Rose here...tonight I want to discuss how to fall asleep fast. Do you have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep? A lot of us lay in bed every night and worry about work and family issues. Stress is the number one cause why people can't relax and fall asleep. Here are a few tips and techniques to help you relax and fall asleep fast.
The number one thing to do before you go to bed is set up a nightly routine. A nightly routine will allow you to get into a mind set to fall asleep. Unwind in a warm bath filled with chamomile bath salts. Chamomile has been know to help those with insomnia. It makes not only a wonderful bath but a tea as well. If you don't like tea have a warm glass of milk, but don't drink too much before you go to bed or you will be getting up in the middle of the night to go.
There is a new product on the market that absorbs natural sleep aid ingredients into your system. It's not a pill, it's not a liquid, it's a toothpaste. Yes, PearlyDreams toothpaste is made with; passion flower extract, melatonin, valerian and balm mint all herbs known to have relaxing properties. As you know melatonin is produced in our pineal glands and regulates our sleep cycle. When we don't produce enough melatonin we have trouble falling asleep. Jet lag, working odd hours, too much light in your bedroom and age are factors that cause us to produce less melatonin.
Make sure your room is as sound proof as possible. If you are traveling sometimes this is hard to do. You might want to consider listening to sleep music, white noise or binaural sound waves. What is white noise? White noise is a neutral sound that will drown out external noises. A white noise machine is relatively inexpensive, but if you cant afford one a fan or the air conditioner will work just the same.
Have you ever tried a self-hypnotic tape for relaxation which uses repetitive suggestions, subliminal messages and deep breathing? Deep breathing is a great way to get you to relax because is slows down your heart rate. Take a deep breath until you see your entire torso expand and hold it for 10 seconds. Exhale counting backwards from 8-1, repeat 2 more times. Repetitive suggestions include tightening areas of your body while you are taking a deep breathe. Keep the area tense for ten seconds. As you exhale slowly release the tension. A self-hypnotic tape or CD is good for two reasons; one it helps you relax and two it keeps your mind off stressful matters allowing you to fall asleep faster. Not a fan of hypnosis? Then meditation will also help you to fall asleep by lowering your heart rate. Concentrate on a single word and repeat it over and over matching your breathing pattern or heart beat. Gradually say the word slower and slower and eventually you will fall asleep.
Other suggestions to prepare for sleep try reading, writing or anything that will get your mind off whatever you are stressing about. Make sure you are not in restrictive clothing. Anything that is too tight will not move with you when you turn over. I feel loose fitting pajamas are easier to sleep in than a nightgown that is sometimes tighter around the shoulders and rides up during the night.
Lets talk about your mattress..do you feel the coils, sink to the middle and wake up will a back ache? You want a new mattress but due to the economy it doesn't fit into your budget. A memory foam mattress pad topper with a terry cloth cover will allow even distribution of your weight by alleviating your pressure points so you wake up without aches or pains. A common complaint about a memory foam mattress pad topper is that it holds in body heat and become too soft. A terry cloth cover eliminates that problem by allowing air to flow between you and the mattress keeping you cooler. It is recommended to keep your room temperature 65 or less, don't pile on the blankets and keep the pets off the bed. They not only will add additional heat, they also disturb your sleep. Your bed is a haven used only for sleep and sex. No TV, No food and No video games in your bed. How can you sleep with crumbs?
Now you are ready for sleep and as you drift off I don't know if you have ever noticed but your mind will remember your last dream. Even though it is fleeting, it might remind you enough for you to remember more of it. These dreams are called lucid dreams. They are the conscious dreams you have when you are in between a sleep and a wake state. When you are having a hard time falling asleep remind yourself that sleep means lucid dreaming and your subconscious mind will make sure when remembering your dream that you will get to sleep fast. When you wake up in the morning you might want to keep a dream or sleep journal. As time goes by your mind will remember more and more of your dreams. In your journal you can also keep track of how long it takes you to fall asleep and what you did to fall asleep faster.
