Healthy Sleep

Many of us experience the occasional night of sleeplessness without any consequences.  It is when the occasional night here and there becomes a pattern of several nights in a row that you are faced with a sleeping problem. 

Repeated loss of sleep affects all areas of your life: The physical, the mental, and the emotional. Sleep deprivation can affect your overall daily performance and may even have an effect on your personality. 
If your insomnia continues for a long period of time it can cause problems in your relationships, compromise your productivity, and perhaps lead to other health problems. Here is your help.

It can become a relentless cycle of worry and anxiety as night after night you toss and turn, wondering when sleep will come, wondering what is wrong with you. Insomnia and sleeplessness generally fall into three categories:

• "Initial" insomnia: where you have difficulty in falling asleep, generally taking 30 minutes or longer to fall into a sleep state.
• "Middle" insomnia: where after falling asleep you have problems maintaining a sleep state, often remaining awake until the early morning hours.
• "Late" or "Terminal" insomnia: where you awake early in the morning after less than 6 hours of sleep.

Your goal should be to establish a regular sleep schedule.  Wake up each morning at the same time and try not to oversleep.  Sleeping longer in the morning will only make you feel groggy and disoriented. Sleep experts believe that you should get an average of seven to eight hours of sleep each night.  You can’t make up for sleep that you lose during the night by sleeping in later in the morning. 

After establishing a consistent bedtime routine it is important to create a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere in your bedroom.  The more cozy and harmonic your bedroom is the more relaxed you will feel. To promote and achieve natural sleep you should take into consideration the conditions of your bed, bedding, and sleeping clothing. Music and sound are excellent resources in the quest for sleep and relaxation. 

The amount of physical activity that you expend during the day is a key ingredient to helping you sleep restfully at night.  The more active your body is during the day the more likely you are able to relax fully at night and fall asleep easily. Meditation is a proven technique to encourage and promote relaxation. The more relaxed you are as you get ready for bed the better your chances of falling into a deep, restful sleep cycle. It is important that you learn to put your stress, tensions, and worries to the side before you fall asleep.

What you eat during the day and evening can affect your sleeping patterns.  If your diet consists of a high amount of processed foods you may want to try eating more wholesome products. You may want to eliminate, reduce, or substitute the amount of sugars, fats, and preservatives from your daily intake of food.  This may benefit your ability to fall asleep at night as well as improve your general health.