Why has my sleep anxiety increased during lock down?

The recent outbreak of COVID 19 has changed all our lives dramatically and continues to cause uncertainty daily. As the corona virus spreads, our stress and anxiety increases and our sleep is affected.

My own sleep has suffered in recent weeks due to my racing mind and disruption of my normal routine. It is no wonder that I am feeling increasingly anxious, and worried, as with each; social media post, news broadcast, work related email or visit to the shops, I am constantly reminded of the doom and gloom, causing me small stresses throughout my day.

On top of that my old go to methods for relaxing have gone, I am unable to visit and cuddle my family, dance with friends, eat Italian with my husband or spend a small fortune on popcorn at the cinema. While I miss my old routines, I had to find a new way to cope with life, and adapt to whatever resources are available to me currently.

So I got my hypnotherapist’s hat on, to think of the best way, to deal with the days ahead but also provide ways to manage anxious thoughts ,and stop them affecting your sleep in the long term. We can’t stop our mind from having uneasy and worrying ideas, (they are part of our evolution and a big reason why we have survived so long) but we can learn to respond to the unwanted thoughts differently and take back control.

Top tips to manage anxious thoughts, calm your mind and boost your immunity

Ways to begin acknowledging the anxiety

There is no hiding from it COVID 19 has created uncertainty in the world, and it is no wonder that our minds are racing with chaotic and anxious thoughts. You may want to block those feelings, distract yourself, or ignore them, but this creates further unwanted thoughts.  Instead, you should acknowledge and address your anxiety in a calm and controlled way. By providing a calm response to the negative thoughts, you are telling your brain it is ok there is no danger here.

How you can settling the mind

As the coronavirus spreads, it is necessary to keep up to with guidance and information to keep yourself safe. However, as our anxiety, stress and panic spread, we need to find a way to silence the mental chatter and reduce the negative effect this information has on us.It is also important to take care of your mental health and get enough sleep, as sleep reduction weakens the immune system. 

During lockdown, we have extra time to carry out self care routines. 

• Complete an online workout video
• colour in
•  listen to music that lifts your mood
•  meditate listen to guided hypnosis
• Just by making space for yourself for 15 minutes a day, can keep balance your cortisol levels, and let your body know you are in no danger. 
• using hypnosis

I have created a guided hypnosis audio to calm the mind, clear thoughts and give you back a feeling of control here https://soundcloud.com/user-277147614/calm-mind-birchhypno?fbclid=IwAR24hDsySUDYKKD9NVirBC-SWU_tZ1Q9MK-cYp6DS3Nfcr6q75mSjujN1R8

Easy methods for boosting positivity

As the mind and body are connected, any negative thoughts we have can have an adverse effect on our physical health, and during the current COVID 19 situation, we need our bodies to be as healthy as possible. By changing our thoughts to positive ones, (even if we don’t truly feel or believe them at the moment), we can create new  pathways which will allow our body to respond easily, to the new positive thoughts.

This could be done by 

• reframing situations, such as ‘I get to spend all this extra time reading ’, and ‘I am saving loads of money by not going out.’ 
• Take daily photos or write a list of things you are grateful for and want to savour, maybe the delicious ice cream you ate. 
• Gratitude is especially powerful if done just before you go to sleep, as it redirects your thoughts and increases the feeling of contentment, allowing sleep to come more easily. 
• Affirmations are an effective way of concentrating your attention on the positive, and encouraging our mind to believe that we are happy, calm and in control. 

See my boosting positivity video here https://www.facebook.com/birchtreehypno/videos/520541635307842/

By practising the three tips you can manage your anxiety and promote sleep

• acknowledging the anxiety 
• settling the mind 
• boosting positivity 

It is most effective to complete each step order and all three steps can be completed in under 30 minutes.

You could even use my online guides

•  EFT video
• calm mind audio 
• boosting positive affirmations video

 However, there are no rules, if one action applies to you most start there, even for a few minutes before you go to sleep. Just one positive action will lower your cortisol, boost your serotonin level, and put you one step closer to feeling less anxious and more in control than you were yesterday.