1. After checking with your doctor, you may be able to encourage sleep with melatonin supplements and wake yourself up with early morning light, if you have trouble sleeping. But before using melatonin or any sleep aid, give your body time to set itself to your normal sleep and wake pattern.
2. Daily exercise will help you sleep, but don’t exercise within two hours of bedtime or you may be too “wired” to fall asleep.
3. A warm bath will raise your body temperature and help you sleep.
4. Keep a regular bedtime and a regular wakeup time. Irregular sleep hours will set your mind in a default mode of wakefulness, leading to insomnia. Worry about not sleeping makes it worse.
5. Keep your bedroom dark and quiet, and use it for sleep and sex only. Purchase a sleep mask and ear plugs if necessary.
6. If you can’t get to sleep within 20 minutes, get up and do something boring for a half hour to an hour. Then try to sleep again.
7. Use relaxation exercises, meditation, acupressure, or prayer to reduce stress. If something is worrying you, keep a pad and pencil by your bed and write it down. You can also write down reminders for the next day. Once they’re on paper, you can quit worrying about them.
8. Avoid caffeine before bedtime.
9. Don’t sleep too warm.
10. For some people, a bout of insomnia may predict a bout of depression, which will occur four to six weeks later. Treating insomnia early may stop that bout of depression in its tracks.
Use these ten sensible strategies to get the soothing sleep you need.
Please always consult your doctor about your health problems. This blog is for information only - Not for diagnosing health conditions.
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