We’ve all had nights where our mind is racing for hours. When we’re under a lot of stress, unwinding from a long day can be a difficult process, anxiety-coated thoughts shooting through our brains like meteors. No matter what is keeping you up at night, however, losing sleep leads to unproductive days–which just makes everything worse. Sigh. To help you get the beauty sleep you deserve, here are our top 3 suggestions on how to help clear your head before bed.

  1. Meditate. Our team recently took a trip (2 blocks away) to INSCAPE in NYC, a guided meditation studio, to unwind and learn the practice of mindfulness. Though some of us were skeptical, we all felt immediately refreshed after one session. The good news is, you don’t have to be in NYC to enjoy the benefits of meditation pre-bedtime. The new ‘Healthy Sleep’ series in the INSCAPE app may be your solution to tossing and turning when you should be getting some shut-eye. The app pairs a daytime meditation with a bedtime session every day, helping your mind and body get in sync with your natural rhythms. They recommend committing to four weeks of the program and continuing with the meditation to keep healthy sleep a normal part of your lifestyle. Even better news? Newsette readers get one month of the app free! Click here on your mobile phone to get started.
  2. Exercise. As you already know, the benefits of working out are not just physical–they can be emotional and mental as well. Instead of viewing hitting the gym as a chore, try to reframe it as a way to clear your head and sweat out the stress you’re feeling. Think of it as your daily detox. Not only will you leave any bad energy or mood behind at the gym, if you work out at night, you’ll be (bonus) tired enough to pass out as soon as you finish taking a shower.
  3. Try using a noise machine or listening to podcasts. If you live in a loud and busy city, the sirens throughout the night can be exhausting–and even if you don’t live in a loud town, sometimes it can be too quiet. Noise machines can play anything from white noise to rainforest and ocean wave sounds. You’d be surprised at how quickly your mind can drift off once you have some background noise. Better yet, if you’re the type of person who always falls asleep during TV shows, but you don’t want to let it play all night, turn on a podcast instead. Put the volume low enough that you can just barely hear it…then your mind will eventually stop trying so hard to keep up with the words, and you’ll (hopefully) fall asleep.