If you want a complete and peaceful night of sleep it is indeed vital to learn how to clear the mind. Perhaps, many people have noticed that when there is too much going on their heads or their thoughts is running here and there, sleep is hard to come by.
When you go for a sleep therapy for example or a stress management counseling, you will learn more about the need to clear the mind to fight sleeplessness or insomnia. Therefore, what does clearing the mind means? Do you need to let your mind go blank or empty? Clearing the mind is similar to calming the mind, relaxing the mind or de-cluttering the mind.
If you try to study your sleep patterns, you can experience sleeplessness when you are worrying about something or is excited about something. You have an unfinished business going on in your head and until you resolved it or figured it out completely, you cannot easily drift to a good night sleep.
People can sleep easily fall into sleep when their bodies are physically tired but the mind seems to work longer than the body. Even if we are tired our minds seems to be active, alert and still wide awake. That is the time you can really experience a troubled sleep- when your mind is not at rest, your whole body cannot rest too.
You can find several advice or ways for you to shut off your brain prior to bedtime.
For few experiences with sleeplessness due to a stress mind these tips can really help. However, if the problem persists and you had more and more sleepless nights it is better to consult a sleep specialist.
Understanding the Brain States
It would really help you if you look at different brain states. There are about 4 brain states, the beta
state, alpha state, theta state and delta state. The beta state is the state of alertness or state of being wide awake. The next state is the alpha state or the state of relaxation and visualization. At this point, the brain seems to slow down from the previous rapid brain wave state. Third state is the theta state or the state of memory and imagery. This is the state where you see images or some memories come to your mind. This is like the state of dreaming. You are quite awake because you remember part of your dream and you see images in your mind. You are in a dream state. This could be due to the reason that the mind is transitioning from being active to being less and less conscious. The last stage is the delta stage or the stage of deep sleep. At this point you are asleep already and have detached awareness. You no longer know what is going around.
If you look at these states, you will know you did not reach the theta state, when you don’t have a dream. Most people who had good sleep had remembered some dreams at night. That means they reach that level or that brain frequency. If you don’t know what happened around or become unconscious you have really reach the state of deep sleep.
Most people find it hard to sleep because their brain state is always in a state of being wide awake. To help you reach the alpha state or relaxation state you need to divert your mind, get thoughts that will get you out of the loop of spinning thoughts in your head. You can follow these tips to help you have a peaceful night sleep.
- Listen To Soothing Nature Sounds For Sleep – One of the best ways you can do to relax your mind is to listen to prerecorded sounds or MP3s of nature sounds like sound of rain, relaxing ocean waves, wind chime gardens and the likes. This will help to relax your mind. You need to help yourself as you listen to this sounds, you need to stop thinking of what is bothering you.
- Look at Soothing Nature Photos- If you are having a stressful day or a stressful experience you can take a look at wonderful soothing nature photos. If you can afford to have a break and take a walk to enjoy nature you can do it to get instant relaxation. However every night, you can just have a collection or photo gallery of nature photos and look at them before you get to sleep.
- Do Some Journal Writing to Relieve Stress- This can be effective to clear out your thoughts as you write down the things that bother you. Write down your plans. Write down your experience for the day then leave them on your journal and don’t bring it to your mind as you go to sleep.
- Do Listen To Audiobooks- If you have collection of audiobooks, you can listen to them and enjoy the story. This will help you to divert your thoughts and be entertained by the story until your mind becomes more relax.
- Read Bible Verses About Worry And Anxiety –Verses in the Bible that pertains to stress and worry can help you relax and take your mind off your worries. Example of these verses include:
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. (Proverbs 3:24)
6. Christian Prayers To Clear The Mind-When our mind is too busy, prayers can really help to
clear our mind, it also gives peace in our mind and heart knowing we have ask for prayers for it before we go to sleep. One sample prayer for the night include this prayer:
Lord, it is night. The night is for stillness.
Let us be still in the presence of God.
It is night after a long day.
What has been done has been done;
what has not been done has not been done; let it be.
The night is dark.
Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you.
The night is quiet.
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace.
The night heralds the dawn.
Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, and new possibilities.
In your name, we pray Amen.
—New Zealand Book of Common Prayer
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