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Tips for Better Sleep Environment when You Can't Sleep |
The first 6 strategies for winning the "Outer Game" of better sleep:
1. Eat dinner at least 2-3 hours before bedtime: Your body uses a tremendous
amount of energy in the process of digestion, and eating well in advance of
sleep with allow your body to get the rest it needs at night. You will also
have any easier time falling asleep if your physiological processes are not
geared up for digestion. Make lunch your main meal, and keep dinner light. If
a snack is necessary before bedtime in order to avoid hunger feelings, which
may also interfere with sleep, try to keep it small and avoid sugary or high
fat foods which require much energy to metabolize. It may take a lot of self
discipline to avoid excessive snacking at night because fatigue makes us hungry,
but doing what it takes to get your food digested before bedtime will definitely
help your body get a better rest.
2. Make sure your meals and overall diet during the day are balanced and nutritious:
This is common sense stuff, but poor nutrition and deficiency in certain
vitamins and minerals has been closely associated with sleep disturbance. While
a full discussion is beyond the scope of this program, at the very least take
a close look at your eating habits and make sure you're getting a balanced diet.
Consult a nutrition book if necessary, and take a multi vitamin with a meal
for good measure. Above all, use common sense when choosing your foods. And
for those who experience sleep disturbing indigestion, reflux, heart or throat
burn, make a special point of avoiding spicy and high fat foods as much as possible
in the evening.
As a side note, many people find certain foods to have sleep-conducive qualities. The amino acid tryptophan, most commonly associated with turkey, is thought to help produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that aids in inducing sleep. Tryptophan is also found in some fish, beans, leafy greens, nuts, and dairy products. Other people find that a glass of warm milk helps them fall asleep, most likely because of the calcium content. I've tried these and other foods. Some seemed to help for awhile, but I haven't come across any magical bedtime snack that I can rely on regularly as a sleep aid. In fact, it's likely that eating a particular food for sleep purposes has more of a psychological effect than a physical one (if you really believe that something is going to help you relax and sleep, it probably will).
3. Say goodnight to alcohol, cigarettes, and caffeine: While alcohol may
appear to help you fall asleep sometimes, it can also depress your minds ability
to relax and actually have a stimulating effect. If a drink has helped in the
past, it was most likely because it happened to create a somewhat carefree mindset
at that particular time, but we will learn how to cultivate such a sleep inducing
mentality with much greater reliability later in this program. The bigger problem
with alcohol is that it prevents attainment of the deep stages of sleep where
significant mental renewal occurs. People who use alcohol may lose out on the
dream state of sleep, and dreams (including nightmares) are an important part
of the emotional cleansing that sleep provides. So even if a drink does happen
to help you fall asleep, you probably aren't going to get the benefits of true
rest. If you must consume alcohol in the evening, try to do so at least 2 or
more hours before bed so that it has time to metabolize in the body.
As for nicotine and caffeine, these are both well known nervous system stimulants which increase heart rate, release stress hormones, and make sleep very difficult. Take a look at the ingredients in foods you eat regularly to make sure caffeine is not present. This sleep killer shows up in some surprising places, including chocolate desserts, coffee, black tea, and cola, one can of which can be equivalent to over 3 cups of coffee. Know that drinking caffeinated beverages later in the day to fight off drowsiness will just perpetuate the sleep problem that's probably causing your drowsiness to begin with. Also, ask your doctor if any of the prescription or over the counter medications you're taking now might be interfering with sleep. If so, see if there is a substitute, or if you can avoid taking it near bed time. I realize that both nicotine and caffeine are legal drugs, but they do have a detrimental effect on health and sleep patterns. If you're serious about getting a better night's rest, your best bet is to cut caffeine and nicotine out of your diet completely.
4. Get a decent amount of exercise each day: Over millions of years of our
bodies have evolved with regular physical activity present which modern conveniences,
cars, and office jobs have nearly eliminated. Exercise helps release accumulated
body energy, reduces stress levels and irritability, produces endorphins that
relax both the body and mind, and increases body temperature which helps define
your physiological day/night energy use patterns known as circadian rhythms.
