Tips On How To Fall Asleep

One of the most frustrating things in life is trying to force yourself to sleep. Insomnia is a very common occurrence and can be easily treated using simple techniques to calm the mind.

A study researched at the University of Glasgow concluded that using reverse psychology on insomniacs worked better than other methods. They where told to lay in bed and try their very best to stay awake and to keep their eyes open. The participants who where told to do this had a much easier time falling asleep by minimizing sleep anxiety.

Another method was to use positive imagery to replacing negative thought patterns called C.B.T. (cognitive behavioral thinking). Anxious thoughts about not sleeping the entire night, to be replaced by thoughts of waking up rested and joyful.

Using C.B.T through out the day can also benefit your chances of sleeping better. Constantly reassuring yourself you will sleep well and wake up feeling rested as you lay in your bed helps better your odds.

Hide Your Clock

Constantly looking at your clock creates more stress when it comes to falling asleep. Trying to calculate the time you have left till the morning causes more stress on your body. Make sure you take out the clock or fix any noises that let you know the time.

Avoid Caffeine/Sugars/Alcohol

If you suffer from insomnia decreasing coffee consumption is a must. Coffee or caffeinated teas can make you stay up for hours. Cutting caffeine out of your diet or minimizing consumption can make you feel more relaxed.  Avoid sugars in foods before you sleep.

Late night snakes are usually packed with tons of sugars that give you an extra boost. Sticking to water as an alternative through out the day can be very helpful on your mind and body.  Alcohol can either put your to sleep faster or do the opposite depending the person. We recommended that you avoid alcoholic beverages if you suffer from insomnia.

Keeping Your Room Cold

Our body’s internal temperature is integral to regulating our biological body clock. This means when we are going to sleep our body temperature drops a couple of notches. Keeping the room cold to 60 to 70 degrees helps the process of putting us to sleep faster. A dark cool room helps send a message to our brain to make melatonin to put us to sleep.

Tips For A Sound Sleep

Meditate:

Learning how to meditate in the day can help you sleep better and faster at night.  When we are tossing and turning in our beds we play out stories in our minds. This causes us to go down a wormhole of thoughts that can cause much worry and anxiety.

Ten minutes of mindfulness meditation a day has been proven to help one sleep easier. Mindfulness helps us regulate and control our thoughts so we are aware of what we choose to think about as we are ready to doze off.

Foods:

You would want to look for foods high in tryptophan.  This is an amino acid that stimulates the production of serotonin, which helps with relaxation. Include turkey, chicken or tuna for dinner.

Complex carbohydrates help with the production of serotonin, so anything like butternut squash or sweet potatoes into your dinner which helps give you a healthy sleep.  Some suggest a glass of raw milk before bed does help with sleep. A2 dairy is recommended from goat’s, sheep, or A2 cows.

Choosing foods that are high in magnesium. This has been known as the “relaxation” mineral. Include green leafy vegetables, sesame and sunflower seeds, and oats into your diet. Including B-vitamins such as organic meat, brewer’s yeast, liver and green leafy vegetables are high in B-vitamins.

Music:

If you can’t sleep, or find it difficult to get to sleep, this insomnia relief hypnosis session can help.   Focusing on this sleep experts voice can sometimes sooth you to sleep.

YouTube video

Quick Tips:

  • dip face in cold water every 30 seconds
  • wear socks to bed
  • clean your room and  have fresh sheets
  • take a warm shower or bath before bed
  • try and move around for 10 min and then go back to bed.
  • the smell of lavender helps calms your nerves for a better night sleep.
  • stretch your body before bed for 10 min
  • drink chamomile tea
  • focusing on breathing exercises
  • moving rooms
  • positive reassurance mantras “Its fine if you do not sleep, don’t stress its normal”
  • avoid watching movies that keep you up
  • exercise everyday to burn off any access energy
  • cutting out day time naps
  • do not eat big meals before you go to bed
  • lower stress levels