Insomnia Solutions, Part I

If you lie awake every night staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep, you might have insomnia.  Insomnia is a sleep disorder that hinders your ability to rest at night.  Here are a few tips to ensure that you wake up every morning well rested and ready to start your day.

1.    Have a regular bedtime schedule.  This means not only going to sleep at the same time every night, but establishing a routine that trains your body to realize that it’s getting ready for sleep.

2.    Look for obvious solutions.  Is your mattress too lumpy?  Are you so tall your feet hang over the end of the bed?  Does your husband snore?  The problem may be an external one, and easily solvable.

3.    Avoid chemicals that may be keeping you awake.  Substances that could be responsible for your insomnia include alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine.  Alcohol is a relaxant, but may be responsible for much of your bedtime anxiety, and going to sleep drunk is no way to have a restful sleep. Caffeine is an obvious stimulant, and should be avoided in the afternoon hours.  Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, cola drinks, and chocolate.  Nicotine, the additive in cigarettes is an extremely disruptive chemical which can act as either a stimulant or a depressant, both of which can knock you off your sleep schedule.

4.    Avoid heavy meals right before bed.  Try pushing dinner forward an hour in your daily schedule.  Or even better, experiment with making lunch your biggest meal of the day, and finishing off your schedule with a light dinner, a few hours before you go to bed.  You’d be surprised at the difference it can make.  Eating and digesting creates energy (which is the reason why we eat to begin with…), and you don’t want all that energy being created while you’re trying to sleep.  Make sure, however, that you’re not going to bed hungry!

5.    Exercise regularly.  Again, not right before you go to sleep, but you should have at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day.