Try a really hot shower before bed time. I once read that the body natually cools down to induce/during sleep. Thus artifically sending body temp through the roof and letting it come back down to room temp is a nice way to circumvent typical sleep inducing patterns.
That, however, is a pre-emptive strike. Personally, if I’m up and can’t get to sleep, I try to focus on my breathing and lull myself off. I give myself five min. If that doesn’t work, I say screw it, start working, and figure I’ll sleep later.
Usually the only reason I can’t sleep is cuz I’m worrying about tomorrow and stuff I have to do. I make myself a list and put it on my desk, then figure that since I have a plan, I don’t have to think about it anymore, then go to sleep.
A nice hot bath and a glass of wine always helps me sleep.
Actually a drink always helps me sleep. I never sleep well if I drink heavily. But I have found that just one drink before bed just relaxes my mind enough that I can stop worrying about things. Also, one drink doesn’t give me that heavy eyed can’t quite wake up in the morning feeling that over the counter sleeping pills do.
Physical exercise during the day definitely helps. My routine as of late is to go to the gym and swim for about a half hour around 9 p.m. Then I sit in the whirlpool for 10 minutes before going to the sauna for another 10 minutes. I shower off and head home. I read for a bit and then I’m sound asleep and don’t recall a thing until morning. It’s great.
I read to go to sleep most nights. on nights where I have traveled and forgotten to tke a book, I usually end up tossing and turning.
But the book that will put me out everytime, no Q’s asked is the King James Bible. With the thee’s and thou’s and words one can’t pronounce, it’s enough to make one’s brain just go “ENOUGH ALREADY!” and shutdown for pure spite.
Combine that with The Home Shopping channel and it’s nighty-Night.
Kava Kava chips boiled in water. I boil about an ounce in 4 cups of water and bottle it. I put a spoonful or two in a cup of sleepy time tea and I am out. Boil it until the water is brown and dont take to much or you will feel like you ate 2 valiums!
Tiburon hit the nail on the head, at least for me. I started working out a few weeks ago, and because of my schedule, I ususlly start at around 10:00 PM. (College studeny.) I go to sleep fairly well and wake up feeling refreshed.
No, believe me you have a point, alex_arg. What alex_arg is trying to intimate is that after you’ve had a good rolling-hand-flick you do feel this sudden “silkiness” come over you. Trust me, it works. Thank alex_arg for pointing it out. You’re real swell alex_arg. I hope things work out for alex_arg and his/her “slippery” hands.
If you can get your hands on one, try and find a girl. Seriously, nothing beats getting it on when it comes to giving you a good nights rest afterwards. Also, try and get pent-up before hand (so don’t do it for a long time). This “sudden” release of energy is just what you need.
Once again, thank alex_arg for his/her brilliant advice.
I am firmly in the very hot bath camp. As a matter of fact, I have a bath almost every night before I go to bed. On top of the relaxation, the heat, and the mental winding-down by reading, I’ve made it a routine. It’s become the signal to my body that it’s bedtime.
Jeez. Hey, after sex you sleep right? Nice, peaceful rest right? So, if I can’t sleep, and this is mostly on weeknights, and on weeknights it probably at home, with my parents, with no girl next to me. So yeah, I do it. I sleep well, thank you very much. And i doubt my sex life is of any interest to you sir.
XJetgirlX and FisherQueen, and anyone else with chronic sleep probs for that matter, have you looked into bright light therapy/light boxes? I was in an NIH study on DSPS, delayed sleep phase syndrome, and they recommended that. I just ordered one, should get it in a few days. Proven effective by very credible sources, for SAD, sleep, and a growing list of things. Insurance often covers it these days too.
Also, a prescription drug that can be taken every night without the risk of addiction of sedatives is trazodone. That’s pretty much because it wasn’t created to induce sleep; the fact that it does is a side effect to its actual purpose that some people DON’T want.
(So! Here I am at 2:20 a.m. to tell YOU what works! Well, I just feel compelled to stay up a lot of the time and don’t employ my tips as I should.)
Oh, and about working out within three hours of when you want to be asleep: That is usually at the top of lists of what NOT to do if you have trouble sleeping, although apparently it works for some of you here.
