Ep. 128 – Get Out of Bed if You Can’t Sleep

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Good morning and welcome to Episode 128 of The Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Through the end of February we are having a special contest for Train Your Brain Podcast Listeners to send in their best brain training tip for a chance to win a $25 gift card!

Today Dr. Trayford shares brain training tip 128. He advises to get out of bed if you have insomnia. Tossing and turning in bed will not help you fall asleep. Actually continuing to lie in bed when you can’t fall asleep will send mixed messages to your brain about your bed and your ability to realize restorative sleep. Thanks for listening!

If you have any concerns regarding the information and applications discussed in this podcast, please consult your physician and a doctor who is experienced in functional neurology. Michael Trayford DC, DACNB is available for consultation by calling (828) 708-5274. Thanks for listening.

This is a tip that is very much worth putting into practice.

If you find yourself tossing and turning, do you get out of bed or do you stay there for a little while?

Jason: No I get up, because it kind of drives me nuts to be like that. Am I right that the goal is to not develop negative associations with your bed and sleep?

That’s absolutely part of it.

Most people simply will toss and turn all night. Over the years I’ve learned that the vast majority of people that can’t get to sleep will continue to lay there and toss and turn. Sometimes for hours on end.

Jason: Wow. I got stuff to do, so I’d rather get on it.

If you allow yourself to keep laying there your brain will eventually start to relate restlessness with that bed and it will make it that much more difficult in the future to get quality sleep in that bed.

You want your brain to associate your bed as being a place where you get comfortable, deep recuperative sleep. Your brain needs that quality sleep to recover, assimilate memories and perform a wide host of other critical functions, while you’re sleeping.

So if you’re tossing and turning, you need to get up and get out of that bed. Regardless of the time, you’re going to be more productive. If you’re struggling to fall asleep because there are a lot of things on your mind, it often helps to get up, write them down and do some journaling. Get those topics out of your mind so you don’t perseverate and get stuck thinking about it over and over again.

If you get up, you can get a few things done. Hopefully you won’t have more than one or two sleepless nights. I can get up and be quite productive during these times. Sometimes it’s nice to simply get up early and feel like you’re getting a productive start to your day.

The bottom line is that you don’t want to get into that pattern where you’re tossing and turning all night long. Those problems will come back to haunt you and might require you to seek out other intervention and treatment options.


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