In normal times, the French already sleep poorly. An increased situation during this period of confinement linked to the coronavirus epidemic. No more waking up at a fixed time, evenings watching series ... not to mention that many spend, once in bed, restless nights, anxious about illness, the fear of losing loved ones, or the difficulties posed by confinement on their professional activity. While on average the French take 39 minutes to fall asleep, Europe 1 presents five natural and original methods to promote sleep without going through the sleeping pills box.
1. Work on your breathing
The link between breathing and relaxation is no longer to be demonstrated: we were talking about it here, here or even there. And certain breathing techniques are particularly adapted to insomnia. This is the case, for example, with the "4-7-8" method, developed by Andrew Weil, a Harvard graduate doctor. The technique can be done lying down, standing or sitting, but it is better to do it standing or sitting, shortly before going to bed, therefore.
1. Stand with your back straight and your feet touching the floor.
2. Stick your tongue on the palate, behind the teeth.
3. Next comes the breathing sequence: breathe in through the nose counting to 4 then hold your breath counting up to 7 and finally exhale through the mouth counting up to 8.
By repeating the operation three times, you are expected to fall asleep in one minute.
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2. Use mental visualization
The hardest part when trying to sleep is to manage to clear your mind, often overwhelmed by many thoughts. To achieve this, the book Relax and Win: Championship Performance, written by Lloyd C. Winter , a renowned athletic trainer, identifies some mental imagery techniques that would have inspired the US Army to make its soldiers sleep.
The idea is simple: first, lie down, relax all your muscles and all your limbs, breathe slowly. Once relaxed (after a few minutes of relaxation), the principle consists in visualizing one or more pleasant and reassuring situations, such as:
• Imagine yourself at the edge of a lake, in a canoe for example, with a blue sky above your head
• Project yourself in a black velvet hammock, or in a room where complete darkness reigns, the idea being to feel well installed and protected.
• If you do not succeed, the book also suggests repeating yourself as often as necessary "think of nothing, think of nothing, think of nothing", imagining yourself in a meditative posture, all for ten seconds. This technique works for the long term: try to do this every night, and after a few days, sleep should come more easily.
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3. Mix breathing and visualization exercises
Sophrology offers a number of exercises where breathing is used for visualization, and vice versa. Questioned by Europe 1, the sophrologist Carole Serrat offers an exercise of astonishing simplicity. "We close our eyes, we breathe in calmly by inflating the belly like a balloon and we breathe out for a long time through the mouth while returning the belly.
Then, we relax all the muscles of the body, from the skull to the toes and we feel his body becoming heavier and heavier. This feeling of heaviness is very important. You have to imagine that you are moving towards your inner well-being. It can take the form of a door that opens and overlooks a peaceful lake, a green landscape. "
On the Health magazine website , sophrologist Catherine Aliotta offers another, a little more complex, for all those who dread bedtime. The idea is to "box your fear of sleeping":
• "Standing, parallel legs separated from the width of the pelvis, knees slightly bent. The head and the back are straight, the shoulders are relaxed, the eyes closed. The arms falling along the body, hands open. Raise the left arm to horizontal and stretch out your arm and hand. Imagine his apprehension of sleep at the tip of his hand.
• Bring your right fist up to your right shoulder, elbow back, inhaling through your nose. Block breathing for a few moments. Then, throw the fist forward, blowing strongly through the mouth. Imagine then that you 'explode' your fear. To do three times. Repeat this sequence three times, this time reversing the arms.
• Bring the two fists up to shoulder height, elbows back, inhaling through the nose. Block breathing for a few moments. Throw both fists forward, blowing strongly. Relax your arms along your body, hands open. Do it once, before bed. "
4. Try acupuncture
Acupuncture is, in general, a professional job. But there are a few techniques available to everyone, some of which are known to promote sleep. One of them consists in finding the point "door of the spirit", located on the wrist. It is a small hollow located next to the pisiform bone, in the junction between the arm and the wrist.
By massaging it for a few minutes with your thumb, before bed, it will calm your nervousness and help you sleep better. You will find the explanations of this self-massage and two others on this video below:
5. Turn to plants
Many plants are known for their relaxing properties and, therefore, as promoting sleep. If only two were to be retained, it might be linden and lavender. You can obviously drink them as herbal tea. But if you don't like it (or if it doesn't work), why not put them in your bath?
This method, which comes from naturopathy, consists of filling a small sachet (in muslin, linen or cotton) with lavender or lime, placing it at the bottom of the bathtub and filling it with very hot water. Let steep for ten minutes, then add a decoction of lime or lavender that you have made yourself, and take the plunge: the feeling of heat combined with the aromas of the plant should put you in the best conditions to go to sleep.