TIPS-to help you sleep

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TLA

Antiquitie's Friend
#1
How to get a better night's rest
By PsychologyToday.com

:sleep:
Get more exercise—physical and mental. It primes the sleep homeostat. It's a myth that exercise at bedtime is bad. Sex is, among other things, a great exercise.
:sleep:

1. Set a regular bedtime—and keep it. Your body needs reliability. Set up conditions so that you catch the wave of sleep. Sleep has to be permitted. Take obstacles out of the way, and give up the notion that you can control sleep.

2. Learn simple meditation and practice it before bedtime; it cuts down nervous system arousal.

3. Put sleep in the background of your life. Don't monitor it, don't evaluate it.

4. Jack up your body temperature with a warm bath before bed. Exaggerating the normal drop in body temperature that accompanies lying down abets sleep.

5. Keep your bedroom dark, especially as you get older. Even small amounts of light and noise can disturb sleep as you age.

6. Don't overheat your environment. Sleep loves cold. Keep your bedroom cold but load up on blankets.

7. Less is more. The less you do in response to a bout of sleeplessness, the faster your sleep patterns will return to normal.

8. Keeping your wake-up time constant but going to bed one hour later will help 25 percent of insomniacs in one to two weeks. Prepare to feel sleepy at times and avoid driving then. After two weeks, add back the time in half-hour increments.

9. Look on two or three nights of insomnia as a gift—the gift of time you wanted to get done all that you have to get done. Insomnia may be functional, a signal that you need to attend to what got you up.

10. Don't fight the insomnia. The homeostat makes sleep a self-reparative system—if you stay out of its way.

11. Don't worry about the consequences of not sleeping. Worrying about insomnia can create insomnia.

12. Don't sleep with your pets! Animal dander can create allergies that manifest only at night, and the movement of any pet on your bed can wake you up.

13. Do not sleep later to make up for lost sleep. It de-primes the sleep homeostat and reduces pressure for sleep the next night, turning a night of sleeplessness into insomnia.

14. Don't make up for a night of sleeplessness by napping. That undermines the sleep homeostat and makes it less likely you will sleep through the next night.

15. Don't make up for an acute bout of insomnia by going to bed early.

16. Do not try to induce sleepiness by drinking alcohol. Yes, it's a great relaxant—but it is metabolized so quickly it creates rebound insomnia within the night; it's so fast-acting you'll be up in four short hours.

17. Limit caffeine to one cup of coffee in the morning. At age 18, caffeine has a half-life of 4.5 hours, which increases with age. Gradually eliminate caffeine altogether if you have trouble sleeping.

18. Get more exercise—physical and mental. It primes the sleep homeostat. It's a myth that exercise at bedtime is bad. Sex is, among other things, a great exercise.

http://health.msn.com/centers/sleep/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100118531&GT1=8779


By Hara Estroff Marano
 

theleastofthese

SF Friend
Staff Alumni
#3
I find all your tips useful...except for the one about not sleeping with pets. I can't sleep without my little dog next to me under the blanket! She's also my Homeland Security: anything that disturbs her wakes me up, so I feel safe while I sleep.:smile:

least
 
S
#4
No more knocking yourself out with a hammer to the head, these tips are much less painful and better long-term solutions overall.
 

netean

Active Member
#8
there's a great tip for getting to sleep that comes Richard Bandler and NLP:

sometimes when your inner voice keeps talking to you keeps you awake. Just imagine it talking in a slow and sleepy way - don't change what it says, just change how it says it..

slow it right down, making it sound really sleepy and tired. add some yawns into your inner voice so as it slows down you hear yourself yawn and it sounds progressively more sleepy and tired..

within minutes you'll be asleep: Just keep slowing it down and making it sound so very tired and sleepy making your inner voice yawn.

your body follows your mind, so when your mind is sleepy, tired and yawns your body will do the same :)

I struggled with sleep problems for years until I found this technique. Works brilliant for me, most nights when I can't sleep.
 

netean

Active Member
#9
other tips:

don't eat carbohydrate rich foods in the evening - as they give you too much energy at the wrong time of day:

try having a camomile tea in the evening: I like mine with a spoon of honey

don't do anything else in bed other than sleep (and make love) - as you then build up an association with being in bed doing something other than sleeping.

try sleeping with earplugs and/or an eyemask - to shut out the outside world.
(some people find this good, other people find that quite scary)

have some really good sex - post coital sleep is often great :)
 

TLA

Antiquitie's Friend
#12
Nightmares--ummm? thats a tough one...if you have a doc, ask for sleeping relaxation med, Activan like. I take 25 mg of Serequel to level out my mood swings and help manic for me to sleep. I never wake up or dream. just an idea.
 
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