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What to do if you’re up in the middle of the night

Dec 12, 2023

Addressing the issue of waking up in the middle of the night, the podcast discusses the need for a soothing distraction and explores techniques for falling asleep. It suggests choosing abundant resources like books and podcasts, and strategies for finding the right distraction and reducing light exposure at night.

08:58

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Quick takeaways

Choose soothing distractions like books, audiobooks, or podcasts with simple themes to help quiet racing thoughts and facilitate falling back asleep.

Wear blue light blocking safety goggles with orange lenses to reduce light exposure and promote better sleep quality.

Deep dives

Using soothing distractions to fall back asleep

When you wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back asleep, it can be isolating and frustrating. Sleep therapist Lisa Strauss recommends using soothing distractions to help you quiet your racing thoughts and bring yourself back to sleep. Visualizations and relaxation techniques may not be effective as they don't last long enough, distract enough, or may be too goal-oriented. Instead, choose abundant resources like books, audiobooks, or podcasts that have low-stakes and simple themes. Lisa's patients have found success with spiritual lectures, travel logs, and old episodes of shows like Friends. It is important to prepare your soothing distraction in advance, having it readily available bedside to avoid searching for something to read or listen to in the middle of the night.

Introduction

2min

Exploring Techniques for Falling Asleep at Night

2min

Choosing Abundant and Soothing Resources for a Restful Night

2min

Strategies for Finding Distraction and Reducing Light Exposure at Night

4min

In class 3 of our course about how to get better sleep, we dig in on a moment most of us are familiar with – waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep. Sometimes our default setting is to keep thinking our endless thoughts, but, it turns out, what we really need is a distraction. And you want to make sure to find the right kind of distraction – one that requires little to no thinking or mental commitment. Cristina explores tips on how to do that and an accessory that can help.

Here are some of Cristina’s favorite suggestions for soothing distractions that might work for you:

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