The Importance of a Sleep Pattern, Even While Grieving

If you have recently lost a loved one, you may find it difficult to do the daily things that are necessary to take care of yourself. You may feel like you lack the energy to make yourself a meal or exercise, and that is fine — every person has their own grieving process. However, it is important to maintain certain standards of self-care even while you deal with your grief. One of the most crucial things you can do to help yourself stay healthy in the grieving process is to make sure that you get enough sleep each night. Getting enough sleep will keep your energy levels up and will help make you more mentally able to deal with your grief. Here are some ways you can encourage yourself to get more sleep even with so much on your mind.

Take Steps to Improve Your Sleep

There are several things you can do as part of your late-afternoon and evening schedule that can further affect your sleep. First, if you take the time to exercise earlier in the day, you will find that it becomes much easier to fall asleep. Physical activity also helps the body experience a higher quality of sleep for an entire night.

If you are still finding it difficult to fall asleep, even with a regular routine, you may want to try some specialized equipment. Face masks, sleep monitors, and smart gadgets can be very useful at both fostering sleep and identifying problems with your current sleep habits. Be aware of your needs when looking at gadgets, though — if you don’t suffer from sleep apnea, for instance, you don’t need a gadget that focuses on correcting it. Another external thing that can affect your sleep is the color you have painted your bedroom walls. Soft, calming earth tones make it easier for you to fall asleep, while bright, less natural colors inhibit sleep.

Establish a Pattern

The first thing you should do is regulate your body to engage in a full night of sleep at the end of the day, even if most of your day has been consumed with grief and stress. In fact, stress is a major inhibitor of sleep, but routines are equally powerful. This is why you should make a point to establish a nightly pattern that you stick to even when you feel at your lowest. Eat dinner around the same time at night, usually a couple hours before you go to bed. Take a warm shower and read a book, or watch a relaxing television program. An hour before bed, try to turn off your electronic devices to ensure the blue light they emit won’t impact your sleep.

If you think that establishing a bedtime ritual, such as a glass of warm lemon water, will help trigger your body to realize that it is time for sleep, go ahead. What’s important is that you follow your routine every day. Part of this involves going to sleep around the same time each night. This can be difficult if you work odd hours, or if you like to spend your weekends differently than you do your weekdays. However, establishing a schedule is one of the best ways you can increase the likelihood that your body will fall asleep on time.

Dealing with grief is difficult enough on its own without being compounded by a lack of sleep. By making sure you get enough sleep, you will help yourself begin the healing process without adding to your pain and stress with chronic sleeplessness.

Photo Credit: Pexels

Sara Bailey is a widow. She writes about loss as a way to help her heal and to offer hope to others who’ve suffered a loss. You can connect with her at info@thewidow.net
TheWidow.net

Every now and then, I feel anxious about certain things. I think most of us have these feelings.

Earlier this week, I got a message in my inbox from a young lady who had lost her mum at a very young age and had been dealing with the fear of losing other loved ones. I asked her a few questions to help me identify the trigger for this fear, so I can support her as best as I can

In this blogpost I want to share with you some tips to help you in managing anxiety related to grief.  This is not a step-by-step guide and is definitely not an exhaustive list, I do hope you find one or two tips to help you on your journey.

• Find out what the trigger is

In this young lady’s situation, the anniversary of her mum’s death was coming up. It’s natural to start to worry about the future when past memories of a loved one come flooding in. You don’t want to experience the pain and hurt all over again. So what I tend to do is fill my mind with fond memories, I try to do things that will help me stay positive and hopeful about the future. I spend quality time with people who have a positive outlook on life

• Another exercise worth doing is asking yourself a few questions
  • Why am I anxious?
  • Why do I think I’ll lose someone else?
  • What are the chances of someone else in my family or close to me dying of the same condition? Is there anything I can do to prevent this?
  • Why am I scared of being alone?
  • How can I prepare myself for the future?
  • What can I do to make the most of my own life whilst not forgetting the memory of my loved one?

Asking these questions help you understand your beliefs about death and mortality, and you can then begin to explore these beliefs. They can also help you understand the real cause of your fear which may be related to some experience that you need healing from? It may be helpful to reach out to a counselor or someone you trust and respect.

You can jot down your thoughts or responses to these questions in any notebook or journal. At Letters of Hope, we have a simple notebook that can be used for this purpose, it is available via this link.

• Find resources that can help you deal with this anxiety.

Recently, I read a book on Overcoming the fear of death by Amanda Bedzrah. It helped me put things in perspective and also reassured me that it’s actually ‘normal’ to have this fear following the loss of a loved one. She shared some practical tips in her book and I’d recommend you get a copy on kindle. For tweens and teenagers, my book Letters of Hope is also a great resource. It is available on Amazon Kindle and paperback is for sale on this site.

• Join a support group or maybe even start your own.

You’ll find the strength and courage you need simply by sharing your journey and listening to how others have coped with similar struggles. When I wrote back to the young lady who contacted me, I simply shared part of my grief experience with her, and she was thankful. In her own words ‘I had been a great help’. We are often strengthened by other people’s journey, we realize that we are not alone in our walk, others have had similar experiences and are findings ways of coping.

• You may have to seek professional help from a counselor if needed.

The key thing is not to suffer in silence. If you feel overwhelmed by your thoughts or feeling of anxiety. I strongly recommend you speak up and get help as soon as possible. For grief support, please search for bereavement charities in your local area or simply send me a direct message and I can help you find one.

In addition to these practical tips, talk to God about your fears and trust Him to help you deal with them, He always makes a way.

Until next time, continue to stay positive and hopeful!

Ope

{Photo by chris liu on Unsplash}