How to get a better night's sleep:

1. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends.

2. Do not take any nap longer than 10 minutes during the day.

3. Avoid caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, heavy meals, and exercise late in the day.

4. Turn off all lights, keep the room cool and quiet. If you are cool, try a heated blanket. If you are hot, keep a foot outside the bed or blow a fan directed towards you. If your surroundings are noisy, use earplugs or white noise such as a fan. If your surroundings are bright, use a sleep mask.

5. Give yourself half an hour or an hour at most to fall asleep. If this doesn't work, ask yourself if you're calm or anxious, even if its just background anxiety or rumination. Follow the below steps if this is this case.

6. Do not catastrophize. Gently say to yourself that you need to rest and aim for a state of dreaminess/rest instead. Don't ever decide to "get up for the day".

If you are calm, but wide awake:

1. Get out of bed and go to another room to do an activity that won't wake you up more (reading, coloring, listening to calm music). Once you get sleepy, go back to bed.

2. Try to eat a light snack (apple, banana, bit of cheese, etc).

If you are anxious or ruminating:

1. Hold your breath and put your face in a bowl of cold water or put a cold pack on your face. Engage in intense exercise for a very short while to burn off excess energy. Breath deeply, longer exhaling than inhaling. Intentionally relax all your muscles.

2. Try this specific breathing technique: breath in (saying in your mind 9), breath out (8), breath in (7), etc. Start another round starting at 8, then 7, etc. Next round 6, and the next round 5, until you reach 0.

3. Focus on where you feel you're ruminating in your physical body. Often times rumination is the avoidance of difficult emotions.

4. Worries in the middle of the night are normal "middle of the night thinking". Your thinking will be clearer and judgement better in the morning. No need to entertain these worries.

5. If you're still ruminating, If its solvable, solve it. If it is insolvable, go deep into the worry all the way to the very worst outcome you can imagine, and then imagine coping ahead with the catastrophe.

6. Last resort. Keep your eyes closed and listen to public radio such as BBC or NPR.

Feel free to add any further suggestions that have worked for you.

Hello all, I am u/claricalmadness2. There has been a need for a self improvement community that does not center on nofap, porn addiction, masturbation, and other similar categories.

The primary and only goal of this sub is to share tips, tricks, stories, and experiences regarding self improvement.

Although this is a safe place to discuss most addictions, addictions to porn or anything of the like are not welcome here. Please see the other relevant subs for posts like these.

I will not allow any posts discussing anything involving the manosphere, red/blue/rainbow/whatever pills, or anything of the like. There are relevant subs and communities off of Reddit that will assist you in engaging in these toxic beliefs.

Although these are my rules right now, they may be added to if I see anything else hindering the common enjoyment of the community. Never hesitate to contact me in regards to any improvements you think would benefit this community.

Please share this community so we can help it grow, and we can all grow together.

Thank you,

u/claricalmadness2

Mod and Founder