There may be many reasons why we cannot sleep: ranging from drinking too much coffee, to anxiety, too much screen time, to developing a sleep disorder. It is always good to speak to a doctor if a case of insomnia or unexplained tiredness has developed.
Counsellor and therapist, Rev Shaun Lambert, gave us great tips for a well-rested mind and good sleep as part of our Forward Thinking Series. We caught up with him to get his top 5 tips for getting a good night’s sleep and becoming more mindful:
5 top tips for a good night’s sleep
- Putting in boundaries around social media and phone use. Put the phone away after 9 p.m. Put boundaries in earlier in the day like only picking up emails twice a day.
- Getting out of your head and into your body and senses before bedtime. Perhaps enjoying a soothing drink, a hot bath, a walk around the block, paying attention to your breath for a few minutes.
- Reviewing your day with God, what can you be grateful for? Often when we try to sleep our brain won’t switch off as we ruminate about our worries. Name these and hand them over to God.
- Using some form of night time prayer, the Church of England call this ‘Compline’.
- Body scanning. As you lie down, lie on your back for five minutes and just notice how your body is feeling from the tip of your toes to the top of your head.
These practices take time to work so be patient and don’t give up!
Here’s a prayer, to inspire your end of day conversations with God :
Prayer: In the name of Jesus, we declare your promise of rest, safety, peace and sustenance over our night’s sleep. Your love for us, Lord is deeper than the sea and reaches beyond the stars in space, so we ask you to take away our burdens and anxieties as we lay them at the foot of the cross. May we not be troubled as we lay our head down to rest. We pray protection over ourselves and our family. Allow us to be restored and feel rejuvenated when we wake up in the morning. Amen.
For more tips watch the full episode of Forward Thinking featuring Shaun Lambert sharing his thoughts on mindfulness.
