Insomnia: 12 ways to better sleep
Submitted by Merlin on June 16, 2006 - 4:38am.
This looks like a useful resource for people who’re having trouble sleeping. It includes some educational hand-waving, tips on finding out why you aren’t sleeping, plus cautions on the usual outboard sleep solutions (from the environmental to the pharmaceutical).
Here’s their long-term, sustainable tips for developing better sleep hygiene:
- Wind down prior to bedtime
- Do not smoke (nicotine is a stimulant) or consume caffeine
- Try warm milk or a light snack before bed (if this doesn’t interfere with another treatment you are using)
- Exercise daily, but not right before bedtime
- Take a warm bath, but not right before bedtime
- Keep a regular bedtime and rising time
- Get in the habit of going to bed when you are sleepy and sleeping where you sleep best
- Reserve your bed for sleeping only
- Don’t have any clocks visible to you
- Reduce the amount of time you allow yourself to sleep until you fall asleep easily (your health care provider can help with this form of “sleep restriction therapy”
- Schedule worry time during the day and put worries out of your head when it is time to sleep; you can write them down on 3x5 cards, and then let go of them
- Get up if you have not fallen asleep in 15 minutes and practice a relaxing activity (e.g. handwork, reading a boring book) until you feel sleepy
Personally, I cast aside their hand-wringy warnings last night and treated myself to a cocktail of Melatonin and Valerian; slept like a lamb, I tells ya. Now on to cutting out tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, clock-watching, and worry. Yep. Need to get right on that.
What works for you? How do you beat insomnia?
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In "Sleep Thieves" by Stanley...
In “Sleep Thieves” by Stanley Coren he recommends warm milk, and a warm bath for helping you sleep. Interestingly, he says also that aspirin helps increase the depth and quality of sleep. Great book btw, the central message is that people aren’t getting enough sleep and it messes them up. I find when I give myself a fully 8+ hours I’m a lot more effective. Having children taught me a lot about my response to sleep deprivation: irritability, reduced intelligence, clumsiness and a negative outlook on life. No caffeine within 6 hours of bedtime is a good rule, and I find avoiding coffee entirely helps for me. Also, having a formal meditation practice is a great help, though meditation shouldn’t be done in bed or as a direct means of getting to sleep, it’s a way to calm down, clear your head and identify the things that perhaps interfering with sleep.