Are over the counter sleep aids right for you? Millions of people worldwide struggle with insomnia and sleeplessness. Many of them turn to over the counter sleep medications and prescription drugs like Lunesta and Ambien to help them sleep. Some of these products do work, but often times there is a price to pay with side effects and sometimes dependency.
Unlike most things in life where we have a choice, sleep is not one of them. Everyone needs sleep. Often times insomnia or sleeplessness is caused because the mind is not settled. With deadlines to meet, bills to pay, kids to watch, and other stresses of life, we often times carry these burdens to bed with us and it’s difficult to turn them off. Below we offer a few tips on ways to greatly improve your chances of getting a good nights rest using natural sleep aids.
1. Try hypnosis. Hypnosis is a very powerful tool that can help you learn to adapt to the stresses of life, clear up existing anxieties, and give you ways to looking at the world from a different perspective. WARNING: Not all hypnosis programs are created equal. We highly recommend this program.
2. No reading or watching TV before bed. You want to avoid anything that stimulates the mind before sleeping. Watching the news or reading a novel will not help you relax.
3. Keep the temperature in your room cool. A cool stable temperature helps the body relax. Try keeping the temperature of your room to below 70 degrees F.
4. Put your thoughts down on paper. If you have difficulty sleeping because your mind is racing, try journaling. Empty your mind by putting the things that are bothering you down on paper. After you have finished, continue writing about all the things that you are grateful for. This shifts your state of mind and helps you to focus on the positive instead of the negative. It is much easier to fall asleep with a positive frame of mind than a negative one.
5. Focus on deep breathing. Lay on your back with your hands to the side. Do not use a pillow. Now relax your entire body. Take deep slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Breath slowly and deeply into your abdomen and then slowly out. Focus your attention on each breath. Your job is to count each breath. If you lose count you must start over again. See if you don’t fall asleep with this method.
6. Go to sleep at the same time every day. Sleeping at the same time every day even on weekends helps to keep the body in a rhythm. It is also important to arise at the same time as well. Resist the temptation to “catch up” with sleep on the weekends. It does not work. Instead go to bed a little earlier on work days to keep your body on a schedule.
7. Create a very dark sleep environment. Light disrupts the amount of melatonin your body produces. Melatonin is a hormone that helps control your sleep and wake cycles. Just a small amount of light can cease the production of melatonin in your pineal gland. Keeping your room completely dark will help keep melatonin levels high.
8. Supplement with Melatonin. If these natural ways do not work, supplementing with the over the counter sleep aid Melatonin may improve your sleep.
More Tips for Getting a Better Night’s Sleep
We can never underestimate the harm that sleep deprivation can do to us. Or the benefits that a good restful sleep can bring. Waking up refreshed in the morning after a good night’s sleep give us the energy to do the things that things that need to be done with a lively step and a cheerful mood.
For many people, getting enough restful sleep is always a struggle. Longer hours are spent tossing and turning, desperately trying to catch the elusive sleep. Many factors make sleep difficult to achieve, such as thoughts of work, household responsibilities, financial worries, relationship issues, and the like. If only sleeplessness can be cured by a single safe sleeping pill, this pill would be a guaranteed bestseller.
Though we may not be able to control or eliminate the factors that affect us and prevent us from getting a good night’s sleep, we can try to practice some habits that could encourage a more restful sleep. Since man is a creature of habit, perhaps the following bed habits could help:
- Take a warm bath. A warm bath relaxes the body but do not over do it, just enough to relax your body but not too long to exhaust it.
- Waking up and sleeping at the same time everyday, even during weekends. Having a schedule and sticking to it helps establish and regulate our sleep-wake cycle .
- Eat lightly before going to sleep but don’t go to bed hungry. A heavy meal before sleeping causes the body’s system to actively digest the food and interferes with the body’s desire to relax and sleep.
- Have a relaxing bedtime routine. Doing the same thing everyday prior to sleeping tells your mind and body that it is time for sleeping. Just do simple routines like taking a warm bath, drinking milk, reading a book or listening to soothing music.
- Sleep in a bed with a comfortable mattress and pillow. As much as possible, sleep in your usual bed with the comforts that you are used to.
- Quiet your mind. Empty your mind of the worries of the day by jotting them down on paper, preparing to-do lists and preparing your clothes for the following day. Worries trigger chemicals in our brain that make us constantly alert and ready.
- Designate your bed only for sleeping. Avoid doing work in bed. Our minds should associate the bed with relaxation and sleep.
- Keep the sleeping area at a comfortable temperature. Cooler is always better than warmer. Keeping the temperature at your usual setting that induces sleep.
- When you wake up in the middle of sleep, do not look at the clock. It is best not to use illuminated bedroom clocks. This way, you cannot check the time right away and feel anxious about it.
- Avoid bright lights before going to bed. The brighter the light is, the more the body feels awake.
Remember that a good sleep is possible, with a little more effort and practice; we could all possibly have a good night’s sleep.
