How To Sleep When You Have A Song Stuck In Your Head

You’re lying in bed, cosied up under the duvet, head nestled into the pillow, peacefully trying to get off to sleep. When all of a sudden there’s a party going on in your head. You don’t know where it’s come from, why on earth it’s chosen now to be the precise time your mind needs to transform into a human boombox, and you have no clue why it’s that song, but either way you’ve got a song well and truly stuck in your head and there’s absolutely no way you’re going to fall asleep now!

Sound familiar?

It’s a common occurrence for many of us. I often experience it when I’m feeling stressed. Usually ahead of a big event I’m doing the next day. My mind goes into panic mode at bedtime because it finally has time to think and worry about stuff more without the distraction of the day’s activities. Just recently, I had it when I was on a hiking adventure holiday in Slovakia with my brother. We were sharing a room, he’s a snorer, I was pumped full of adrenaline from the hiking, it was recipe for a sleep disaster already quite frankly. But throw in Ace of Base’s ‘The Sign’ on loop in my head for the whole night… well I was shattered the following morning! I hadn’t heard it on the radio that day, in fact I don’t think I’ve heard it for years, no one had been talking about it, I don’t even like the song, so I literally have no idea why it was that song. But there it was, just that one line “I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign” (you totally sang that when you read it, right!?!) on loop, over and over again slowly driving me insane.

So yeah, I’ve been there, I know what it’s like to have a song stuck in your head when you just want to get to sleep. And with another big event coming up, I felt the need to do some research into how we can get rid of a song from being stuck in our heads at bedtime. Here’s what I discovered:

Deep Breathing

Breathing exercises are a great way to unwind from the day. There are lots of different types of breathing exercises that you can do, but a good one for distracting you enough to remove a song from your head is deep breathing using the 4-7-8 method. This breathing technique involves breathing in for a count of 4 seconds, holding that breath for 7 seconds, exhaling for 8 seconds and then repeating.

This method works because the rhythmic breathing pattern, helps to relax the body and mind putting you in a much better state to fall asleep. And let’s not forget that if you’re concentrating on breathing and counting, there’s no way you’re going to be singing a song at the same time!

Listen To Pink Noise

Lots of us will have heard of white noise and perhaps be familiar with the fact that this type of noise can help send us off to sleep. However, research has now emerged that pink noise is even better. But what actually is pink noise?

Similar to white noise, pink noise is sound that contains all of the frequencies that the human ear can hear. However, what makes it different, is that the higher frequencies in pink noise are less intense, making it a much gentler and lulling sound, so you can see how this would help make a person feel sleepy.

Examples of pink noise include:

• Heartbeats
• Rustling leaves
• Steady rainfall
• Waves on a beach
• Wind blowing through trees

Listening to pink noise either through headphones or playing on a low volume in your bedroom, will help relax your mind and allow you to focus on the gentle repetitive sound of that noise rather than paying attention to the relentless noise going on in your head.

Read A Book

Distraction is key when you have a song stuck in your head and sometimes you just gotta give into the fact that you’re not going to sleep anytime soon and therefore stop even trying.

If you’ve been lying there, song on repeat, wide awake, driving yourself nuts for longer than 15 minutes, STOP! Instead of fighting what’s going on, it’s time to distract yourself and change what’s going on. Switch on your bedside light, sit up, and read a few pages of a book. This will take your mind away from the repetitive torture of that song and instead transport you to a calmer state of consciousness that should hopefully help you to nod off.

Reading, especially fiction, allows the mind to switch off from reality. As we become lost in the words and the imaginary people, places and stories, our bodies and minds begin to relax, wind down and slowly settle into a state that is more suited to sleep. And if that still doesn’t work, grab yourself a copy of War and Peace and that’ll be sure to send you off to sleep in absolutely no time!

Visualise

Visualisation is a great way to mindfully focus your mind on something other than that terrible song going around your head. I know the whole counting sheep thing is a bit clichéd, but there is a lot to be said about the effectiveness of this technique. I mean think about it. It distracts you, it’s repetitive, they’re cute… what’s not to love?

If you don’t fancy counting sheep, there are lots of other relaxing things you could visualise instead. Tropical beaches, calming forests, walking in the mountains, all help to relax us. But ultimately, this is about you focusing on a place that feel comfortable for you. So, think about a time when you felt relaxed. Maybe it was when you were on a spa day, or perhaps it’s when you’re sitting in your garden. It can be absolutely anywhere that you associate with feeling relaxed and at ease.

Some people may find it difficult to conjure up images in their minds and if this is the case for you, try listening to a guided meditation to help give you a little more instruction and direction to help create those images for you.

Final Thoughts

The best thing you can do when you have a song stuck in your head and you’re trying to get to sleep, is to distract your mind and get it thinking about something else. The four examples above will all help focus your mind on something else as well as having the added bonus of making you feel even sleepier in the process.