You might have noticed that your anxiety tends to be at its worst when you’re ready to wind down for the night. It’s pretty ironic that our brain and nervous system become the most ACTIVE when we’re ready to be INACTIVE (i.e., fall asleep). Perhaps you’re experiencing anxiety about sleeping itself, or just tend to experience a rush of anxiety when falling asleep. With the lack of distractions and hands-on tasks that keep our anxiety at bay during the day, it’s pretty common for anxiety to be quite prominent at night.
Regardless of the reason for this spike in anxious feelings, nighttime or sleep anxiety is no fun time. You might experience it as your mind going a mile a minute, or your body feeling like it’s buzzing and could hover off the bed, or a slew of other physical symptoms – or even worse, all of the above! This scenario is definitely not conducive to sleep, or at the very least rest. So, what do you do when you need to rest but your anxiety has other plans? Try some anxiety relaxation techniques that target your five senses!
In this post, I am going to dive into the many tools and strategies that have helped me to relax my brain and body enough to get some rest and hopefully even fall asleep. I have included soothing activities for each of the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Try playing around with some of these and adding the ones you like most to a calming bedtime routine that helps nip your sleep anxiety in the bud!
Nighttime Anxiety Relaxation Techniques for Your Sense of SIGHT
Dim the Lights
Bright lights are the enemy when you are preparing your body for sleep. Limiting light exposure before bed and relying solely on dim, warm lighting can help you to feel more relaxed. Think spa atmosphere here! The spa experience definitely wouldn’t be as relaxing if it was done in harsh, fluorescent lighting. If you have light dimmers, perfect. Otherwise you might try switching off the overhead lights and using only lamps or other ambient lighting.
Reading
I feel like reading is my solution for all of life’s problems – occupational hazard of being a book worm! But seriously, reading is great for taming anxiety in the evening because it engages your mind and serves as a great distraction. You might prefer to rely on an old classic to experience the full soothing effect (Harry Potter anyone?). Or else others prefer non-fiction to get their minds off their worries. If you’re in the latter camp, might I suggest you check out my book Anxious and Empowered, now available on Amazon? (Hey, gotta throw in some shameless plugs where I can!)
Mindless Activities
Now I know it’s not ideal to stick your face in a screen so close to bedtime, but sometimes it’s best to choose the lesser of two evils. When I really can’t slow my mind down and need to distract myself from anxiety about sleeping, scrolling through Instagram reels can be just the ticket. (To all you TikTok users, yes I am aware that I just aged myself.) It seems to offer the right balance between keeping the mind engaged without requiring too much brain power. For you it might be a different activity, but think of something that strikes that same balance for you.
Nighttime Anxiety Relaxation Techniques for Your Sense of HEARING
Soothing Music
On a typical night, I require complete silence to be able to sleep. On an anxious night, silence is the enemy because my brain seems to feel the need to fill it. That’s where soft, instrumental music comes in handy. I’ll even set a sleep timer and leave it on as I attempt to drift off. I find it really helpful for covering up the loudness of silence. This is my current favourite fall asleep playlist on Spotify.
Binaural Beats
Bare with me for a moment as I attempt to explain what the heck binaural beats are in the least scientific terminology possible (because honestly the science goes right over my head). In a nutshell, our brain is not able to compute two different sound frequencies at once. With binaural beats (which we usually listen to with headphones), a different frequency is played in each ear. The brain then averages out these frequencies to create a new frequency, which could in theory alter our mental state. (I hope that made even a tiny bit of sense!)
A word of caution about binaural beats: while I’ve included them in this list because I myself have found them to be soothing, there isn’t sufficient evidence to support their efficacy. That being said, this research study that looked at the findings of 22 other studies did conclude that listening to binaural beats can affect our cognition (including reducing anxiety). This just depends on how often, for how long and when we listen to binaural beats. And on the plus side, assuming you aren’t listening to the beats too loud, no side effects of using this strategy have been reported. However, it has been cautioned that you consult with your doctor before trying binaural beats if you have epilepsy.
