Although experts recommend that teens receive at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night, they tend to have an almost superhuman ability to stay up late. According to an American Academy of Pediatrics study, 73% of teens in the U.S. do not receive a healthy amount of sleep each night.
Between wrestling with anxiety, completing school work after finishing their sports or extracurricular activities, and spending time wrapped up in technology like phones, video games, and television, the majority of teens are getting less than 7 hours of sleep each night.
Studies have shown that high levels of social media use can lead to insomnia, disrupted sleep patterns, and poor quality of sleep. When you couple the harmful effects of rampant social media use with high levels of anxiety or with the need to stay up late to finish homework, it is a recipe for disaster.
When your teen isn’t getting enough rest, they may experience a host of negative consequences:
Irritability and anger
Poor decision making or irrational thinking
Anxiety
Poor memory and recall
Low mood or depression
Poor ability to focus and concentrate
Difficulty learning at school
Reduced attention span
Physical health issues
Low energy
Sleep deprivation will take a major toll on your teen’s wellbeing, so it’s important that you encourage healthy sleeping habits and help them find ways to get the rest they need each night.
While there are many actions teens can take to improve the quality of their sleep, a useful tool that is often overlooked is guided relaxation.
What are guided relaxations?
Guided relaxations are specific exercises that people can practice to allow their bodies to relax and wind down.
Many times when people have trouble falling asleep, it is because their body’s stress response is activated. This causes them to have a heightened sense of awareness, a higher heart rate, and shallow breathing, which are not conducive to sleeping.
When your teen is worried about a math test they are taking the next day or wondering whether they will get into one of their top schools for college, they may have trouble falling asleep. When the light from their phone or computer screens disrupts their circadian rhythm, triggering their body to feel alert and awake, they will find it challenging to drift off peacefully.
Relaxation exercises can help with this because they aim to lower the body’s heart rate and blood pressure, slow down breathing, and signal to the brain that it is time to rest.
If your teen is worried about trying one of these exercises, encourage them to start small by taking and releasing a few deep breaths when they are ready to fall asleep. However, these exercises can significantly improve their quantity and quality of sleep.
Guided relaxation exercises for your teen
If you’ve noticed that your teen is having difficulty getting an adequate amount of sleep at night, try teaching them a few of these guided relaxation exercises to help calm their body and their mind:
4-7-8 breathing
This breathing exercise will be easy for your teen to remember because the steps are right in the name!
Have your teen lay down, close their eyes, and place the tip of their tongue right behind their front teeth.
While laying down, they should then inhale through their nose for four seconds, hold that breath for seven seconds, and exhale through their mouth for eight seconds.
Progressive muscle relaxation
Teens can release some of the tension they are holding in their bodies by using a progressive muscle relaxation technique.
This exercise requires teens to take a deep breath while tensing the muscles in their body for ten seconds. Once ten seconds have passed, they will then exhale through their mouth while relaxing all of the muscles they were tensing.
One of the most effective ways to use this relaxation technique is to focus on tensing and relaxing different muscle groups one at a time.
Body scan
This exercise helps teens relax by visualizing themselves releasing the tension in every part of their body.
Starting with the tips of their toes and slowly working their way up to the top of their head, teens should reflect on each part of their body, noting whether or not these body parts feel tense and generally being aware of any sensations they are currently experiencing in that part of their body.
If they notice any stress or tension in a particular body part, they can picture themselves letting go of this stress as they exhale and embracing relaxation and peace with each inhale.
Although good sleep hygiene is also essential for helping your teen get enough sleep at night, these guided relaxation exercises can make a world of difference.