It’s 2:00 am in the morning and you’re awake wondering if you’ll ever sleep again! You lie on the bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. You close your eyes. Nothing. You can not sleep. You roll over, hit the pillow, and take a deep breath. You close your eyes again. Nothing; now what?
If this scenario seems to match your nightly routine, you need these tips. First, get up! Get up, get out and move.
Of course, this sounds like it would be doing the opposite of what you’re actually trying to achieve, but in reality, it’s getting your mind moving. If you get your mind going again, it’s like you’re awake again. Once you’re awake, your mind will start to slow down until you eventually feel tired again and can fall asleep… again.
When you get up, it’s also important that you don’t turn on bright lights or do anything that requires too much brain power (school or work related things). Instead, turn on a dim lamp and read an uneventful book (one you’ve previously read or even a manual).
Don’t turn on the TV either. It could overstimulate your brain and wake you up too much. Try turning on the radio instead. Definitely don’t get on the computer… the blue light from the screen can definitely perk up your brain and there goes another sleepy night.
Other tips for insomnia are to practice meditation or visualization. Imagine something repetitive, like sheep jumping over a fence over and over again. This prevents your brain from wandering and you will eventually fall back to sleep.
If that doesn’t work, another tip for insomnia is to have a light snack. Sometimes if you’re hungry, your stomach will keep waking you up until you give in to its desire to eat. Are there foods that can help reduce insomnia?
Yeah!
It will help if you eat something that contains the natural reagent serotonin; such as milk, fruit, crackers, turkey, peanuts, or other types of nuts. It’s much easier to fall asleep with something in your stomach.
If that still doesn’t work, try going to bed later. There’s nothing worse than forcing yourself to be tired, when you clearly aren’t. So go ahead, stay up a little later, but do something to “chill out” like yoga or light reading.
If none of these suggestions for getting back to sleep work, then your last hope would be to adjust the temperature in your bedroom. If your body is too hot, you will wake up to take the covers off or something, but at the same time, if it is too cold, you might wake up with chills; enough to keep you awake for many hours. So go find a blanket, turn on a fan, or reset your thermostat.
Take a deep breath. Chill out.
Going back to sleep doesn’t have to be difficult; It’s as easy as closing your eyes.