Surviving the night

I've always gotten a good night's sleep. It's one of the necessities of healthy living, which I took for granted all my life. That is until recently.

After the first few restless nights or incidents of waking up during the night, I wrote it off as something rare which would soon go away. It didn't and it hasn't. However, through common sense stra tegy and firm rejection of any narcotic sleep assistance, I've managed to cut my insomnia down by about ninety five percent.

Like any health advice, this isn't designed or intended to cure anything. It's merely worked for me.

Caffeine Drinks

It doesn't matter whether you're a coffee drinker, tea drinker or cola fan, drinks loaded with caffeine aren't a sleeper's friend. Drinking those even a few hours before bedtime can mean the difference between snoozing and losing - sleep that is. You can still have that cola or cup of tea in evening, but try to have the last one at least three hours before you hit the hay. Just by observing that one common sense rule has done wonders for my sleep.

Watch The Clock

Our lives are ruled by clocks - both artificial and natural. The human biological clock demands us active during the day and drowsy at night. Medical study after study shows us that though we'd like to be because of work or a partying spirit, we are not nocturnal creatures.

To prevent insomnia or restless sleep, go to bed the same time each night, and try to wake up about the same time each morning. It doesn't mean going to sleep exactly at the stroke of midnight - a small variance in time seems fine. However, if you try to hit the bedsheets at 10 or 10:30pm each night, you'll soon find you're resetting your biological clock which may have been offset by any number of reasons.

Don't Get Physical

Workouts are for daytime. In the evenings, we're winding down.
Resist the urge to dribble that basketball by throwing a few hoops in the backyard or getting in some Tae Bo before sleep. As with all these tips, common sense rules. It doesn't mean you can't get physical at night, but the c loser it gets to your sleep time, the more worked up you are, the less likely you'll get sleep. Heart rate, hormonal levels and the like are all influenced by physical activity. To make for a smooth sleep experience - wind down and read a book or watch a movie before bed, instead of aerobics. Of course sex may work wonders for sleep. On that delicate subject, I leave it to you and a partner to work it out.

Sunlight Brings The Sandman

Vitamin D is essential for our health. The main way our bodies produce vitamin D is through sunlight absorption during daylight hours.

Get out and get sunlight each day. It doesn't mean you need to be a sun worshiper for hours. Even as minimal amount of sun exposure as a half an hour seems to do the trick. Sunlight brings vitamin D which helps regulate our biological processes. Sunlight exposure also seems to help reset that biological clock . Conversely, when we are trying to sleep, complete darkness is most effective. You may be the type that likes a night light, that may be fine. However, sometimes even small amounts of light in a room can play a role in sleeping the night through or tossing and turning.

Don't Panic

This has helped me combat sleepless nights more than anything. When you can't sleep, when you wake up in the middle of the night, don't panic.

Don't get angry, don't get scared. Yes, it's easier said than done, trust me I've been there, however with a little practice it's possible to relax. If you simply can't sleep after trying to calm down, get up for awhile, but don't do anything too stimulating. Just sit in a chair and relax, play some some soothing music. One thing which has worked for me is relaxing visualization. Imagine things which calm you - a beach, a meadow full of flowers, an emerald green forest - or most anything which brings peace to you or serenity.

Like much in life, the mind controls much of how we react to and deal with external matters. By applying a basic common sense approach to sleep, you can alleviate the stress of insomnia, and avoid taking expensive drugs with negative side effects.