Posted By Health Moderator

Good sleep habits are the first step to getting a good night’s sleep. Sometimes people use sleeping tablets to cope with insomnia; however, these may deal with the symptoms but not the cause. Here are some alternative strategies:

Tips for a Good night’s sleep

• Try to go to sleep at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning. I find having a regular time to go to bed and a wake up time helps my body to acquire a consistent sleep rhythm.

• Try not to take naps during the day because naps may make you less sleepy at night.

• Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol late in the day. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants and can keep you from falling asleep. Alcohol can cause waking in the night and interferes with sleep quality.

• Don’t eat a heavy meal late in the day. A light snack before bedtime, however, may help you sleep.

• Stress related sleeping disorders may result in teeth grinding which in turn can cause headaches. Sleeping with a dental night guard will eliminate grinding and its effects and potentially assist with the process of sleep.

• Make your sleeping place comfortable. Be sure that it is dark, quiet, and not too warm or too cold. If light is a problem, try a sleeping mask. If noise is a problem, try ear plugs.

• Try some essential oils such as lavender in a vaporizer.

• Follow a routine to help relax and wind down before sleep such as reading a book, listening to music, or taking a bath.

• If you can’t fall asleep and don’t feel drowsy, get up and read or do something that is not overly stimulating until you feel sleepy.

• If you have trouble lying awake worrying about things, try making a to-do list before your go to bed. This may help you “let go” of those worries overnight.

• Sometimes managing our worries or concerns by writing them down in a journal before going to bed can be useful, that way we don’t worry when we are in bed.

Simple behavioral changes can be the most effective way to help you get back in the rhythm of a good night’s sleep. Behavioral approaches to treatment focus on changing the behaviors that may worsen insomnia and focus on learning new behaviors to promote sleep.

Putting the behavior changes in place and deciding ” I can at least give this a go” is an important first step and can be followed by such statements as “Maybe I do sleep a little better some nights!” This is a more helpful statement as well as, “Maybe I don’t need to worry as much about my sleep”. It takes time and requires a number of changes in not only what you do, but in how you think – however, it works long term and that is most important.

At times when I can’t fall asleep I meditate on the verse ‘Be still and know that I am God’. I take the verse apart by concentrating on each word and its meaning and in no time I fall asleep.

Glennys Williams http://glenniah.blogspot.com
Its never too late to be the you, you might have been (George Eliot)