Any sleeping tips?!
Question: i've been taking over the counter sleeping pills, but i don't really want to do so anymore. are there any other, more natural ways, that you've used and work for you?
Answers: i've been taking over the counter sleeping pills, but i don't really want to do so anymore. are there any other, more natural ways, that you've used and work for you?
There are natural treatments for insomnia that are both effective and practical. You can try following some of these tips if you are suffering from sleeplessness or difficulty in sleeping three times per week or more. Remember, adequate sleep is vital to keep the mind and body refreshed for the day ahead. Enough sleep can result to better performance in school or in the office, endurance to last the day and more energy for other activities.
Bedroom modification is one of the natural treatments for insomnia. Check out the condition of your bedroom. Is it suitable for sleep and relaxation? Is it too noisy or cluttered? Is it filled with things that tend to stimulate your mind and thus keeping you awake? Then take away all the things that distract you from falling asleep. Create a relaxing ambiance. Play relaxing music, nature sounds or soft lullabies that can drown out any distracting noise. Turn your room exclusively for rest and sleep.
It has been found that lavender can relax the body and stimulate sleep. It is one of the natural treatments for insomnia. Prior to going to bed, take a relaxing warm bath using lavender-infused or lavender scented body wash. Lavender scented soaps and shower creams are appropriate for bedtime baths. Or, you may spray lavender scented room spray in your bedroom. Lavender scented essential oils are also effective in treating insomnia naturally.
Chamomile teas have a relaxing effect to the body. Drinking a warm cup of chamomile tea at least 30 minutes before bedtime is one of the natural treatments for insomnia. It has been proven to relax the mind and body for a peaceful slumber.
If you tend to think a lot during bedtime and this mind-work keeps you from falling asleep, then allocate a few minutes prior to bedtime specific for thinking. This is probably one of the most effective natural treatments for insomnia as thinking is usually what keeps the mind active and awake.
Get a pen and paper and create an organized list of all the things you need to do, everything that keeps your mind occupied and the tasks that you should not forget based on priority. Keeping things listed will save you from thinking on and on knowing that you cannot possibly miss out on something because you are keeping a record.
Write down your worries. This is actually one of the natural treatments for insomnia. Writing down your worries and feelings reduces the weight in your mind. Writing serves as an outlet. By the time you decide to sleep, you have unloaded a lot of stuff from your mind. This will enable you to fall asleep much more easily. Following these simple, practical and natural but effective treatments for insomnia can help you achieve a state of relaxation that will enable you to peacefully sleep and rest.
Have a cup of sleepy tea, non - caffieninated.
Breathe rhythmically and deeply. Counting them helps too.
Read before bed.
Practice yoga before bed.
Take a warm bath.
A glass of wine before bed helps me.
A beer works too I suppose.
These are a few things my mother used to tell me when i was younger:
1. The warm milk- but it tastes really gross
2. sit on a clothes dryer. apparently, the heat is supposed to help
3. do not eat 1 hour before going to bed. Also, keep food out of your bedroom.
4. Close your eyes and count backwards from 100- this never worked for me, but it may help.
5. read a phonebook. I ALWAYS do this, it puts me to sleep in a matter of minutes.
stopping the over the counter pills may not have been too smart. Consult your doctor before stopping any medication. Also talk to your doctor about your sleep problems. It may be more serious than you thought, and you may have a disorder such as Insomnia.
Cheers,
I have the perfect "cocktail" for you. 100 mg.5htp, 500 mg GABA & 3 mg. meletonin. I take this EVERY night and sleep like a rock. You should try it. It works. You can get these products online or at any good supplement store. There is a mail order company that sells really good supplements. They have a product called sleep link that also works well. You can check out the link below (no - it is not a network marketing company - just a company that I buy through)
https://secure25.securewebsession.com/pa...
Warm milk
Sleep with a fan, it keeps the mind from racing.
Read. Drink warm milk. Don't watch TV or be on the computer right before bed, the light from that is bad, it makes you wake up more.
