I won’t lie guys – I love sleeping. Lie-ins are life and I love that feeling of cwtching in bed after a long day. However, it’s not all plain sailing when it comes to sleeping when you have bad anxiety. If I’ve had a day where my anxiety has hit, sleeping can be a little bit of a struggle. Those nagging thoughts that keep me awake and overthinking the thoughts I have already overthought don’t help to gain a good night’s rest. While looking at solutions to help when anxiety hits before bedtime, one item cropped up quite a lot in the search engine – a weighted blanket.
A weighted blanket is something I’d heard of, but I never really knew its benefits. I had always just assumed that it was something to help keep you warm in bed! However, a weighted blanket surprisingly carries a lot of benefits with it.
So, after reading and researching which one was the best to buy, I headed to Amazon and bought myself one (linked here). I bought one which was 6kg in weight. One scepticism I did have before I bought one was that the weight of the blanket would be quite restrictive. I don’t want to feel ‘too’ weighed down in my bed when I had it sprawled on me in bed.
The day it arrived, I went to bed that night and decided to give it a whirl. The worries I had about the weighted blanket being too heavy and restrictive immediately disappeared after trying it. It surprised me that it didn’t feel too heavy and it felt very relaxing having it on me. It felt like being tucked in tightly in bed. The weight is evenly distributed in the blanket, which aids sleep. For those wondering, a weighted blanket is full of glass beads, hence its heaviness. Its cover is made from breathable material.
I don’t use it all of the time, only when I have had an anxious or stressful day. I like to think that if I have had a worrisome day, going to bed and knowing the weighted blanket will help me off to sleep will make me feel better.
One thing I have definitely noticed is that when I have used the weighted blanket, it has helped with my back pain. I have suffered from lower back pain for years, due to thinning of the lumbar spine. Using the blanket has certainly benefitted my back, not massively, but there’s been an improvement.
There are a few other advantages of using a weighted blanket, and they are –
1) Improves quality of sleep
As I’ve already stated, the blanket does help to improve your sleep and your sleeping pattern. This would be perfect for you if you struggle with sleeping, staying asleep, getting to sleep etc.
2) Relieves stress and decreases anxiety
This is one of the main reasons that I use the weighted blanket. It definitely helps to reduce stress and anxiety when trying to sleep.
3) Increases serotonin levels
Now, I did have to research serotonin levels as I wasn’t quite sure what they were. Serotonin helps to regulate attention, behaviour and body temperature. That deep, heavy touch from a weighted blanket can help to increase these levels within your body.
4) Less tossing and turning
We could all do without tossing and turning at night, right?
So, would I recommend a weighted blanket?
Yes, I would, but – only if you can definitely benefit from it. If you are having trouble sleeping, then a weighted blanket is a good option for you to try. If you have anxiety at night, this would be a good option for you too. I’ve loved using mine and only use it when I really need it.
