Stress makes you sleep well? 5 tips from Harvard's body and mind authority "decompression and relaxation techniques"

    Everyday stress comes from all directions, from traffic jams in the morning, unsatisfactory work in the workplace, crying children after returning home, all kinds of negative emotions accumulate from the day to bedtime, making people unable to relax and sleep, although there is no source of stress. It can be avoided, but we can try to deal with it in a healthy way. Herbert Benson, a professor at Harvard Medical School, proposed 5 "decompression and relaxation techniques" suitable for use before going to bed every night. Enter a state of dreamland.

1. Abdominal breathing

    After a few minutes of abdominal breathing, because we focus on relaxing only one muscle at a time and slowly let go of the tight pressure on that muscle, it can help us to feel more sensitive to the muscles in various parts of the body. Simple "body perception", slowly understand the feeling of every inch of muscle on the whole body and the degree of relaxation of the body, which can closely connect your body and mind, and then relieve stress.

3. Take a hot bath

    After a trembling day, nothing is more healing than slipping into a bathtub full of hot water~ A hot bath can not only relax the body and mind, but also promote blood circulation, and the body temperature will drop after taking a bath The process of soaking will induce drowsiness, thereby improving insomnia, nightmares and other troubles for many years, but if there is no bathtub at home, you can also use soaking hands and feet to help sleep.

4. Progressive Muscle Stretch

    When you're emotionally tense and anxious, you'll unconsciously push your muscles into a tight state, which can lead to common back and neck stiffness and soreness over time, which can make it harder to sleep. And if you spend half an hour or 10 minutes doing simple "progressive stretching" before going to bed, you can follow YouTube's instructional videos, or ask a professional to relieve tight muscles by stretching, not only the circulation of the body can be improved Well, it is also very helpful for insomnia.

5. Mindfulness meditation

    Meditation is not just a religious and metaphysical ritual. By practicing meditation, we can maintain ourselves in a stable state, not worry about the past or the future in the present, but only focus on breathing and let the body relax slowly. In recent years, meditation has become more and more popular, and there are many meditation apps that can help reduce anxiety and depression. For example, a tutor will take you to meditate together online, and a 5-minute short course planned for office workers is convenient and easy to get started. If you have also If you are struggling to fall asleep due to stress, try these methods!