How
To Overcome Insomnia
Seven
Common Causes of Sleep Problems
By Christine Hasinger, L.Ac, RN
Insomnia
is generally described as inadequate or poor quality sleep.
You
could have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, waking up too
frequently during the night or waking up too early in the morning. When
you
suffer from poor sleep quality, you don’t feel rested in the
morning and often
don’t function well for the rest of the day. This article
should help you
determine some of the causes of your sleep problems and how to overcome
insomnia.
A
common culprit may be irregular sleep habits. Going to bed around the
same
time every night and waking around the same time in the morning go a
long way
to improving your sleep habits.
You
may need to set the stage for sleep. Remember as a child, your mom had
you get ready for bed. I’d bet you followed pretty much the
same routine every
night. You had to go to the bathroom, wash your face and hands, brush
your
teeth and change into your pajamas. Maybe your parents read you a
story.
Perhaps you’ve fallen out of your normal routine and now need
to re-establish
it.
As
you go through your evening routine do so consciously. This means that
you have an awareness that what you are doing will result in a desired
outcome.
Think or say the following to yourself while you are doing your evening
pre-bed
routine - “Washing my face and brushing my teeth
helps me sleep soundly and
restfully”. Change the underlined word(s) to
whatever your activity is.
This will help your subconscious mind align with your desired outcome
of better
sleep.
Another
factor in sleeping problems is your diet. Most often this is what
you ate for dinner or later, but occasionally this could be a food you
eat all
the time. The biggest offenders are spicy, greasy foods and alcohol
–
especially a combo such as pizza and beer. Start paying attention to
when and
what you are eating and how you sleep that night. You might be
surprised at
what you find out.
Generally,
you shouldn’t eat or drink anything but water for at least
three
hours before bedtime. This gives your body time to empty the stomach so
acid
reflux or heartburn doesn’t wake you. Plus, if you eat any
carbohydrates during
this time period, you stop certain processes that need to occur during
our
sleep time as this is when our bodies do most of the repair and healing
work.
Next,
take a look at how active you are. It’s very common to
require less
sleep as you become less active. You may need to increase your activity
level
to promote a more sound and restful sleep. Now that being said, avoid
exercise
immediately before bedtime as it will increase your metabolism and keep
you up.
How
light and noisy is your bedroom? You may be so used to the presence of
light and noise that you don’t even notice them anymore, yet
this may be what
is adversely affecting your sleep.
We
should be sleeping in total darkness. When you first go to bed after
turning off the lights, stick your arms out. You should not be able to
see your
arms. If you can, then your room is not dark enough. Pull the curtains
closed,
and cover lights from electrical equipment in your bedroom. (I put
black
electrical tape on the cable box lights.) Move your clock so you
can’t see it
unless you sit up and look for it.
Melatonin
is a supplement that you can take to help you overcome insomnia.
However,
you can help your own body to produce melatonin by sleeping in total
darkness.
Our bodies need the darkness to start producing Melatonin. This is a
hormone
that your pineal gland in the brain produces that helps you sleep
soundly. If
there is light on any part of your body, the pineal gland will not
release any
Melatonin.
Now
for noise . . . it’s easy to block outside noise, just use
earplugs.
Look for the soft or moldable earplugs. But what many have trouble with
is
tinnitus – an internal high or low pitched noise. Many people
report success
with a noise machine which produces a white noise or nature sounds.
This seems
to help block the constant noise in the ears and you’ll sleep
better.
You
should also take a good look at what you sleep on. How old is your
mattress? Does it sag in the middle? It may be worn out. I believe most
mattresses are rated to last for 7 to 10 years. Do a little research on
the
type of mattress you should be sleeping on. There are many choices
available.
As
you can see, some simple changes in your daily routine and habits can
often result in improved sleep . . leaving you more rested and able to
function
better during the day. Now that you know to what to look for you can
improve
your sleep problems and overcome insomnia on your own.
About
the author:
Christine
Hasinger, LAc, RN is an acupuncturist in Palm Harbor, Florida.
She
runs the Blue
Orchid Healing Center where many
people with insomnia and sleeping problems receive help to start
sleeping
better and wake up feeling rested in the morning.