Guided Meditation
Meditation (i.e., quieting your mind) can be difficult on a good day. This is why I love guided meditations. Having someone else giving you instructions to follow can be helpful for staying focused and in the moment. For anxious nights, I especially appreciate guided sleep stories, which can be found on Youtube or Spotify. My own therapist had recommended The Honest Guys’ sleep stories to me and I now extend this recommendation to you as a great place to start (here’s one of their shorter ones as a good place to start)!
Nighttime Anxiety Relaxation Techniques for Your Sense of SMELL
Essential Oils
I’ll be honest, I definitely scoffed at the idea of essential oils a few years ago. Then when I was in school to become a psychotherapist, I hopped right on the bandwagon and haven’t looked back. The reason for this is that I have seen AND experienced for myself how grounding the scent of essential oils can be.
There’s a part of our brain called the amygdala, and this part deals with emotions and also essentially acts as our body’s threat detector. The problem is, it can definitely be overactive and perceive threats where there really aren’t any (hence, anxiety). Simply put, the part of the brain that handles smell connects directly to the amygdala. To demonstrate this, think about a time when a specific smell elicited a good memory and positive emotions. Therefore, if we use a smell that we find soothing, it makes sense that it could calm this part of the brain down.
The type of smell you find soothing is going to differ from person to person. For example, while lavender is the scent most recommended for its relaxing properties, I actually CANNOT stand the smell of it, so I definitely do not find it soothing. I tend to prefer more woodsy smelling oils for relaxing, such as cedarwood or vetiver. Anything that makes me feel like I am sitting by a campfire or strolling down the lumber aisle at the Home Depot. So rather than recommending specific scents, I invite you to find the scents that speak to you.
Nighttime Anxiety Relaxation Techniques for Your Sense of TASTE
A Calming Drink
You might remember being given warm milk to drink when you were little to help you fall asleep. Having a warm, comforting (and caffeine-free!) beverage before bed can be really soothing when you’re experiencing some sleep anxiety too! Herbal tea is my drink of choice and my favourites include rooibos or a herbal masala chai.
Chewing Gum
Chewing a strong flavoured gum or candy can also be soothing and grounding when we are in the grasps of anxiety. For me, chewing mint gum has the added benefit of helping to settle my stomach when I am feeling especially anxious. Not to mention, the act of chewing something can help work out some of the excess energy we might be experiencing in our body. Chewable ginger candies have also come in handy! You might try choosing a flavour that is your special bedtime go-to, to help reinforce the connection between chewing that gum/candy and winding down for the night.
Nighttime Anxiety Relaxation Techniques for Your Sense of TOUCH
Weighted Blanket
While I don’t personally find using a weighted blanket beneficial for my sleep, I do find wrapping one around my shoulders soothing when I am feeling anxious. The weight and pressure can be helpful for calming your body down. Try cozying up under a weighted blanket while you read or meditate before bed. Or if you do tend to experience a rush of anxiety when falling asleep, try throwing a weighted blanket on your bed to see if that helps.
Yoga/Stretching
Anxiety often manifests as excess energy in the body, so finding a way to move your body can help to break up that energy. Of course, we’re not going to go for a run or lift some weights right before bed as this can rev up our nervous system even more. Instead, you might try doing some gentle stretches or yoga poses while focusing on your breath. You could even do this right on your bed so that you don’t have far to go when you’re ready to hit the hay! And if you want to learn even more about how yoga is a great tool for managing anxiety, be sure to check out this post.
Touch Something Soft
Did you have a favourite blanket or stuffed animal as a child? Remember how safe it made you feel? Same concept here. Feeling and even cuddling something soft can be soothing. This might look like running your hands over a blanket, hugging a pillow or a stuffed animal, petting a pet or cuddling with a loved one. This is me giving you permission to have 5000 pillows on your bed to burrow into if that is what you need to feel safe and soothed!
CONCLUSION
Now that I’ve shared some of my favourite soothing activities for easing anxiety about sleeping or general anxiety before bed, I invite you to try some of them to find the right combination for you. Sometimes one practice will be sufficient, but often I find it best to use several to achieve more complete relaxation. Some of these practices might become a part of your regular nighttime routine, or else just something you practice on your worst nights. Either way, I look forward to hearing which new strategies you will be adopting!
