It is 2:00 am in the morning and you are awake wondering if you will ever sleep again. You lie on the bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. You close your eyes Any. You can not sleep. You roll over, punch the pillow, and take a deep breath. You close your eyes again. Any; now what?
If this scenario seems to match your nightly routine, then you need these tips. First of all, get up! Get up, get out and get moving.
Of course, this looks like it would be doing the opposite of what you are really trying to achieve, but in reality, it is making your mind twitch. By turning your mind back, it is as if you are awake again. Once awake, your mind will begin to slow down until you finally feel tired again and can gently fall asleep … again.
When you wake up, it is also important that you do not turn on bright lights or do anything that requires a lot of mental capacity (things related to school or work). Instead, turn on a dim lamp and read a book without incident (one you’ve read before or even a manual).
Also do not turn on the television. It could overstimulate your brain and wake you up too much. Instead, try turning on the radio. Definitely don’t connect to the computer … the blue light from the screen can definitely perk up your brain and there goes another night full of sleep.
Other tips for insomnia are to practice meditation or visualization. Imagine something repetitive, like sheep jumping over a fence over and over again. This stops your brain from wandering and eventually you will go back to sleep.
If that doesn’t work, another insomnia tip is to have a light snack. Sometimes if you’re hungry, your stomach will keep waking you up until you give in to its desire to eat. Are there foods that can help reduce insomnia?
Yes!
It will help if you eat something that contains the natural reagent serotonin; such as milk, fruit, crackers, turkey, peanuts, or other nuts. It is much easier to fall asleep with something in the stomach.
If that still doesn’t work, try going to bed later. There is nothing worse than straining to be tired, when you clearly are not. So go ahead, stay up a bit later, but do something to “relax” like yoga or light reading.
If none of these suggestions for getting back to sleep work, your last hope would be to adjust the temperature in your bedroom. If your body is too hot, you will wake up to take off the covers or something, but at the same time, if it is too cold, you might wake up cold; enough to keep you awake for many hours. So go get a blanket, turn on a fan, or reset your thermostat.
Take a deep breath. Take it easy.
Going back to sleep doesn’t have to be difficult; it’s as easy as closing your eyes.
