Cures for Insomnia

Posts Tagged ‘insomnia’

Have you ever had a fight with someone who is (or was) important to you? Of course you have, right? Arguments, disagreements, hurts and conflict close to bed time can significantly impact your ability or inability to sleep.

You might think this is obvious but for others it just might clue them into something that has become a natural part of life. And that part is stopping them from sleeping.

Take a look at who you talk to before bed. What do you talk about? Is it a time to talk about those pressing issues you didn’t get to earlier in the day? Do you feel like you need resolve issues?

On one hand, resolving issues before bed can be a good thing. We all know the saying, “don’t go to bed angry.” If something is bothering you and you are just holding it in, this can impact how you sleep. It doesn’t mean you need to start a fight or argument but you need to resolve it, even within yourself if that’s the only way.

Issues that should be resolved before bed are usually emotional ones. If you were hurt by something someone said or did, then it can help to talk about it, forgive and move on.

Other issues are not helpful to talk about before bed. Controversial issues that could lead to disagreement and conflict. These kinds of discussions lead to stress – your blood pressure goes up, you get tense, etc. This physical response will not help you to sleep. Just the opposite. You may even be in “fight-or-flight” and that will definitely not help you to sleep!

Discussions about money, who is right/wrong about something, what someone should or shouldn’t be doing, etc, are good to avoid. You can probably pinpoint a few touchy areas from your own relationships.

What can be helpful is to choose a specific time a day to talk about those kinds of topics. And times of day not to talk about them. I would suggest leaving the hour before bed free from topics that could lead to conflict. Use that time to wind down, not “wind up”. Be aware of things that start to create tension in your body and stay away from them. It just may be one thing that will help you to get to sleep and to sleep easier.

One of the biggest problems for people who have insomnia is thought-racing. If this is you, you know exactly what I’m talking about. And it happens to the best of us.

You go to bed, you’re tired, you’ve had a busy day, you want to sleep, and then you start thinking. And thinking and thinking and thinking.

Why do we do it? It doesn’t seem constructive. It gets in the way of something we really need – sleep. Well, there are many reasons why and you might want to ask yourself why this happens to you. Sometimes asking a question of yourself can give you a surprising answer.

Often thought-racing is a result of stress, anxiety or busyness. If you’re worried about something, you’ll want to continue thinking about it until you have a solution. Maybe you’re concerned about the next day and keep running through what you have to do. Maybe you’ve had a fight with someone important and just keep reliving it.

Some Strategies for Dealing With Thought-Racing

1. Make a list before bed. This could be a list of anything you might find yourself thinking about. A list of things you need to do, a list of solutions for a problem you’re anxious about, anything. Sometimes getting it down on paper stops your mind from going over things.

2. Journal. If you’re feeling stressed, anxious or worried, it can help to journal and sort through those things. You might think you don’t have time but just think of the time you waste lying in bed and not sleeping. It should gain you time.

3. Work on controlling your thoughts. You have power over them. They are doing what they think you want them to do. If you start thinking, stop yourself. Tell your mind to be still. Your thought life is not a run-away train. You have power over it. You control it.

4. Simple meditation or focusing. This has also been known as counting sheep. Count to 100 and then start again. Say the alphabet – one letter per breath. Focus on a picture in your mind. Think of a place where you’re happy, calm and relaxed and stay thinking of it.

Try it out and sleep well tonight!

Having trouble sleeping? You may want to look at your bedroom environment for some clues as to why that could be. Is it a restful place? Is it calming? Does it make you feel relaxed?

On the other side of things, when you look around do you feel stressed? Do you see things and tasks that you need to do? Does it remind you work? Is it a mess? Is it just not that nice to be there?

These questions can lead you to some clues as to why you may be having trouble sleeping there. I know someone who has trouble falling asleep in their bed but when they go out to the couch, they fall asleep right away.

Some Do’s and Don’ts

Try to use your bedroom for things related primarily to sleeping at night. Use your bed for sleeping in. Don’t sit in bed doing work, studying, talking on the phone, using your laptop, etc. When you do these things in bed, your body becomes accustomed to doing anything there. It should know that the bed is for sleeping in.

That’s a critical point. If you use your bed only for sleeping in, your body will associate it with sleep and you will fall asleep much more easily. This one tip that has really made an impact on people’s ability to fall asleep.

You may also want to consider removing some things from your bedroom. Electronic things like a TV, video games, computer, your cell phone, etc. Make it a restful place. Somewhere that you can get away from it all.

Keep your bedroom tidy. If you look around and see a mess, you may feel stressed or bad that you haven’t cleaned it up yet. Often times, the area we live in reflects what we are inside. It can make a difference to your stress level and ability to feel like you have life in control if you just organize your space a bit.

