HOW TO FALL ASLEEP TONIGHT

THE HOT NEW BEDFELLOW WH Commissioning Editor Roisín Dervish-o’kane cosies up with an anxiety-crushing weighted blanket

Security blankets call to mind the wheedling character Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoons and preschool-age children. Yet, more than two decades senior to that demographic, I find myself determined to get one. Specifically, a weighted blanket, reported to help expedite the falling-asleep process by reducing anxiety levels. I have a clinically anxious mind that loves an

11pm spiral and keeps me from sleep so, naturally, I’m curious. Weighted blankets have been used in mental health care for people with high nervous system arousal, such as personality disorders and autism. ‘It’s a part of what’s known as sensory integration,’ explains Kathryn Di Virgilio, an occupational therapist specialising in mental health and a spokesperson for the Therapy Directory. ‘It’s about empowering people whose nervous systems are highly aroused – like those with anxiety – with tools to help them move from being in sympathetic nervous system mode [stimulated] to parasympathetic [rest and digest].’ It sounds good, but what’s the thinking behind the heavy blanket? ‘Anxiety is a very sensory experience, in the grips of which it’s hard to intervene with your own thoughts,’ Di Virgilio explains. ‘But having something you can hold or feel weigh down on you is grounding.’ When UK shipping finally became available and the box carrying a blanket weighing a tenth of my body weight (at the manufacturer’s recommendation) arrived, I was straight on it (well, under it). I basically swaddled myself in it, cocoonlike, for its first outing: a Friday evening post-work, pre-bar disco nap. I fall asleep rapidly, a trend that’s been repeated most nights over the past three weeks, despite a rogue few outliers. It’s a tangible reminder that the scenarios playing in my mind aren’t real or relevant right now, but my physical need for sleep very much is.

£149, gravityblankets.co.uk

THE INNER THOUGHTS HACK The evidence stacks up in favour of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) being a legit method to speed your path to snoozy town

NHS psychotherapist and author of Ten To Zen (£10.99, Bluebird) Owen O’kane shares his pre-bed CBT checklist

1 | Stop and accept that you are struggling to sleep – fighting it will maintain the pattern.

2 | Rather than engage with your thoughts, try observing them and make a decision to let them go. It’s bedtime, they are not for now.

3 | Focus on your breath. Take a deep breath in for four counts and then out for four. Try this for a few minutes. It helps activate sleep-inducing neurochemicals.

The next morning... Think, ‘What can I learn from this?’ If the moment you put your head on the pillow marks your first opportunity to switch off, think about where else in the day you can make space for a break.

THE AGENDASETTING AMBIENCE UPGRADE WH Editorial Assistant/junior Writer Emily Pritchard plugs into the sleepy gadget that everyone’s been talking about

As befitting my residing above the holy trinity of chicken shop, 24-hour bus stop and student halls on the main road that connects London with Dover, I am desperate for help with my sleep. I’ve been burned before. (Notably, when I woke up one Monday morning with a silicone earplug lodged all the way down my ear canal.) So, it’s with cautious optimism that I take my Bose sleep buds to bed for the first time. They fit like tiny clams into the shell of my ear and initially muffle – rather than cancel – the sounds of 19-year-olds in fancy dress. ‘“Sounds” – rather than “noise” – grab unwanted attention,’ says Dr Orfeu Buxton, adjunct professor of sleep medicine at the Harvard School of Public Health. ‘It’s these “noises” – such as a phone or alarm ringing – during sleep that can trigger an arousal.’ And it’s these, he explains, that evoke the ‘vigilance brain responses’ (increased heart rate, raised cortisol levels) that then keep us awake. ‘Flatter, less urgent sounds, like traffic or plane flyovers, are non-threatening,’ says Dr Buxton. ‘Raising the background noise level can mask potentially threatening minor noises. It’s why pink-noise machines or oscillating fans are effective in noisy environments.’ I choose ‘warm static’ on the Bose app, which creates a womb-like sensation, before experimenting with tide, wind turbine and altitude (plane engine) vibes. It’s a safe kind of semi-silence and, despite my hesitations about my ability to sleep with incessant noise, I soon cease to notice. The white noise plays all night so, not only do I fall asleep faster, I stay asleep and feel fresh for it. My 6am wake-up is heralded by staccato bells played directly into my ear (less jarring than a phone alarm) and I’m ready to face the day. If, like me, you’re constantly disturbed by unexpected nocturnal sounds – 3am buskers included – they’re worth the (hefty) investment. £229.95, bose.co.uk

THE MIND TRICK Hypnotherapist and author of The Anxiety Solution (£12.99, Penguin) Chloe Brotheridge shares a simple exercise to help you switch off

1 | Start by taking deep belly breaths; breathing in for three and out for five.

2 | Next, imagine a flight of steps that leads you down to a calming place. This could be a beach, a garden, a forest; whatever you like.

3 | Visualise yourself walking down each step and relaxing more and more as you count down from 10 to one.

4 | Really allow yourself to be in that place. Use all your senses; notice what you see, hear, feel and smell around you. Imagine that you are completely absorbed in these thoroughly calming surroundings. Pretty nice, right?

5 | Finally, tell yourself some positive statements about sleep, such as ‘I am totally relaxed’; ‘sleep comes easily to me’ or ‘I will wake up rested and refreshed’. Sleep tight.

Download your free hypnotherapy toolkit at calmer-you.com/free