Do you have trouble sleeping? Do you fantasize that if only you could sleep better how great your life would be? Are you worried about your relationship, money, the mortgage, surviving? Does it keep you awake at night when all you want to do is figure out how to sleep better?
Insomnia has become epidemic in the population both here in the US and abroad. Living in today's fast paced, competative society has brought the stress level for many to the breaking point. Learning how to sleep better offers the benefit of not only resting the body and increasing health and wellbeing, but also allowing people to cope better and with more confidence in their daily lives.
Follow these ten steps and learn how to sleep better, deeper and longer and wake up with a smile on your face in the morning ready to take on whatever live throws in your path.
Step 1
Make sure your room is dark, as dark as you can make it and not be afraid of the boogie man. It may seem obvious, buy many people leave on a myriad of lights and electronics with small lights that keep the room in a state of twilight which does not support proper sleep. Melatonin is a substance produced in the brain that enhances sleep and helps us sleep better. Its highest concentration occurs in the blackest darkness. So the darker the better. If you can’t make the room darker, try a sleep mask.
Step 2
Remove as many electric appliances from your room as possible and you will be guaranteed to sleep better. That means the TV, clock radio, computers, electric blankets and heating pads, etc. Electromagnetic frequencies have been shown in studies to interfere with sleep. So learning how to sleep better outside the electromagnetic field will enhance health and wellbeing. Use a battery run alarm clock.
Step 3
Remove home offices from the bedroom please. The bedroom is for two things, one we are not discussing in this article and the other is for sleep. When your office is in your bedroom you unconsciously direct a part of your mental focus on work even if you have retired for the night. And the buzz of the computer, lights of the screen or little flashing lights on the side can distract you from what you are attempting to accomplish… how to sleep better!
Step 4
Lower the room temperature and keep it on the cool side. It’s healthier and easier to sleep better in cool air. If you get chilly, add an extra blanket. And for those of us who experience hot flashes in the night, keep a fan in the room that can be turned on and off if needed. Invest in a fan with a remote so you don’t have to get out of bed to turn it on or off.
Step 5
Benefit from research on how to sleep better by adding some white noise to muffle traffic noises and those annoying house noises and you will begin to sleep better right away. It's been shown that people sleep better with gentle white noise used to muffle house sounds and noise from outside. Try a small fan that has a soft whirring sound in the background but doesn’t interfere with your sleep.
Step 6
If you must have a night time snack before bed, eat at least an hour before you retire to allow you stomach to do the digesting while you are not trying to fall asleep. Your body wants to sleep better and rest when you lay it down in the bed and not work on digestion. If it’s digesting food, you will not sleep better and you might even have attacks of acid reflux during the night which can be painful and interrupt your sleep. And, if you do eat something make it toast and jam or cookies with warm milk. I eat a bowl of dry cereal and almond milk which is a perfect night time snack. The sugar in the carbohydrate will help to relax your system and add to your ability to fall asleep more easily. Studies have shown that warm milk helps the body to relax and release melatonin as well as endorphins and other chemicals to induce sleep and give a sense of well being. Your mama was on to something when you were little with that warm milk treat at bed time and she knew well how to sleep better with her nocturnal offerings. No hot cocoa please. Chocolate is a stimulant.
Step 7
Take your calcium supplements at bed time to sleep better, and not with magnesium. Calcium will help you relax and is a natural sleep aid when taken alone. Magnesium stimulates so take that in the morning. The best form of calcium to use is calcium citrate because it is the most easily metabolized. Take at least 1000 mg at bed time. Find this at Walmart and Target for the least expensive supply.
Step 8
Consume organic honey before bed. It's is a fabulous way to get your body to learn how to sleep better and is guaranteed to help you relax and sleep peacfully. High in potassium, it helps to alkalize and balance the entire system and your brain loves it. 1-2 teaspoons straight up in your mouth or mixed in a glass of water right before you go to bed will have you relaxed and sleeping in no time. Since there are so many different kinds of honey and in so many different flavors, you should be able to find something you like. If you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep, take another dollup of honey straight and you’ll sleep better in dream land shortly.
Step 9
Try herbal teas to help teach your body how to sleep better. Herbal formulas and teas to help you sleep better can be found in health food stores. If you resort to this method find one that contains valerian and/or chamomile, both being natural sedatives and relaxants. But be careful not to take too much of any herb. It can cause aggravations. If you find yourself agitated after taking the herbs, stop.
Step 10
Dim the lights in your house at least one hour before going to bed. And if you have to get up during the night keep then dimmed then too. Studies have shown that dimming the lights helps in the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and that we know will help you sleep better by maintaining a state whereby you're continueing to produce it even if you're half awake.
And last but not least, make sure your bed is comfortable, pillows offer the proper support and you have enough room in the bed to move around if you need to.
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Carolyn Dean MD, ND, author of numerous books including “The Magnesium Miracle” and Medical Director of the Nutritional Magnesium Association at nutrtionalmagnesium.org has this additional information to share that I thought you and your readers may find useful.
1. Feelings of nervousness, irritability and being unable to relax affect one's ability to sleep and are signs of needing magnesium. These feelings which are generally stress related have a biological effect which involves the influx of calcium into cells, resulting in a temporary, drastic change in the cells’ internal magnesium-to-calcium ratio. Normal cells at rest contain 10,000 times more magnesium than calcium. If the amount of cellular magnesium falls however, calcium flows into the cell when NOT required. Such an imbalance, puts the cell into a hyperactive state leading to nervousness, inability to relax and a hard time falling asleep.
2. Magnesium is the anti-stress mineral and is known as a sleep aid which has proven to alleviate stress, depression, anxiety and insomnia. One of the most absorbable forms of nutritional magnesium is magnesium citrate powder which can be taken with hot or cold water just before bedtime and can be found in most health food or vitamin stores.
3. An important study in 1995 showed that even marginal magnesium deficiency could induce the brain to become hyperexcitable, as shown by EEG measurements. The study lasted six months, with thirteen women ingesting a total of 115 milligrams of magnesium daily, only 30 percent of the RDA, for the
first three months, during which time their EEGs showed hyperexcitability. During the second three months, they received 315 mg daily—a little closer to the 360 mg RDA recommended for women. However, even on this low dose of magnesium (315 mg), it took only six weeks for EEG readings to show
significant improvement in brain function and decreased excitability.
4. Stress is so prevalent in our daily life that we have become desensitized to it and the message it is trying to give us, which is to slow down. Anxiety is a chemical reaction created when the adrenal glands respond to a stressful event, such as low blood sugar, by releasing adrenaline.
5. Hypoglycemia - When you are hungry or skip meals, you lower your blood sugar. The brain becomes extremely vulnerable to excitotoxins during episodes of low blood sugar or hypoglycemia. Pound for pound, the brain uses more blood sugar than any other part of the body. Low blood sugar occurs when you are malnourished or even when you skip meals. It also occurs in individuals whose adrenal glands are depleted and can’t mount the necessary adrenaline response to raise blood sugar when it gets too low. Magnesium is responsible for balancing blood sugar. With sufficient magnesium and balanced meals to prevent low blood sugar, you can protect yourself against anxiety and mood disorders. Supporting the brain as much as possible with safe nutrients and a safe environment, you may never need medications with their harmful side effects that are prescribed for these disorders.
For more information contact The Nutritional Magnesium Association at nutritionalmagnesium.org