5 steps to a perfect night's sleep
When it comes to sleep, timing is everything. Here are five ways to set the clock and start sleeping well
When it comes to sleep, timing is everything. Once you learn to synchronize your body’s biological clock, your body will know when to sleep and when to be alert. Here are five ways to set the clock and start sleeping well.
1. Wake at the same time every day
A good night’s sleep actually starts in the morning. The second your eyes flutter open, light shoots down the optic nerve and into the brain’s biological clock. There it stimulates the production of a smorgasbord of hormones that regulate growth, reproduction, eating, sleeping, thinking, remembering—even how you feel from minute to minute.
“Sunlight activates the brain,” says Frisca L. Yan-Go, M.D., medical director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center. And activating it at the same time every morning synchronizes your body’s biological clock. Then your body has a clear direction that at midnight it’s supposed to be asleep and at noon it’s supposed to be awake.
Wake up at a different time every day and the clock is out of sync. You feel groggy and hungover for hours, and even when you start to feel a bit more alert after that first Starbucks, you really never achieve the mental edge of which you’re capable.
2. Hit the sheets only when sleepy
No, not just tired. Sleepy, as in your eyes are droopy and you keep losing track of what people are saying to you.
3. Get up
Sleeping from 11:30 p.m. until 2:00 a.m., tossing and turning until 4, then sleeping until 6 gives you eight hours in bed but only 4 1/2 hours of sleep. That’s a huge mismatch that can actually inhibit your sleep drive and cause insomnia all by itself. To prevent that from exacerbating your sleep issues, when you wake at 2:00 a.m., get up and go read a book in the living room. Being up increases your sleep drive—which just could make you sleepy enough to actually fall asleep when you return to bed.
One caveat: Don’t stay in bed when you’re awake. A part of your mind will begin to associate the bed with being awake rather than being asleep. And that can turn on a nasty “I’m-not-going-to-sleep!” anxiety that will rev your engines whenever you get into bed. It’s one of the most insidious—and potent—causes of chronic insomnia.
4. Give yourself an hour
The one right before bed. You need it to wind down and transition from the woman-who-can-do-everything into the woman-who-can-sleep. Unfortunately, most women are not giving themselves one single second. According to the 2007 National Sleep Foundation poll, during the hour before bed, around 60 per cent of us do household chores, 37 percent take care of children, 36 percent do activities with other family members, 36 per cent are on the Internet, and 21 per cent do work related to their jobs.
5. Beware Sunday night insomnia
Staying up late on Friday and Saturday nights and sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday mornings is frequently the gift we give ourselves on weekends after a hard week at work. Yet that little gift—small as it is—is enough to screw up our biological clocks. Even if you get to bed early on Sunday night, you will not be ready to sleep, and you will not end up being the happy camper you were expecting come Monday morning.
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Sleep to be Sexy, Smart, and Slim, Reader's Digest Canada
To all insomniacs, before bedtime, try 1/2 teaspoon of raw or powdered ginger in a cup of boiling water, you may add 1/4 teaspoon of sugar for taste, and stir while cooling to a temperature you can tolerate, and sip slowly. Get into bed right away, you'll fall asleep before you know it. Have a goodnight tonight.
Unfortunately I have been diagnosed as a Chronic Insomniac and have been seeing a doctor at a Sleep Clinic in a local hospital. In February I go for a two-night sleep over there where they monitor you. She is doing this as a last resort, as most people they have sleep over have sleep apnea, which I don't. I have tried every method posted here and have been so desperate that I had my doc prescribe pills (which I really didn't want). Even THEY didn't work - he said they would have really knocked HIM out. Only have two coffees in the a.m., exercise, don't eat late, try to go to bed and set alarm for the same time each morning.....have tried all the melatonins, valerians and more natural stuff. I'm usually up at 3 a.m. and I'm absolutely beat and have a banging headache by about 8 a.m. It's very hard to even function during the day.....and I don't nap. My doc and I are going to try one more thing. Yesterday he joked that I should have a night job - cop, emergency admitting...and I said hooker - funny, but not. I said to him I feel like Michael Jackson (got to see some humour in this!). I was never a great sleeper even as a kid, but nothing like this. Ah well, sorry, just had to gripe a little.
