Tips for getting back to sleep if you wake in the night

[Donothingsaynothing]

I wake up most nights and even though I don't lie there worrying i find it really hard nodding off again. I just find my brain becomes really active and I don't know how to switch it off to allow me to relax enough to fall asleep again even though I'm tired. Any tips would be gratefully received.

I do this thing where I relax all my muscles, starting toes up, where I almost am telling my toes to relax and feel weightless, then work up my leg and so on, then I regulate my breathing so it is slow and deep.
Then I think of this time when we went camping, and we were pitched on a cliff, and all you could hear was the roar of the sea, then I'm a goner!
It's hard to explain I guess it's like my own kind of meditation? I find if I am concentrating on the muscles, it stops my brain going haywire thinking about other stuff.

I count backwards from 100

Another good one is to pretend you are asleep, you breathe deeper and relax, I've only heard about it recently and it works a treat.

Put radio 4 on lowish volume. I find it distracts me from other thoughts but is rarely interesting enough to keep me awake.

In the past I've counted back from 1000 and also went through the alphabet listing all countries or cities I could think of beginning by with A, then B, then C etc.

I also find wearing an eye mask helps me as somehow it makes me feel quite calm and makes me keep my eyes shut!

I read. It stops me thinking a million and one dark thoughts and getting stressed about not sleeping.

I count slowly from zero upwards, visualising the numbers as well as saying them in my head. In a foreign language. And if my mind wanders I go back to the last number I definitely remember doing and continue from there.

1. Don't try

1. Do ironing

1. Listen to the Archers

The last two are spectacularly coma inducing!

I take a couple of paracetamol and an antihistamine and i eat a banana and then i usually get back to sleep quite well.
Im a terrible sleeper and this seems to be the best solution. Touch wood