If your insomnia gets out of hand see a specialist! Chronic lack of sleep can have drastic consequences on your physical and mental health. This is nothing to play around with. For most of us though, lack of sleep comes in waves, and a few simple things can help significantly. I've tried to put together a little summary of what we can do to help ourselves.
1- Set a daily routine
Your internal clock regulates sleep based on cues it receives throughout the day. When you wake up, when you eat, when you nap, when you go to bed, etc. Setting a regular routine of when you do all of those things helps the body get conditioned to it, then it's ready to eat at meal time and to sleep at sleep time. Obviously we can't always be on time to the minute, but in general terms, you want to "keep regular hours" whatever is regular for you.
2- Mind the light
When light fades, the body produces melatonin, an hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. During active daylight you want to get as much light as you can, preferably natural light. That inhibits the production of melatonin which makes you more awake.
When night falls, the body needs to produce melatonin to induce sleep. Because of that it is important to reduce light exposure in the hour (or more) before bed time. That includes TV, computers, video games and other "back lit devices". Ideally, you want to avoid looking directly at any of those light sources before bedtime. For the same reason, you want to keep your bedroom as free of light as possible and use the lowest light possible if you need to get up at night.
3- Make your bedroom a sanctuary
Not only you want your bedroom to be dark at night, but you want it to be a peaceful place focused on calm and rest. Clutter can be very stressful so you want to keep your room clutter free. You also want to un clutter your mind! You bed should be a place for sleep (and sex but lets not go there) not a home theater, a snack bar, a video game station of even worse an office! Look around your bedroom and determine the "feel" of the room. Does it encourage peace and rest? It should! Note that studies are showing that a room on the cool side is better for sleep, that's pretty easy in SF about 360 days out of the year! HA!
4- Don't oversleep
Ok, so you didn't sleep last night, so you took a long night during the afternoon, and another one after dinner. Now it's 2 am and you've been staring at the clock for hours. Sounds familiar? A power nap can be a savior. Shutting down for 15-20 minutes can recharge your batteries for hours. Too much napping will simply re-energize you too much, and then you can't sleep during the night. That's fine one day, but long term you end up breaking your sleep routine. As we saw in #1, a routine keeps your internal clock timed right. Mess with your routine too much and that internal clock ends up having a nervous breakdown! ;op
5- Avoid energy boosters before bed
Working out, playing video games, watching a stressful movie, those are all things that can bring up the energy level (or anxiety level). This makes it more difficult to wind down enough to sleep.
Another way to boost the energy that we sometimes forget about is scents! Some scents tends to wake you up: Peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary, mint certainly come to mind. Other scents tend to slow us down and help us relax: lavender, chamomile, cypress. Knowing this, take a look at your beauty ritual and see what scents are in the products that you use. I have two completely different body washes and lotions for day use and evening use. One encourages me to wake up and feel energized, the other one calms me down and relax me.
6- Mind the distractions
I have no kids, but I do have 2 cats and a dog. What does that have to do with sleep you ask? Grace, my dog, use to sleep with us, cute right? Well the problem is that she would wake me up several times per night by moving around, growling at the neighbors, snoring (I am not kidding!) I had to ban her from the bed. For the same reason, I stopped petting the cats in the bed, they would decide it was petting time in the middle of the night. I can't ban them from the bed, but they know not to bother me when I'm sleeping now. Too bad my husband hasn't learned to show his authority! He he he
There are tons of other distractions that can keep you awake: a dripping faucet, a clock that ticks loudly, noise on the street. If you can't shut it all off, try white noises. I have an alarm clock that has several "natural white noises" like waves, the wind, and such things. The good thing about it is that it also has a sleep setting so it shuts off by itself after 90 minutes. You can also buy cds with such white noises.
7- Bedtime rituals
Beyond having a daily routine, you can set up a few bedtime rituals that tell body and mind that it's time to shut off:
- Read a book (or an E reader that isn't back-lit) by soft light.
- Take a warm bath (mind the scents).
- Engage in a low key hobby.
- Get everything ready to go for tomorrow.
- Practice relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, meditation.
I want to reiterate: if you have chronic insomnia, before you self medicate, seek help. Talk to your doctor, there are specialists out there who can help you solve this.
For most of us though, like anything else, getting your beauty sleep is just about thinking about it a little and making a few simple adjustments. The rewards are many, if you sleep enough you have the energy to do everything you need to get through your day, stay on plan, and enjoy yourself over it all. Sleep well my friends!
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