In closing I just want to talk about one more thing...naps. Do you find yourself taking a three or four hour nap in the afternoon then staying up til 3 or 4 in the morning because you weren't tired when it was a decent bedtime. Now you have to get up at 7am and go to work feeling restless and mad at yourself but you take another nap again that afternoon? You've gotten yourself into a terrible sleeping pattern, if you are going to nap have a 'power nap' of only 15 to 20 minutes. You will still wake up refreshed, but most of all you will be able to adhere to your nightly routine and wake up in the morning ready to take on the world! This is Off the Kuff with the Kuffner Twins Rose and Kitty - 30196
The number one thing to do before you go to bed is set up a nightly routine. A nightly routine will allow you to get into a mind set to fall asleep. Unwind in a warm bath filled with chamomile bath salts. Chamomile has been know to help those with insomnia. It makes not only a wonderful bath but a tea as well. If you don't like tea have a warm glass of milk, but don't drink too much before you go to bed or you will be getting up in the middle of the night to go.
There is a new product on the market that absorbs natural sleep aid ingredients into your system. It's not a pill, it's not a liquid, it's a toothpaste. Yes, PearlyDreams toothpaste is made with; passion flower extract, melatonin, valerian and balm mint all herbs known to have relaxing properties. As you know melatonin is produced in our pineal glands and regulates our sleep cycle. When we don't produce enough melatonin we have trouble falling asleep. Jet lag, working odd hours, too much light in your bedroom and age are factors that cause us to produce less melatonin.
Make sure your room is as sound proof as possible. If you are traveling sometimes this is hard to do. You might want to consider listening to sleep music, white noise or binaural sound waves. What is white noise? White noise is a neutral sound that will drown out external noises. A white noise machine is relatively inexpensive, but if you cant afford one a fan or the air conditioner will work just the same.
Have you ever tried a self-hypnotic tape for relaxation which uses repetitive suggestions, subliminal messages and deep breathing? Deep breathing is a great way to get you to relax because is slows down your heart rate. Take a deep breath until you see your entire torso expand and hold it for 10 seconds. Exhale counting backwards from 8-1, repeat 2 more times. Repetitive suggestions include tightening areas of your body while you are taking a deep breathe. Keep the area tense for ten seconds. As you exhale slowly release the tension. A self-hypnotic tape or CD is good for two reasons; one it helps you relax and two it keeps your mind off stressful matters allowing you to fall asleep faster. Not a fan of hypnosis? Then meditation will also help you to fall asleep by lowering your heart rate. Concentrate on a single word and repeat it over and over matching your breathing pattern or heart beat. Gradually say the word slower and slower and eventually you will fall asleep.
Other suggestions to prepare for sleep try reading, writing or anything that will get your mind off whatever you are stressing about. Make sure you are not in restrictive clothing. Anything that is too tight will not move with you when you turn over. I feel loose fitting pajamas are easier to sleep in than a nightgown that is sometimes tighter around the shoulders and rides up during the night.
Lets talk about your mattress..do you feel the coils, sink to the middle and wake up will a back ache? You want a new mattress but due to the economy it doesn't fit into your budget. A memory foam mattress pad topper with a terry cloth cover will allow even distribution of your weight by alleviating your pressure points so you wake up without aches or pains. A common complaint about a memory foam mattress pad topper is that it holds in body heat and become too soft. A terry cloth cover eliminates that problem by allowing air to flow between you and the mattress keeping you cooler. It is recommended to keep your room temperature 65 or less, don't pile on the blankets and keep the pets off the bed. They not only will add additional heat, they also disturb your sleep. Your bed is a haven used only for sleep and sex. No TV, No food and No video games in your bed. How can you sleep with crumbs?
Now you are ready for sleep and as you drift off I don't know if you have ever noticed but your mind will remember your last dream. Even though it is fleeting, it might remind you enough for you to remember more of it. These dreams are called lucid dreams. They are the conscious dreams you have when you are in between a sleep and a wake state. When you are having a hard time falling asleep remind yourself that sleep means lucid dreaming and your subconscious mind will make sure when remembering your dream that you will get to sleep fast. When you wake up in the morning you might want to keep a dream or sleep journal. As time goes by your mind will remember more and more of your dreams. In your journal you can also keep track of how long it takes you to fall asleep and what you did to fall asleep faster.
In closing I just want to talk about one more thing...naps. Do you find yourself taking a three or four hour nap in the afternoon then staying up til 3 or 4 in the morning because you weren't tired when it was a decent bedtime. Now you have to get up at 7am and go to work feeling restless and mad at yourself but you take another nap again that afternoon? You've gotten yourself into a terrible sleeping pattern, if you are going to nap have a 'power nap' of only 15 to 20 minutes. You will still wake up refreshed, but most of all you will be able to adhere to your nightly routine and wake up in the morning ready to take on the world! This is Off the Kuff with the Kuffner Twins Rose and Kitty - 30196
