Tactics to Release Stress to Aid a Good Night’s Sleep

One of the main causes for people not falling asleep quickly or having a bad quality sleep is due to dealing with the mind working overtime and stressing about things from that day.

Ray Sadoun, a mental health and stress expert working alongside Comfybedss, to promote good sleep wellbeing, has given expert advice on how to effectively relieve stress and anxiety.

With over 15 years of experience, Ray takes an in-depth look at what we can do to prevent increased stress levels in our increasingly busy lives:

Opening Up

Ray says; “One great way to relieve stress is to simply talk about it – when you open up about your stress, it becomes easier to handle it as you put less pressure on yourself to pretend you’ve got everything together. You may also find that your loved ones open up about their stress, too and you can help each other through it.

This is often easier said than done, with so many of us opting to bottle up what is stressing us out, but this only makes things worse. The key is to confide in people that you trust and feel most comfortable with, then you’ll soon find that talking about the stresses in your life immediately has a positive impact.”

Planning Ahead

“Planning ahead can prevent stress as it allows you to have everything organised, reducing your chances of missing a deadline or forgetting an important event, which are huge causes of stress. I always recommend that my clients plan their week on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday so that they have time to think about what they’re going to need to prepare for. 

Many clients have reported feeling less stressed since planning their weeks as they aren’t caught off guard as much as they once were; they always know what’s coming up each day. And nowadays, with so many people with such busy schedules both professionally and socially, taking time to plan ahead is essential to avoid stress buildup.”

Regular Exercise

“This is a classic, but it’s a classic for good reason and cannot be emphasised enough. When you get those endorphins pumping, it’s difficult to not feel inspired, energised and more at peace with yourself. 

When this happens, you can channel stress into motivation to change things you dislike about your life. There’s also no need to exhaust yourself to reduce stress levels. While getting a good sweat on is never a bad thing, ensuring a regular walk, bike ride or swim is enough to mediate the stress that builds up from other areas of life.”

Self-Reflection

“Try carving time out each day to simply sit still and notice how you’re feeling physically and mentally. Too often, we plug into social media, listen to music, and talk to our loved ones as a way of ignoring our feelings.

If we sit with our thoughts, it will help us come to conclusions about our happiness. At first, it may be uncomfortable as negative emotions inevitably arise, but the more you get used to feeling like this, the easier it will be to discover which of your needs haven’t been met and how to overcome them effectively.”

Realistic Goals

“Our lives are constantly measured against various successes, some of them we can control, some of them we can’t, both of which can induce high stress levels. Managing stress effectively is about recognising which parts of our lives we can control and which parts we can’t. 

Once we’ve established this, we can then set goals that are challenging, yet realistic, rather than setting unrealistic targets that will ultimately end in failure and increased stress. Whether that be running a marathon or getting a promotion, seek advice from people whose advice you trust and you shouldn’t go too far wrong.”

Readers turn to Sleep Magazine for trusted ways to get better sleep, improve health, and boost energy levels.