Topics: Advice, Articles, Mental/Emotional Health
How to Beat Sleep Problems
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Trouble sleeping? Here are 20 tips for getting a good night’s rest…
.Almost two-thirds of people have difficulty sleeping, according to a recent survey conducted by NOP on behalf of stressbusting.co.uk. Stress, meanwhile, is one of the commonest causes - and, for that matter, symptoms - of sleep problems. Here are 20 tips for beating such problems and getting a good night’s sleep…
• Keep Regular Hours
Going to bed and getting up at roughly the same time every day will train your body to sleep better by getting it into a regular rhythm.
• Keep A Pen And Paper By Your Bedside
Use them either to make a list before lights out of things that you need to tackle the next day, and/or to write down, and thus ‘dump’, worries that may be preventing you sleeping during the night.
• Get Some Fresh Air
Studies show that those who get their fair share of natural daylight tend to sleep better at night.
• Take Regular, Moderate Exercise
Yoga, t’ai chi or simply going for a brisk walk or swim are all ideal. But note that taking vigorous exercise too close to your bedtime can hinder rather than help sleep.
• Make Sure Your Bedroom Is Not Too Hot, Cold, Noisy Or Light
An overheated, underventilated bedroom can wake you in the middle of the night. Likewise, try to make your bedroom both as quiet and as dark as possible. A comfortable bed - not too hard, soft or small - and pillow will also help create a good sleeping environment.
• Avoid Excess Alcohol
A small nightcap might help you wind down and actually get to sleep but alcohol is likely to interrupt your sleep later in the night.
• Avoid Coffee And Tea - Especially In The Evening
Both are stimulants, which can interfere with falling asleep and prevent deep sleep. Even the caffeine in fizzy drinks can harm sleep.
• Avoid Over-Indulging
Even eating too much late at night can ruin your sleep patterns.
• Don’t Smoke
Yes, it’s bad for sleep, too. Nicotine is a stimulant and smokers take longer to fall asleep, wake more often and often experience more sleep disruption.
• Drink A Cup Of Herbal Tea
Unlike ‘ordinary’ (i.e. Indian) tea, it will relax rather than stimulate you.
• Have A Hot, Milky Drink
• Eat Bananas And Avocados
Both are good sources of vitamin B, which can help those sleep problems that are caused by adrenal stress. You can also buy a good vitamin B complex - or Astragalus, the herb favoured by Chinese healers - from a health shop and take it at bedtime.
• Sprinkle A Few Drops Of Lavender Oil On Your Pillow
• Make Love
Sex is nature’s best soporific. And, even if it doesn’t work, it’s a lot more fun than staying awake.
• Try To Relax Before Going To Bed
A warm bath - especially on cold, winter nights - will gently warm and relax you. A spot of yoga, deep breathing or listening to soothing music can also help relax both the mind and body. Some people like listening to tapes of whale noises or womb sounds. Your doctor might be able to suggest a helpful relaxation tape.
• Use ‘Trigger Pictures’ To Relax You
Try to conjure mental images of a favourite or fantasy place or moment - such as, say, a great birthday party or idyllic holiday spot - as a way of triggering feelings of relaxation and well-being.
• Play Mind Games
Counting sheep is the most famous such technique but there are countless others, such as the following:
- Imagine a room covered wall-to-wall and floor to ceiling with black velvet.
- Describe your home village, town or city in the greatest possible detail, as though to a complete stranger
- Keep repeating ‘Sleep, Sleep, Sleep, Sleep’ very slowly until you drop off.
- Numb the brain by making it perform a dull, boring task, such as repeating the words ‘Pooh’ and ‘Bah’ in ever increasing numbers. The ‘Poohs’ must always be two more than the ‘Bahs’, giving the following sequence:
- Pooh
- Pooh Pooh Bah
- Pooh Pooh Pooh Pooh Bah Bah… and so on.
• Take Sleeping Pills, But…
Sleeping pills can, of course, help you sleep. However, warns Dr Roger Henderson in his book, Stress Beaters - 100 Proven Ways To Manage Stress (Metro Books, £7.99), ‘Sleeping pills do not cause natural or restful sleep and there is always the risk of becoming dependent on them. If you do need them, this should be for the short-term only, to help break an abnormal sleep pattern.’
• Don’t Just Lie There… Do Something
If you can’t sleep, don’t just lie there fretting about it. Get up and do something that you find relaxing - reading, watching TV or whatever - until you feel sleepy again. Then, when you start to feel tired, go back to bed.