You may also want to consider painting. Certain colours are more relaxing than others. Blue is a very calming colour while red, orange and yellow are not. Having blue walls in your bedroom can help you feel restful, relaxed and tranquil.

All in all, just take a look around your bedroom. Do what you can to make it a peaceful place and hopefully that will help you to sleep better.

I heard the most amazing thing the other day. I was listening to a doctor talk about his 7 pillars of health and he started mentioning insomnia. So, of course my ears perked up and I learned a new way to get rid of insomnia.

He was talking about laughter. I’m sure you’ve heard of the phrase, “laughter is the best medicine.” People always say how good laughter is for you too. Well, he said that one way to cure insomnia is by laughing.

Now, he had a very detailed biological reason for why laughter fights insomnia but frankly, I don’t remember it all. I guess what happens is that you laugh (and not a giggle but a belly laugh) and that helps you get to a state relaxation and releases certain things within your body. This combination helps you to sleep.

It’s worth a try anyway, isn’t it? If you’re having trouble sleeping, why don’t you try reading some funny comics, cracking some jokes with someone close to you or watching some funny videos online. There are tons of them. Think of it as “laughter therapy”. I just might go get some myself.

If you have a serious case of insomnia and have been finding that a lot of the information around isn’t really helping enough, then I have a resource to suggest to you.

I want to note that this resource is for you if you are often or constantly struggling with insomnia and you are looking for cures for insomnia. If you have been having trouble sleeping short term only (like a couple of days), take a look at the other posts here first.

There’s a product developed by someone who struggled with insomnia for a long time. It focuses on sleeping naturally without any medication. Medication is never the answer long-term and so I recommend checking out Natural Sleep Secrets.

Going to sleep naturally is always a better solution than using something to get you to sleep. If you can learn (or teach your body) to sleep and stay asleep it’s much better for you in the long term. You’re not putting any weird chemicals in your body but instead you’re doing something good for your body.

Natural Sleep Secrets is definitely worth a look if you’re not sleeping well or if you are often tired during the day. I hope it is helpful to you!

If you’re looking for a good natural insomnia treatment, there are quite a few to choose from. In this post, I’ll be letting you know about some herbal remedies that work great for insomnia.

You may have heard of Valerian root. Valerian is a herbal supplement that can be taken on its own but is also found it other combination remedies. People talk all the time about whether or not there is scientific proof about whether valerian (and every other herbal supplement) works. I’m not a doctor and here I’m just telling you about my own experience.

I have found valerian root helpful in falling asleep. It’s good. I used to take it on it’s own – not in a combination with other remedies. Right now if I have trouble sleeping (or think I’m going to) I take something called Euro-Calm.

These kinds of natural insomnia treatments are not magic bullets. Sometimes they take a little while – even one month – to start working. But they are not harmful to your body and have no side effects. They are also not addictive.

Basically what most of these natural treatments suggest is that you take them about an hour before bed. You need some time to absorb them and grow more relaxed. They sometimes gently put you to sleep so if you are really stressed about something or really wound up, then may not work as well.

There are a lot of remedies out there. I’ve also used Alluna Sleep which works well but has hydrogenated oils in it (which I avoid completely and you should too). You can find Euro-calm online at vitaminlife.com (great prices) and I’m sure many other places.

I just came across this video that helps you to relax and sleep using yoga techniques. If you are having trouble sleeping due to stress or busyness  or something of the sort, this type of relaxation could be a big help to you.

Enjoy!

If you’re having trouble falling asleep when you want to, it could be caused by a number of physical factors. These things may seem obvious to some but aren’t to others. And they can be very influential over your ability to fall asleep.

Coffee and Caffeine

Some people are really sensitive to caffeine while others aren’t. If you’re experiencing insomnia, you may be drinking more coffee (or other forms of caffeine) during the day than usual. This can contribute to not sleeping later on. I would suggest not drinking coffee or any drink with caffeine after lunch time. Especially not in the evening.

High Sugar Foods and Drinks

Sugar is another culprit when causing insomnia. Even when you are tired, it can keep you up just enough so that you can’t fall asleep. Watch what you are eating within 4 hours of going to sleep and take any sweet things out. This includes carbonated beverages, cakes, chocolates, cookies, fruit, etc. This makes a huge difference to me personally.

Exercise

When do you exercise? If you are exercising at night or in the late afternoon, it could be keeping you awake. Exercise provides energy but you want that energy earlier in the day. Try to move up the time you’re exercising to morning or early afternoon.

Also, if you are not getting enough exercise, this could be a contributing factor to insomnia. It could be that your body has too much energy hanging around and needed some of it to be used. Exercising – even taking a walk, can help you sleep better later.

Take a look at what you are doing physically and what you are eating before bed or in the evening. Experiment by changing your eating habits and activities. It may be easy to change one or two things and end up sleeping better every night.