50 Ways To Beat Insomnia

About a third of us have sleep difficulties occasionally, but for some people insomnia can be a chronic problem which lasts for months or even years. If you need a bit of help getting off at night, follow some of these tips to help you get a better nights sleep.

1; Instead of counting sheep, count peacocks, giraffes, or emus!

2; Go to bed at the same time every night, and get up at the same time every morning.

3; Sleep on a good, firm mattress.

4; Lie on your back and gently rub your stomach in a circular motion. Gradually let the circles get bigger and bigger.

5; Avoid alcohol, caffeine and tobacco.

6; Start at one, two, or five hundred, and count backwards down to one.

7; Try to recall a poem that you used to know off by heart when you were at school.

8; Think of a boy and girls name starting with each letter of the alphabet. For example; Albert and Alice, Bryan and Betty, or Carl and Camilla. See how far you can go.

9; Listen to a recording of crashing waves, dolphin sounds, heartbeats, or raindrops.

10; Dont have tea, chocolate or cola in the evening.

11; Imagine walking through a lush valley. Hear the birdsong, smell the trees and visualise the beauty of the countryside.

12; Sleep in a well ventilated room.

13; Dont have the temperature of your room too hot, or too cold.

14; Sleep on your back, as this enables your internal organs to rest.

15; Do not fall to sleep on your front, as this results in shallow breathing and causes pressure on your internal organs.

16; Drink warm milk ten to twenty minutes before retiring.

17; Stretch your body. Point your toes, arch your back and stretch your arms above your head, then relax completely.

18; Try to recite the National Anthem in your head.

19; Make a long list of words in your head by changing just one letter at a time, for example; part, past, post, most, mast, etc.

20; Have a drink of herbal tea before retiring to bed. Some health food stores sell blends which are designed to aid restful sleep.

21; Fifteen minutes of exercise a day will supply your body with the activity and oxygen it needs to relax at bedtime.

22; Make a list of everything that is bothering you and therefore keeping you awake. Imagine yourself writing the list onto a piece of paper and then screwing it up and throwing it away.

23; Try to settle yourself by repeating soothing words to yourself, such as calm, peaceful, relaxing.

24; Imagine you are sewing the hem of an extremely wide curtain. Use tiny stitches and visualise in detail every stitch you make.

25; Try to get your partner to give you a relaxing massage just before bed, or while you are both in bed.

26; Make love.

27; If your partner is in bed with you, listen to his breath and try to synchronise your breathing with his.

28; Go back to a special time and place in your mind. Relive the sights, smells and feelings you felt at the time.

29; Avoid naps during the daytime.

30; Take a warm soothing bubble bath, or use bath salts or aromatherapy oils in the water to help you relax before bed.

31; Try to keep your bedroom as dark as possible by hanging thick lined curtains if possible.

32; Imagine you are on the beach. Feel the hot sun on your body, smell the salt water and feel the warm, granular sand under your feet and between your toes.

33; Avoid illuminated bedside clocks. A lit clock face can be extremely disturbing if you have a hard time getting to sleep.

34; Practice slow, deep breathing for five minutes.

35; Sleep with your head facing north. Sounds bizarre? Try it and see if it makes a difference for you.

36; Imagine you are decorating your dream house. What colour scheme would you use? What style of furnishings and decoration would you prefer? See each colour and pattern in detail.

37; Keep your bed a place for sleep. Dont read, watch television, work, or do crossword puzzles in bed. Let your body and mind associate bed with sleep.

38; Think of as many famous people as you can with double initials, for example; Anthony Andrews, Tina Turner, Bobby Brown.

39; If you really cant sleep, get up. Dont lie awake for more than thirty minutes. Read a book, have a drink, and when you feel tired again, go back to bed.

40; Lie on your back and try to relax. Wiggle your toes up and down, both feet at the same time, 20. This should relax your whole body.

41; Listen to soft and soothing music. Classical or folk music is particularly good for dropping off to.

42; Imagine its morning and time to get up. The alarm has already gone off, and you are in that sleepy period when you just want to drop back off to sleep for a few more minutes. Its surprising how sleepy you will start to feel.

43; Think back on everything you did throughout the day, from getting up, having breakfast, going to work, right through to getting ready for bed and lying where you are now.

44; Try to remember what you were doing this time last year.

45; An hour before you go to bed, light an oil burner with some lavender oil in.

46; Mentally visit the town you were born in. Think back to how the streets looked, and imagine where you used to play, or the places you used to visit.

47; Repeat to yourself I am getting sleepy, I am growing tired, I am falling to sleep.

48; If you are a fan of soap operas, replay some of the scenes in your mind, with yourself as one of the characters.

49; Stare with your eyes closed at the insides of your eyelids.

50; Build a two letter word into the biggest word you can make. For example; on, one, lone, alone.

Sweet Dreams!
Gail Miller is a UK artist and writer. View her vibrant, contemporary artwork at her website, Gails Art Gallery http://home.freeuk.net/gails-gallery

Its HER turn! VIAGRA for women and Viacream!buyherturn.s5.com

The Online Source for Feminine Viagra! No prescription required! Buy on-line Viacream and HerTurn! A great product easy to use! www.buyhertun.s5.com

detail on: www.buyhertun.s5.com

Its HERturn! VIAGRA for women and Viacream!buyherturn.s5.com

The Online Source for Feminine Viagra! No prescription required! Buy on-line Viacream and HerTurn! A great product easy to use! www.buyhertun.s5.com

detail on: www.buyhertun.s5.com

Trouble Sleeping? Insomnia Cures Are Here!

