30 Days to Better Sleep: Manage Your Stress with Relaxation Techniques

<p><img class="alignnone" src="http://0.tqn.com/h/sleepdisorders/1/9/u/-/-/-/Asian_Woman.jpg" alt="Getty Images" /></p> <p>Stress can have a major impact on your ability to fall and stay asleep. Feelings of anxiety, worry, and tension can lead to <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/commonsleepdisorders/a/What_Is_Insomnia.htm">insomnia</a>. Sometimes the cause is obvious: a lost job or loved one, a big project at work, an examination, a divorce, a trauma, and so on. In other circumstances, the underlying trigger may be less evident. When stress undermines your ability to sleep, you may benefit from relaxation techniques. What is the best way to handle stress? Learn how to manage and relieve your stress with some specific recommendations to unwind.</p> <p>In an anxious state, it can become impossible to sleep at night. There is an innate "fight or flight" response programmed into your nervous system. Therefore, when you are under conditions of perceived threat, you won't accidentally nod off and put yourself in harm's way. Although this protective mechanism has served humanity well when we lived in the wild, it can be disruptive in the modern world. The stressors of life may put us in a heightened state of arousal, leading to persistent difficulties sleeping at night.</p> <p>People with insomnia seem to have a higher degree of arousal, which makes it...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news