Late at night, when everyone is sleeping, do you toss and turn in despair? You hope that you will get at least a couple of hours of sleep before you have to get up for work, and then you begin to hope that the alarm will go off so that you can end the merry-go-round that is your awake brain!!
Well here are some remedies that may in fact help you out:
1. Keep off your computer late at night as it will stimulate your brain to continue to be alert.
2. Have some down time before you go to sleep, e.g.
a) Take a warm bath and read a book while relaxing.
b) Have a book that you can put down. You don’t want to keep reading into the middle of the night because your book is so exciting.
c) Soft music & soft lighting may help as well.
3. Meditate! This has been proven to help you to get into a relaxed state of mind. There are many books on this, as well as computer sites which will help you to learn to meditate, or you can join a group which will teach you how to do this. I personally use an MP3 player with a series of meditations on it. Even if you do not know how to meditate—taking deep breaths in through your nose & out through your mouth, will help to calm your mind.
4. Keep to a regular routine as much as possible each night. That way your body will know that this is preparation for bedtime.
5. On weekends try not to sleep in too late as this will disrupt the rhythm that you have going for you during the week. You will end up feeling very foggy on Monday if you do not try to stick to your schedule. Short naps during the day i.e. ½ hour may help, but if you find them interfering with the quality of night time sleep then discontinue having naps.
6. Avoid alcohol as this will cause sleep disturbances throughout the night. You may fall asleep faster, but may be quite wakeful later in the night. Replace it with a combination of a banana and warm milk which, through a long process, converts the L tryptophan into melatonin which is a natural sleep aid. The calcium in the milk has a calming quality as well. It should be taken 1 to 1 ½ hours pre bedtime. Camomile tea also has relaxing qualities.
7. Avoid caffeine after 3 p.m. as it will disrupt sleeping. If you work shift work, have your caffeine at the beginning of the shift only.
8. Avoid excessive use of fluids in the evening as you will be disturbed by going to the bathroom.
9. Exercise during the day, not at night as it will stimulate you and result in poor sleep.
10. Have a cool dark room and a great mattress as well. For people who work night shifts, this is particularly important.
11. If you wake up and find it difficult to get back to sleep you can try progressive muscle relaxation. You tense, then relax your muscles, starting from your toes and working up to your head. You could also read in a dimly lit room for a short while.
12. If your partner notices that you seem to breathe irregularly at night, get this checked out by your Doctor as you may have sleep apnea. Sleep studies will be done and if you do have sleep apnea you will be fitted for a mask and a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressurized) machine. Many people have found vast improvement in sleep because of this.
13. Try not to take sleep aids from your local pharmacy or as a prescription. These can be habit forming and lead to even greater sleep problems.
14. Try not to obsess about not sleeping as you will get all worked up and definitely not sleep!
15. During the day, have a massage, a reiki treatment, or learn yoga to assist in deeper relaxation at night.
Remember that even resting your body can be helpful.
Here’s to better sleeping habits!
Nite!!!