Here are some good websites to get some tips to try:
http://www.mercola.com/article/sleep.htm
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/for...
http://ask.metafilter.com/46856/How-can-...
http://www.to-done.com/2006/01/tips-for-...
- Write down a "to do" list so you won't keep worrying about things. Have a notepad beside your bed so you can jot down things if they keep you up at night.
- Don't excercise within a few hours before bed, but make sure you do get some exercise during the day.
- Try for a few days to avoid excess sugar, or any amount of caffeine or alcohol. This really helps.
- Try taking magnesium/calcium supplements
- Don't lie in bed if you can't sleep. You start to associate being in bed with not sleeping. Get up and do something else quiet like reading, but in another room
- You can try taking valerian root from time to time, but like OTC sleeping pills, try not to make this a habit.
- Make sure you're at a comfortable temperature/level of darkness. A sleeping mask might help.
- Make sure the room isn't too noisy. Ear plugs may help. But if these aren't enough, try using a fan or radio to block out other noises.
- Most importantly, try working on your attitude towards sleeping. You may have trouble sleeping for a few nights because of worrying about something/excitement/whatever- but just don't let this worrying turn into worry about not sleeping- it makes the problem so much worse!!!
Hope this helps! I've had sleeping troubles too..
The following breathing technique may be helpful:
Lay in a comfortable position inhale deeply filling your lungs raising your abdomen counting to 4, hold the breath counting to 7, exhale slowly counting to 8 expel all the air by drawing in your abdomen. Do this 3 times and repeat if necessary. Sweet Dreams!
Good suggestions here, including the wine. Not sure about the sitting on the dryer. But, wanted to ditto chamomile tea. That is a really good thing to do. Add a bit of honey or stevia to sweeten.
AVOID caffeine and refined sugars during the day as the mess the clock up. Also avoid artificial sweeteners which are hard on the kidneys and will make the body work hard and not be able to relax to sleep.
Melatonin is a natural sleep aid. It is normally produced by the body, but can be taken as a supplement. Taking melatonin is a trial and error thing at first, to find just the right amount for you. Start with the smallest dose. Do not do dime release. Up the dose until you get a restful sleep. Too much melatonin will have the opposite effect. At first, it will seem like just another sleeping pill. But, after taking the right amount for a while, it should help reset your body's clock so you can stop taking it and go back to normal sleep.
Low light, no stress, no eating, no exercise within 3 hours of bedtime will help.
The best thing I've done to improve my sleep is start taking milk thistle - about 750 mg - before bed. It is a liver support, and your liver works while you sleep. So, if it is having troubles or working too hard, it wakes you. I was having very restless nights until I added milk thistle.
You could try Relora or Melatonin which are more natural. Buy a quality brand however--you can research different brands at http://www.nutritionaltree.com.
try working out - that will fatigue your body it really works..
don't drink caffeine at all.
Don't have too much sugar during the day
drink a glass of milk before you go to sleep
A lot of these answers really dont make sense. write down your worries? Seriously... look.. i know one technique that works for me as i have a lot of trouble falling asleep as well. If you are able to keep still and keep your eyes closed and count to 600 you will be asleep. Yes i know it sounds like its gonna take forever, but simply find a comfortable position and close your eyes and then count to 600. Works like a charm. If you move or open your eyes you have to start over. This is much better than rolling around in bed thinking about random stuff, you will fall asleep 100x faster with my method.
This is one I made up, and it works for me:
Try to count how many deep breaths you can take before you fall asleep. Not just short breaths, but deep, long breaths. Count in your mind as you go. You will find that as you relax your lungs do not expand as much and they eventually become normal relaxed breaths. I never get very far before I fall asleep.
have found that I have a lot on my mind when I can't fall asleep - turning the tv to a non-channel for "white noise" on sleep timer for 45 minutes has me waking in the morning with the tv off. also, a small fountain helps in much the same way, kind of breaking the thought process that is going on.