For years, fans got used to waking up with Hoda Kotb on the “Today” show — but now she wants to help put you to sleep.
Nearly 74% of adults have trouble falling asleep at night due to stress, ruminating thoughts and anxiety over work and life.
But Kotb, 61, has host found a simple three-step hack to fall asleep fast at night that even works for her kids — and could have extra health benefits like reduced stress and higher self-esteem.
Kotb has been talking about health and well-being quite a bit since she launched Joy 101, an app she curates to help users “build joyful habits and a resilient mindset.”
In a video on the app’s Instagram, Kotb explained how she repeats three mantras to bring calmness and a sound night of sleep, a practice known as sleep affirmations. This technique is believed to reduce stress and anxiety before going to bed.
Her first mantra? “I am safe.”
“And you repeat it not ’til your brain tells you you’ve repeated it too many times — wait until your body relaxes. And you’ll feel it,” she said, noting that it will feel like a sigh or a yawn.
Next, she repeats the phrase, “There is no urgency” until her body signs.
“That’s a tough one for me,” she admitted. “Because I think everything’s urgent.
Finally, she closes out her nightly mantras with “I am still and calm” — and she revealed that her daughters have also found comfort in that particular saying.
“My girls fall asleep in my arms on that,” she told Good Housekeeping.
Repeating certain mantras is thought to help the mind unwind and relax, a struggle many people face at bedtime when their mind is racing with thoughts of the previous day or worries about what the next day will bring.
Research has shown that affirmations can help people change their behaviors and habits, whether practiced at night or during the day. Repeating positive mantras daily can even improve mental health.
When someone is mentally affirming themselves, the reward center of the brain lights up, as brain imaging research has shown. This means the more we practice positive affirmations, the more likely we are to believe and repeat them.
Sleep mantras like Kotb’s work for better sleep as they’re practical rather than aspirational, and the practicer is more likely to believe it.
Regularly practicing affirmations can help people develop better self-esteem, eat healthier, feel less anxious and more.
Kotb also recently shared a book she found that helps her fall asleep called “Nothing Much Happens.” The idea is that nothing much happens in the stories — so they calm the mind and can help people doze off.
