life. If you wake up in the middle of the night, you’re not alone. Fortunately, research has found some good techniques to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. So here’s what to do if you wake up in the middle of the night. First, find out if there’s something that’s waking you up. Bright lights and loud noises are common reasons.

00;00;23;04 – 00;00;46;28
Rob
Once you know the source, you’ll know whether you want to decrease the chance of it waking you up. Or think of ways to easily deal with the source of the noise. So, for example, if you live near the freeway or train tracks, for instance, you may want to dampen the noise by hanging a noise dampening curtain On the other hand, if you have a newborn baby and you need to attend to their cries, then maybe bring them closer to you.

00;00;47;07 – 00;01;07;28
Rob
Or find ways to reduce the time that you’re awake. Research has shown that the longer you’re awake, the harder it is to fall back asleep. If you have an older child who’s having trouble sleeping. Check out our video getting your kids to bed later in this module. If you find that you’re waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, try to reduce your liquid intake a couple of hours before bed.

00;01;08;00 – 00;01;31;10
Rob
Especially avoid alcohol and caffeine as they increase the need to go to the restroom. Tip to avoid staring at the clock or turning on electronics experts recommend. Avoid staring at the clock because it may make you feel anxious about the time that’s passing and you reduce the amount of time to sleep. Screens should be avoided because they emit blue light, which suppresses melatonin, often mimicking the sunlight from during the day.

00;01;32;01 – 00;01;53;09
Rob
And while sometimes phones have nighttime mode, which shifts to more of an orange light, we recommend avoiding screens altogether. For instance, if you’re falling asleep to the television, you might be woken up in the middle of the night by a loud noise or by a flash of light. And the content on TV and your phone is designed to keep you interested and engaged, which is the opposite of what you want when you’re trying to fall asleep.

00;01;54;23 – 00;02;27;05
Rob
In fact, if you’re watching this video at night, consider turning off the screen and just listening to the audio tip three. Try some relaxation exercises. Breathing exercises or meditation can be extremely helpful in helping you calm down and fall back to sleep. One relaxation technique is the body scan method, and what you do in the body skin method is you think about an individual body part and actively concentrate on relaxing that muscle.

00;02;28;01 – 00;02;56;29
Rob
And by doing that, it helps your whole body to relax, helping you fall asleep. So let’s practice it together, starting with our fingers take a deep breath and focus on your fingertips. Feel it from your thumb to your pinky and feel the stress release as you relax your fingers. Now you go down to your joints and they start feeling a little heavier and a little bit more relaxed.

00;02;58;01 – 00;03;23;22
Rob
And now think about your palms and the weight that’s in your palms and feel the tension start to release as you’re breathing slowly and shift that to your forearms and your forearms that are so tense from carrying things are now nice and relaxed and feel that go to your biceps and your triceps and release the tension from them.

00;03;24;24 – 00;03;57;22
Rob
And as you go to your neck, you feel that your neck carries a lot of the tension and stress from your day. So focus on relaxing that, taking a deep breath and feeling your tense, tight neck become nice and loose and feel that your scalp has a tingling sensation as it becomes nice and relaxed and center this all the way down until you get to your core and your abdomen taking deep, slow breaths.

00;03;58;04 – 00;04;19;05
Rob
And while you notice you doing this, you’ll feel the stress start to reduce in your body and you’ll start to calm down. And this will help you fall back to sleep. And remember. Combine this with breathing exercises. So take slow, deep breaths in between each muscle group to help you calm down and feel free to do this as many times as you need to.

00;04;20;19 – 00;04;49;08
Rob
Another helpful tool for falling asleep is something simple like counting sheep Tip four After 20 minutes, if you’re still having trouble falling asleep, try getting out of bed and try to do something else. Either walking around slowly, doing some breathing meditation exercises, listening to some classical music, or maybe even reading. The key is to not associate your anxiety with where you sleep and once you start to feel more relaxed.

00;04;49;19 – 00;05;11;00
Rob
Remember to go back to your bed in order to go to sleep. If you’ve tried these tips and you still find that you’re having trouble sleeping consistently or that it’s impacting your safety or quality of life, consider talking to your doctor to dove down deep into the root causes. Here are our key takeaways for what to do if you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall asleep.

00;05;11;15 – 00;05;39;12
Rob
One Look for potential causes of sleep disruption two Don’t stare at the clock or your phone or a screen. Three. Try some simple relaxation techniques, such as counting sheep, relaxing your muscles and breathing exercises. Four. If you’ve been awake for 20 minutes or more, get out of bed and five. If lack of sleep is causing serious disruptions to your health or life.

00;05;39;24 – 00;05;48;06
Rob
Talk to your doctor. Thanks for joining us. In the next video, we’ll learn how to get up and moving in the morning. I know sometimes it’s tough. See you there.