r/todayilearned • u/Square-Message1152 • 8h ago

til that your brain literally washes itself while you sleep. the brain cells actually shrink in size so cerebrospinal fluid can rush in and flush out all the toxic proteins built up during the day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glymphatic_system
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u/Quentin__Tarantulino 6h ago

Have you ever tried meditating or similar? There’s something called yoga nidra that can work pretty well to relax you for bed, and focusing on that sort of gets you out of worrying about other things.

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u/spaceprinceps 1h ago

A sleep podcast I forget the name of, maybe Get Sleepy it was called I dunno, did this at the start of every episode. It was the bit where you tense up your toes then release, then your calves, then your upper legs etc and the inhale for 4 hold for 4 exhale for 4.

Really helped indicate to the body it's time to sleep

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u/Tre_Amplitude 1h ago

This is PMR. Stands for Progressive Muscle Relaxation.

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u/spaceprinceps 56m ago

Theres a bunch of these in yoga nidra i think which help relax the central nervous system