Do not drink caffeinated drinks like coffee and coke. Drink plenty of water during the day to flush your system. Regular exercise every day is also helpful with plenty of fresh air and sunshine. Go to bed at a regular time and get up at a regular time. As we get older our bodies also stop producing melatonin which also is needed for a good nights sleep. So taking melatonin is also helpful in improving your sleep. Keeping your weight down is also important.
Try a tablet called Melatonin, recommended to me by a nathropatic doctor.It worked for me.It really helps people who work shift work, and those who wake up many times per night.It is quite cheap and can be found in places like Zellers and Walmart.Half hour before you are ready to go to bed, take it, and make sure you can get at least 8 hours or more before your wake up time.
i also have a terrible time staying asleep. I went for a sleep test and have not got the results as yet. I have had this problem for a long time. when ever I wake up which is about 2or3 times a night my mind goes into thinking so many things all at once. It drives me crazy, iam afraid if i get up when i wake up i won't feel like sleeping any more for that day, and iam not a day sleeper. i go to bed around 11p.m. wake up many times then get out of bed at around 7 to start my day, a vicious circle. Anyone have it this bad out there? Could use some help.
I like to take one ts of magnesium cloride (sold in Canada, in natural products stores) in some orange juice 30 min before going to bed. Magnesium is a natural substance that we all have in our body and it help to focus on the main goal : to sleep!
Note: I prefer the liquid product than the solid one
I am a shift worker changing from nights to afternoons after 3 or 4 shifts> What works for me is a CONAIR sound machine with a "Stream" sound effect that is on a 1 hour timer. You could also use a fan at low / medium speed or room air filter to generate a soothing sound.
I am always up early, not at the same time but early. But I find I get up and then I go back to bed, like this morning. I got up at 6 something and after my morning prayers and devotional I went right back to bed. To only get up at 9 something. And that's not the half of it. I am alway tired and taking afternoon naps. This sleep advice was really helpful. I think I'll try it.
I always wake up in the middle of the night..it's so annoying..
2 am, i'm wide awake!!
sleep is affected by hormones and eating too many carbs at the end of the day, read more in Jillian Micheals book (trainer of Biggest Loser) Master your Metabolism, it helped me!
Anna, have you ever tried yoga? It worked for me when I had problems sleeping...
hmmmm, everybody keeps saying sleep a the same time every day. such and such time detoxifies such and such an organ. well, what about us poor shift workers? we have no hope at all do we?
Anna, try taking pills. I got some from Ukraine, and they really help. They put you to sleep in like 20 minutes. =)
Loreta Doga
You're joking, right? Everything that you said is the exact opposite of what you are supposed to do.
Anna, that truly sucks. I think it's normal to suffer periods of that kind of insomnia, especially for women. But if it's chronic for you and a major problem, you may want to consider a sleep clinic. Have you talked to your doctor?
And if nothing works...? Hmmm... I have been searching and searching for answers but continually hear the same things over and over which I try again and again and still I cannot fall asleep. It's a vicious circle. My problem isn't STAYING asleep it is GETTING to sleep... it's SO frustrating. Anyone got any more answers or suggestions??? - signed desperate in Manitoba
this is great! the only issue is my daughter is going to sleep away camp and she cannot get up and walk around.
From my own experienceit is also very helpful 4 a very good night sleep exercising about one hour before going in bed, or dancing around with the music of your choice. Another perfect way for myself to calm down my brain and prepare it for sleep is listening to music that sends my thinking close to the beach or some other marvalous place. A hot bath with Epsom salt could help also and if someone close to you will love to make a small sacrifice by giving a slowly foot massage that would be the final touch.
A TV in your room it's not a bad idea, especially these days that the programs suck....; it's a perfect way to make you fall asleep. Believe it or not, I've tried it and it works; change the channel to a program you're not interested at all, lower the volume, put on the timer for the turn off and vuola, you're on the road to sleeping. And..., if non of the above works, take a full glass of wine and a sleeping pill after you make sure your p.j-s are on and I guaranty you a very good night sleep without any disturbance. I know it by my own experience!
Sencerely,
your trouble sleeping friend,
Loreta.