Coping with stress and worries on a daily basis may negatively affect the quality of our sleep - difficulty falling asleep, disturbing thoughts that prevent us from sleeping and so on. Poor sleep negatively impacts how we function during the day and our ability to satisfactorily cope with stress and anxiety. Lack of sleep does not allow our body and mind to rest, thereby affecting the ability to cope with anxiety and stress.

Leading world researchers found a connection between quality sleep and our ability to improve our daily routine and better cope with stress and anxiety.

The impact of stress and anxiety on our sleep

A stress-filled life coupled with exposure to trauma harms the quality of our sleep. Stress and trauma create a physiological state of hyperarousal, a state that makes it difficult to sleep. This may result in insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, waking up at night and difficulty falling back to sleep after waking up.

Even sleeping in a state of alertness, with awareness that sirens may go off and force us to enter a protected space may harm the quality of sleep and increase the risk of being easily awakened by minor noises around us. Disturbing dreams and nightmares also commonly occur following trauma or in when one is anxious. Researchers assume that trauma-related dreams are caused by the brain's response to fear, and may represent a healthy attempt by the brain to process the traumatic experience.

How we can create inner and outer calm before sleep

During the day, when we are busy and active, we are distracted and less preoccupied with worries. On the other hand, at night when we get into bed and lie quietly, thoughts tend to flood us and are extremely difficult to ignore.

There are several steps that can be taken to stem the flow of thoughts and allow the body and mind to relax and remain peaceful - these actions should be performed about one to two hours before going to sleep.

• Summary and closure of the actions of the day: we can to identify tasks and actions that were not completed that day and plan how we will handle them the next day. Avoid getting carried away with these thoughts when going to bed or in the middle of the night.
• Releasing and slowing down: perform relaxing activities and make sure that the activity does not stimulate you or create any stress. Examples of activity that can be performed: reading, watching television with calm content, dimming lights, listening to pleasant music or having a calm conversation with a close person.
• Enter bed when you are relaxed: listen to your body and go to bed when you are relaxed and feeling sufficiently tired. Do not try to fall asleep when you are too disturbed or alert. In such a case, you can extend the previous stage of "release”. Try to gradually relax your muscles (explained below), regulate your breathing and try to reduce the tension.
• Keep the bed a calm place: designate the bed for calm and pleasant activities such as sleep and intimate relationships, and for relaxing activities like reading a book.

Tips for coping during the night

Finding it hard to sleep? Here are several things that you can do:

• Strategic distraction: if you are stuck on a certain thought or image, or if your body experienced elevated stress or pain, distracting activity can naturally help you. For example: counting down from 1,000 in intervals of 7, counting as many cities as you can in alphabetical order, and so on.
• Temporarily stopping the attempt to fall asleep: making efforts to fall asleep does not make you fall asleep faster. You should temporarily stop and try to fall asleep again only when your level of alertness decreases and your sense of drowsiness increases. You can get out of bed but leave dimmed lights on and maintain a restful atmosphere.
• Early riser: if you wake up before the scheduled wake-up time, it is better to stay in bed and keep it as dark as possible.

What not to do when you are unable to fall asleep

• Avoid watching news: this will stimulate you and may create a sense of uncertainty and stress.
• Avoid activities that are suitable for when you are alert: such as using a computer, mobile phone or tablet.
• Do not look at the clock: looking at how much time has passed may increase anxiety and concerns about sleep.
• Try to lower concerns about the repercussions of a lack of sleep: "how can I function tomorrow?". In this situation, try to focus on relaxation.

Ways to alleviate stress during the day

There are several proven methods to alleviate concern and stress during the day:

Understandable concern

Concern is a natural and common human emotion. Certain concerns may even benefit us. Especially in stressful times like war, when worry is prevalent and can fill every minute of the day and night, it is very important to take care of our personal well-being and be compassionate toward ourselves. It is important to understand that a sense of worry in such situations is completely natural. You can schedule "time to worry" to reduce the volume of nightly worries - the time during the day (10 to 20 minutes) at a time that is not close to bedtime that is devoted to worrying.

Progressive muscle relaxation.

Progressive muscle relaxation is a method that involves systematic stretching and relaxing different groups of muscles in the body. Start by closing your eyes and take several deep and slow breaths. Focus on one muscle group at a time. Contract the muscles for a few seconds, then consciously release the stretch.

4-7-8 breathing

The 4-7-8 breathing method can help calm the body and mind and can be performed in any body position. The idea is to slow down the breathing. The time of exhalation should be at least double the time of inhalation. The counting rate is fast. The duration of the steps can be adjusted to match your natural breathing rate.

This is how it works:

1. Inhale through the nose and count to four.
2. Hold your breath and count to four.
3. Exhale through the mouth and count to eight.

Actions during the day that will help you sleep at night

• Get up at the same time every day to create a permanent anchor in your physiological clock.
• Go out into the sun for about 30 minutes every morning. Adopt several strategies: open blinds or curtains to let the sunlight in, go for a morning walk. If there is no access to natural sunlight, turn on strong lights inside the house.
• Avoid caffeine at least in the 6 hours before going to bed.
• Tobacco products are stimulating so avoid using them in the evening.
• Reduce consumption of alcoholic beverages as they harm the continuity of sleep in the second half of the night.