#41 - How To Shut Off Your Racing Mind: It’s Late, You Can’t Turn Out the Lights

"I can't shut my mind off at night" is a very common refrain among insomnia patients. Is this a real phenomenon and if so, how does it relate to the disorder of insomnia.  In this episode we will:

• Review the cognitive role of mental hyperarousal in insomnia
• Explore how mental de-arousal is an integral part of managing insomnia 
• Learn how insomnia patients raise their level of arousal as they approach bedtime and are often cued to do so by their sleep environment.
• Differentiate poor sleepers who often view their racing thoughts or inner monologue as an impediment to their sleep versus normal sleepers who do not. 
• See mindfulness as the countermeasure to our culture's propensity to stress mental escalation while ignoring techniques for de-escalation
• List some methods, including the use of biofeedback devices, for practicing how to manage a racing mind
• Touch upon the idea that the "racing mind" is something to embrace, not fear

Produced by: Maeve Winter

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• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!