Publishing Guidelines: You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the resource box is included with a live link to my site. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Title: TROUBLE SLEEPING? INSOMNIA CURES ARE HERE! Author: Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW Email: mailto:editor@overcoming-depression.com copyright: by Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW Web Address: http://www.Overcoming-Depression.com Word Count: 946
Category: Health

TROUBLE SLEEPING? INSOMNIA CURES ARE HERE!

I yawn, stretch my arms behind my head and stare at the ceiling. I've been in bed for a few minutes. Ahhh, the peaceful quiet all around. The room is dark. The kids are asleep. It's an expansive moment for my mind. My mind seems to fill the entire room.

Okay, it's been 20 minutes now. The novel meditative moment has passed. Now my mind seems to be filling up like a bowl that's been left outside in a torrential downpour. I can't seem to slow down or empty out my mind. So many things to think about, not the least of which is why in tarnation can't I fall asleep?

I am tired, but cannot sleep. I begin to feel agitated and become physically restless. I turn this way... I turn that way. I cross and uncross my legs. I lay on my stomach, side and back. Each passing moment lends itself to increased anger and frustration. Now my mind has jumped ahead to tomorrow, lining up all those things I have to accomplish knowing that I'll only do so by dragging this haggard, exhausted and fatigued body around for the entire day. This process goes deeply into the night.

Any of that sound familiar?

Recent estimates indicate that approximately 25 million Americans suffer from chronic insomnia. Some reasons for insomnia include:

1. Restless Leg Syndrome 2. Circadian Rhythm Disorders 3. Depression
4. Alcohol and other drug abuse 5. Life changes and/or accumulation of life stressors 6. Anxiety
7. Sleep Apnea

You should consult with your physician in order to determine the exact cause of your sleep problems. He/she may order a sleep study, give you a depression screen, check social stressors, order a blood panel to check for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, suggest you stop drinking, give an anxiety scale or any number of interventions to identify a cause and get you focused on appropriate solutions.

In the meantime here are a few "Do's and Don'ts" on how to reclaim your beauty sleep.

1. When you lay down to sleep, deepen and lengthen your breathing patterns -- shoot for five second inhales and five second exhales. You'll be taking 6 breathes per minute. This takes some practice but works nicely.

2. Take a deep breath and hold it. While holding your breathe, tense up the muscles throughout your entire body and hold both for 30 seconds. Exhale completely and relax. Take several relaxed breathes and repeat three times.

3. Choose any relaxing color (blue, green, yellow, etc). Place your hands on your stomach and imagine that you are expanding a colored balloon in your stomach. Exhale an insomnia/anxiety color (red, black, etc) through your mouth. Continue this for 5-10-50 times, whatever it takes. It is impossible to focus on your body/breath while entertaining thoughts.

4. Take a hot shower or bath before bed, or get up and do so
if you are unable to fall asleep within 15 minutes.

5. Take some sleep food for the brain. Before going to bed eat 1 ounce of protein, 1 ounce of cheese and 5 grapes or the equivalent.

6. Get out of bed if you have not fallen asleep within 15 minutes. The brain is quite easily programmed. I don't want your brain to associate "bed" with "awake."

7. Once you're out of bed do not watch TV, get on the computer, listen to stimulating music, turn on a bunch of lights or do anything else that stimulates your brain into high gear.

8. Once out of bed do sit quietly, meditate on emptying the
mind, listen to quiet, soothing music or do some "light" reading. The research shows that deep meditation is as restorative as sleep and takes less time than sleeping for 8 hours.

9. Purchase a Brain Entrainment CD and some ear buds (they are the most comfortable to sleep on). Make sure the CD is designed for sleep. I won't go into all the scientific details here. Just know that the brain needs to be in delta wave state 60 minutes for you to wake up feeling fresh. My favorite is "Sleeping Through The Rain" by a company you can find at www.hemi-sync.com. Don't try this on just a boom box. The ear buds are very important to make this work.

10. Make sure your bedroom is dark. Lights out!

11. Exercise regularly. Exercise does a fantastic job of regulating sleep cycles. The only catch here is do not exercise within two hours of bedtime, as this can activate mind and body systems that will keep you awake.

12. Drink Chamomile Tea an hour before bedtime and take Valerian root with it. If you open up your first bottle of Valerian root and it smells like rotten socks, don't throw it away, it's supposed to smell like that! Can you believe it!? ;-)

13. If worse comes to worst, consult a doctor. There are many effective medications used for sleep which can be prescribed by your doctor. Some of these include Ambien, Temazepam, Sonata, Remeron, Benadryl (non- prescription), Melatonin (Don't take this if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder) Trazadone and others.

14. Stay away from alcohol as a sleep aid. Many will argue that alcohol gets them to sleep, but brain wave studies show that once asleep, an individual does not reach the restorative level of sleep that results in feeling well rested in the morning.

Too many sleepless nights can lead to what feels like a psychotic break, so don't push yourself over the edge. Good self care is so important. After just 2 nights without sleep, intervention is necessary! Please take care of yourself. A great night's sleep after not sleeping well for a long time can be an absolutely wonderful gift to give yourself.

I welcome you to more restful nights!

Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW is an author, university faculty member, success coach and veteran psychotherapist whose passion is guiding others to their own success in life. For weekly doses of the webs HOTTEST success tips, sign up for Daves powerful Feeling Great! ezine at http://www.Overcoming-Depression.com