Hi all, I can’t bloody sleep. I need some sleep - I’m doing an MA and in every class I’m a drooling nimrod who can’t put a sentence together cause I’m bagged. So far I’ve tried:
Reading.
Counting sheep, or whatever.
Sleeping pills.
Marijuana (I hate marijuana).
Other ideas, anyone?
Have you made sure you don’t drink anything caffeinated at least 6 hours before you go to sleep? That you don’t eat meals or snack at least 3 hours before? Don’t do things like read or watch TV in bed – try to condition your body that “bed” means “sleep”.
Failing that – warm milk?
clean sheets. nicely made bed. warm shower til you get drowsy. then snggly in.
oh. and don’t hang out on the boards when you need sleep. it’s addictive.
Or you should hang out on the boards, till you get sleepy! And then just hop right in the sack.
Funny thing, but the time you get up in the morning affects the time your body decides it’s sleepy-time. At least, that’s what I was told many years ago when I took part in a sleep study at a Boston medical institute. You should get up at around the same time each mornng, no matter how few hours’ sleep you got the night before.
Ice Wolf’s suggestions are all things that are very helpful, too – especially conditioning your body to equate bed with sleep. If you can go to bed at around the same time each night, it’s also helpful.
If you can’t fall asleep after, say, 15 minutes, get up, leave your bedroom, and do something quiet, like read a dull book for about that amount of time, or until you feel drowsy. Then go back to bed. Repeat as needed, without whipping yourself into a worried frenzy over it. It will probably take a bit of time to retrain yourself.
Also, if you can squeeze in a short (20-30 minutes) nap at your low point in midday, it will amazingly refresh you. But a long nap will screw up your getting to sleep that night.
EddyTeddyFreddy is right on about sleep patterns. Regularity is important. This is why “jet lag” affects people so much – me in particular! I’m not someone who has ever had trouble sleeping, but anytime I go overseas, it takes me several days to adjust my body to sleeping properly on local time, and until that happens I sleep quite poorly.
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Originally posted by thumbupmybumQUOTE]
There’s yer problem right there 
This is a yoga technique I learned many moons ago.
Lay flat on your back, and make sure as much of the back side of your body contacts the mattress as possible. Close your mouth and breathe slowly through your nostrils. Breathe in slowly until your lungs are full, then breathe out the same way until your lungs empty. Do this about 5 times.
Next, close your right nostril with your finger and breathe in through your left nostril. Breathe out through your left nostril. Close your left nostril and breathe in and out through your right. Close your right nostril, breathe in through your left, then breathe out through your right. Close your left nostril, breathe in through your right, then breathe out through your left.
This relaxes your circulatory system and slows your heart rate. Next, relax your muscles.
Lie flat on you rmattress as you did before. Bend your toes as far as you can, then slowly relax them. Do the same for the arches of your feet. Then your ankles. Then your calves.
Keep doing this method to each muscle group, slowly going up your body. Neck. Face muscles. Then the top of your head. This has the effect of squeezing out the tenseness of your body out the top of your head. Repeat if necessary.
Yes, it sounds like a lot of work, but it only takes about 5-10 minutes. What else have you got to do if you can’t sleep?