Late-night Self-talk Keeping You up? Try This Easy Hack to Get Back to Sleep

I can’t tell you how many times I have awoken between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM, my inner self-talk ramping up — all negative, of course. (Why can’t automatic self-talk ever be more about how successful I am, how everything is fine, and that goddammit people like me?!) And it’s hours before I fall back to sleep.

And then I found a solution

I have recently learned that even if we are not physically speaking, when we are actively thinking and experiencing self-talk, our bodies replicate the action of speaking through micro muscle movements in our tongues.

And by completely relaxing the muscles in our tongue — and while the tongue is stable — we can almost eliminate overthinking.

I know, right? 🧠💣

Here is an exercise you can use (day or night) to calm your mind:

1. Close your eyes and become aware of your tongue in your mouth
2. Let your jaw relax, opening the mouth slightly
3. Let your tongue completely relax, as if it is falling into the back of your mouth
4. Tuck the tip of your tongue in your bottom gums, under the lower teeth
5. Inhale and exhale a few times, exaggerating the relaxation in your jaw, mouth and tongue on each exhalation

The Mayo Clinic has found that activities, including dropping the tongue, can support the parasympathetic nervous system (promoting relaxation) and contribute to increased heart rate variability (HRV). Why is this important? People with higher HRV are reported to have reduced morbidity, greater emotional balance and are more resilient to stress.

Plus, you know, I hear 8-hours of sleep each night is a thing.

So the next time you are lying awake worried about what you are going to write for #Ship30for30 in the morning, take a deep breath, drop your tongue, and let your subconscious dream up a few ideas.

This post was created with Typeshare