Top 8 Evening Habits for Reducing Anxiety at Night

Anxiety, as everyone knows, has become common nowadays. It is characterized by nervousness, worry, and constant apprehension.

While some of us suffer from anxiety during the day time, there are others who suffer anxiety at night. If you are one of those, these 8 simple evening habits will help you find an answer to that ever-elusive question – “how to reduce anxiety at night?”

If you suffer from anxiety that takes place late in the day and leads to night time anxiety, that can truly be troublesome as it can take a heavy toll on your energy levels, use up your free time, and reduce your sleep quality at night.

It is also worth mentioning here that anxiety feeds on more anxiety. This is why you should not be overwhelmed or surprised when it happens all of a sudden at night.

Instead, ask yourself are you well prepared to deal with these thoughts and feelings when they arise at night. Your main aim should be to let a feeling stay as it is and not permit any one of them to turn into an emotion.

Once your anxiety turns into an emotion and starts to take control over your mind and body, things might become really complicated when it comes to reversing through conscious applications.

Let us begin by changing some of the things that you do in the evening….

HERE ARE 8 HEALTHY EVENING HABITS THAT CAN HELP ALLEVIATE NIGHT ANXIETY:

 

1. PRACTICE DEEP BREATHING:

Ever wondered as to how to calm anxiety at night? Practicing mindfulness or an increased awareness that can be achieved through meditation can be a good place to start.

Mindfulness helps you connect your mind and body and enables you to make some sense of all the day’s chaos. In turn, this can help you find a sense of calm and still the racing thoughts that can get into the way of a good night’s sleep. In addition, meditation also focuses on soothing your mind, which helps in reducing anxiety and stress.

Different deep breathing exercises for anxiety can be used to slow down the heart rate and ensure fuller and deeper breathing. This leads to calming and relaxing the mind and also alleviating nighttime anxiety.

2. AIM FOR A RELAXING AND PEACEFUL EVENING:

These days, we are so occupied that we hardly get any time to focus on anything else during the daytime. Hence, it is essential for you to make sure that no matter how stressful or bad your day was, your evenings must be peaceful.

Suppose your goal is to have a peaceful evening, and you remind yourself of it every day. In that case, this determination will result in you enjoying a peaceful evening with a lesser chance of having anxiety at night. You can start this habit by practicing to stop thinking about the day at a specific place on your way back home from work. You can even set an alarm as a reminder.

Once you reach that place, start visualizing that you are going to enjoy a peaceful evening. You can also practice visual imagery exercises of success till the time it becomes a reflex response. This will make sure that you are on the right track in building healthy evening habits to reduce nighttime anxiety.

3. PRACTICE BEING MORE IN THE PRESENT:

Anxiety, more often than not, leads to detachment and dissociation from the present moment. Therefore, it is crucial that you stay grounded to the present to make sure that your anxiety does not take over your life. No matter how busy your day is, manage to find out some time to practice mindfulness as it will help you to stay grounded.

4. SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR LOVED ONES:

Talk about the events of the day with your friends and family. This will enable you to reflect, de-stress, and recharge yourself.

It can be an excellent evening habit for nighttime anxiety. It will assist you in calming your nerves and prevent episodes of anxiety at night.

You can also play around with your pets as it will benefit you both emotionally and physiologically because it reduces stress and blood pressure.

5. MAKE TIME FOR UNWINDING:

Evenings do not always mean free-time, even if you come back from work as there are stilltasks that need to be done before bed. This does not give us enough time to relax properly.

One way of avoiding this is by allotting time between tasks so that you can be free and unwind. Moreover, this will prevent you from becoming overwhelmed by all the stuff you need to do before you hit the sack.

6. OPT FOR A HOT SHOWER OR JUST A BATH:

If the above-mentioned short bursts of rest are not enough to unwind, then you can always go for a hot shower to help your mind and body relax.

If you want, you can go for a stroll in the neighborhoods, stretch, or even listen to an audiobook, or have a cup of chamomile tea that can help you fall asleep. All of these are outstanding evening habits for nighttime anxiety.

7. DEVELOP A PLAN FOR A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP:

Before you go to bed, your mind and body are already exhausted. Hence, it is essential that you get a good night’s sleep to feel fresh the next day.

Planning and imaging a comfortable sleep can help you in achieving REM or Rapid Eye Movement sleep. During REM sleep, you recharge your willpower and activate the healing mechanisms in your body. This makes sure that your nighttime anxiety is well under control and that you get adequate sleep.

8. EXERCISE DAILY:

Exercising on a daily basis releases endorphins into your bloodstream, which reduces stress hormones, anxiety and helps prevent anxiety at night.

However, it would help if you did not work out before bed-time but a couple of hours before you hit the sack. You will feel light, and the emotional release will carry you into the night.

Let us know if you have any more suggestions!! Also, feel free to share your evening habits with us in the comment section below!!