Tired of tossing and turning? Ready to get some rest? The
situation isn’t hopeless – there are plenty of things you can do to restore
your body to normal sleep patterns. But it’s going to take commitment on your
part. If you’re willing to follow these commonsense guidelines for the next
month, you’ll soon be sleeping like a dream.
1)
Establish
a sleep zone. For the next thirty days, make your bedroom a haven for sleep.
Commit to keeping cell phone use, television watching, and tablet reading out
of the bedroom. Don’t sleep alone? Ask the person who shares your bedroom to
honor this thirty day pact as well. After all, it’s much nicer to live with a
person who gets enough sleep, so that should be an incentive for them.
2)
Put
yourself on a schedule. Random, uncertain bedtimes set the stage for
insomnia, as your body’s rhythms are thrown off-course. Think about how tired
you were as a child after no-sleep slumber parties or camp-outs in a buddy’s
backyard. That’s how your body feels all the time when you don’t have regular
sleep habits.
3)
Clear out
sleep-stealing habits. For the next month, honor your need for sleep by
refusing to do things that may be feeding your insomnia. Late night exercise,
eating, or arguing switch on hormones and processes in your body detrimental to
sleep. Work out late afternoon or early morning. Stop snacking at 10 p.m.
Decide not to start that argument as you’re crawling into bed with your
partner. If it’s important, write it down and then let it go until morning.
4)
If you’re
awake, leave the bedroom. Part of the process of forming good sleep habits
is associating your bedroom with sleep (see #1). If you wake up in the middle
of the night and can’t go back to sleep, get up and leave the bedroom. Walk
around the house for a bit or sit on the couch and meditate (but don’t turn on that
television or pick up a book!). When you start feeling sleepy again, go back to
bed.
5)
Give
yourself the gift of sleep. The motivation for establishing a sleep zone,
putting yourself on a schedule, clearing out sleep-stealing habits, and
refusing to lie awake in bed begins with recognizing the value of sleep. A long
night’s uninterrupted slumber is a gift only you can give yourself; one that
nourishes body, mind, and spirit.
The ability to sleep through the night escapes most of us at
one time or another; however, insomnia, does not have to be a permanent
condition. Follow these practical guidelines for how to beat insomnia for the
next thirty days. Your current insomnia could very well become a thing of the
past.
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