Sleeplessness or insomnia

Occasional insomnia strikes almost every one at some point in life. A frequent cause is stress or nervous tension associated with work, money, or family problems. If your sleep loss is habitual the following suggestions are needed to help get a good night's sleep.

Develop a series of personal nighttime rituals and regular practices of facilitating sleep. Sleep can't be willed; it must be coaxed. One trick for courting sleep is to work up to it every night by following a nighttime ritual. The ritual can be of various types. Take steps that will make signals to your body that sleep is next. This allows you to start relaxing even before you actually go to bed. Include you family or mate in your regular bedtime routine. Your ritual may involve a warm bath, meditation, light stretching, stargazing, or just brushing your teeth. Whatever the series of acts, when a ritual becomes regular, most people find that it allows sleep to come much more easily. So your ritual should be customized for your personality and tastes, but some steps are more appropriate than others. For instance, don't do things right before bedtime that increase alertness. Many people find too stimulating such things as watching television news, reading scary literature, and performing aerobic exercises.

Exercise earlier in the day, on the other hand, promotes restful sleep. Relaxing activities may include reading, needlework, or playing a musical instrument. Most sleep experts agree that it is best to use your bed only for sleeping, so that your body associates lying in bed with slumber, not watching television or reading. Also, lie down to sleep only when you are actually feeling sleepy. Finally, extend your sleep ritual to the morning by getting up at the same time everyday regardless of how much sleep you get at night. Like wise, try to eat dinner at the same time each night to help regulate the body's internal clock. Over a period of time these steps will help your sleep to become more regular.

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