Think about how easily kids fall asleep at night, and then notice how much physical
activity they are engaged in during the day. Exercise isn't the only factor
here, but it will certainly contribute to getting the good rest you deserve.
As a general rule, try to do your exercise in the morning, afternoon, or very early evening, so that your heart rate, body temperature, and other bodily processes have time to level out before lying down at night. Some moderate exercise, like a short walk or cleaning up the house, can be done in the evening if you're having trouble staying awake until your bedtime.
Don't let yourself become preoccupied with exercise performance. Getting stressed out by pushing your limits, rushing to attain a certain distance, lift a certain weight, or achieve a target heart rate is hard on your body and likely counterproductive to your sleep objectives. Avoid strain and you'll find exercise invigorating rather than exhausting. Many people go from the one extreme of getting no exercise at all to the other extreme of getting too much exercise, and then abandon their efforts as they begin to mentally associate the activity with painful intensity. It's better to simply get a relaxing moderate workout regularly. And exercise doesn't just mean going to the gym -- choose an activity you enjoy, such as swimming, hiking or bicycling, or do something with a friend to make it more enjoyable. Be creative. Even climbing the stairs in your apartment building or taking a walk on your lunch hour can be done in a manner that gets your heart rate up.
5. Cut down on your sleep time: It may seem counterintuitive, but shortening
the length of time you sleep will make it more likely that you'll feel drowsy
when you go to bed in the evening, and increase the chance of getting the type
of deep sleep that you're after. Your target bedtime should actually be late
enough so that you even have to struggle a bit to stay awake until that time.
While working through insomnia, temporarily disregard medically recommended
hours of sleep (usually 8 hours). Requirements really vary from person to person,
and most people are fine with around 7 hours. As a general rule, take the amount
of sleep time that you consider your personal ideal and try cutting maybe 30
to 45 minutes off of that amount. To keep your sleep cycle in tune with natural
rhythms, meaning a waking time around sunrise, an earlier rising time rather
than a later bedtime will probably be the objective for most people. You might
prefer to make this change gradually, perhaps rising 10 minutes earlier each
day until you reach your target. With your new earlier rising time, you should
find it much easier to fall asleep at night.
6. Go to bed at the same time each night, and get up at the same time each morning:
Many of our body's physiological processes follow certain rhythms during
a 24 hour cycle (also known as circadian rhythm), and keeping your sleep/wake
schedule synchronized with your internal clock is crucial to restful sleep.
Many people develop sleep disorders when they get in the habit of staying up
late cramming for exams in college, watching TV late on certain nights, or staying
out late on the weekends. This irregularity creates conflict with our body's
natural cycles, and interferes greatly with restful sleep.
Of course there will be times when you simply cannot get to bed on time, but you'll overcome sleep difficulties much faster if you stay on schedule as regularly as possible with a designated bedtime and rising time. If being early or late on a particular day is unavoidable, don't try to compensate for it the next day. Just get back to your regular schedule as quickly as possible. In other words, even if you don't feel fully rested in the morning, still try to get up on time. It's not unusual to feel groggy when you wake up. Move around a little in your bed before rising, go for a walk in the morning sun to trigger wakefulness, or take a warm shower to quickly elevate your body temperature. You'll feel more awake once your body gets some activity and your core temperature rises. If there is lingering fatigue, don't worry -- in fact, be content knowing that it will help you fall asleep easier the coming night. The most important thing is to stay in synch with your body's internal clock as much as possible.
It's easy to overlook the importance of a regular schedule since many of us have disregarded it for years. But I would suggest trying it out for at least a couple weeks. Within that short period you should be able to see for yourself how important this component is in overcoming sleep problems.
NEXT PAGE: More Sleep Aid Suggestions for Sleep Troubles