Posted by PartlyCloudy on January 8, 2011, at 11:29:50
Here's a rough compilation of suggestions, most simple and common sense, that I try to follow on a nightly basis. Please add or amend what works for you!
Don't go to bed unless you are sleepy. Read a book, listen to soft music or browse through a magazine - nothing stimulating (like posting on Babble, for me).
If you're not asleep after 20 minutes, then get out of bed. If you can, go to another room to relax.
Begin rituals that help you relax *each night* before bed. This can include taking a warm (not steaming hot) bath, eating a few bites of protein, or some light reading. I like to spray my pillows with some water mixed with a bit of lavender essential oil before I slip between the sheets.
Get up at the same time each morning, whether or not you are going to work that day.
Dont read, write, eat, watch TV, talk on the phone, or play cards in bed. (My husband likes to watch TV and I don't, so this is a problem! I find the TV to be too stimulating and it wakes me up instead of helping me get to sleep.)
Don't have anything alcoholic within 2 hours of your bedtime. Umm... this pretty much rules out drinking so much you pass out.
Avoid rigorous exercise right before you go to bed. (I have NO problem with this as I am the original couch potato. Stop moving? OK, I'm on it!)
Try to get rid of or deal with things that make you worry.
If you are unable to do this, then find a time during the day to get all of your worries out of your system. Your bed is a place to rest, not a place to worry. (One thing that helps me, if I can't get my worrisome things out of my head, is to have a pen and pad of paper beside my bed. Sometimes if I write down what is worrying me, the action of writing it down is enough to release me from the worry long enough to let me get to sleep.)Make your bedroom quiet, dark, and a little bit cool.
An easy way to remember this: it should remind you of a cave. While this may not sound romantic, it seems to work for bats. Bats are champion sleepers. They get about 16 hours of sleep each day. Maybe its because they sleep in dark, cool caves. No guano jokes, please. (This goes a long way to explain why I have such a hard time adjusting to wintertime here down south when my windows finally open and all of a sudden there's more noise and light for my mind to overcome.)PartlyCloudy
poster:PartlyCloudy
thread:976197
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20101219/msgs/976197.html