How to Have Your Best Sleep Ever … Part One
How to fall asleep faster, stay asleep and wake up refreshed is a frequently asked question. Most people have troublesome sleep habits sometime in their life. I spent many hours searching my files and library to create this exhaustive article which reveals many tips and methods to help most anyone with this challenge. Different methods will be needed by different people. You have many here to choose. Feel free to share this helpful information with your friends and relatives. Many people (with physician approval) end sleeping pill usage with the help of these natural methods.
Why sleep? Sleep is a time for skin repair and rejuvenation; to repair changes caused by stress in everyday life. Check with your physician to rule out any serious medical conditions. Also discuss any medications you are taking with your physician and pharmacist so you are aware of any potential side effects that could affect your sleep. If you have insomnia over a month, you should see your physician for a proper assessment.
Tips for your best sleep ever!
- Have a dark (use curtains, blinds), quiet, comfortable place to sleep. If needed, use custom ear plugs and a sleep mask (at Dollarama stores). These really make a difference.
- Get daily sunlight, moderate exercise in the morning or early afternoon (no vigorous exercise near sleep time). Exercise will relieve stress. (Recommended: My Enjoy Exercise (motivation) hypnosis CD.
- Turn your clock around so you do not keep looking at the time.
- Do not drink caffeine (coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, cocoa, tea) past mid-afternoon. Caffeine is a big cause of restless leg syndrome. In children, it may cause restless legs or attention deficit disorder, ADD. Restless leg syndrome can cause awakening in the middle of the night and difficulty falling back asleep. About 10% have iron, calcium, magnesium deficiencies or a thyroid problem.
- Don’t drink much alcohol, especially in the evening. Drinking alcohol may make it easier to fall asleep, but even one or two drinks tends to disrupt sleep after a couple of hours.
- Do not oversleep. British research by Dr. Cappuccio and his colleagues found there was a higher mortality rate in people who slept more than 9 hours. He says “consistently sleeping around seven hours per night is optimal for health.” Less than 5 hours sleep is extremely unhealthy.
- Eat less sugar and refined carbohydrates (Recommended: My Stop Sugar Addiction hypnosis CD Be aware that sugar is gasoline for cancer and many other diseases. Don’t be a sugaraholic.
- Do not eat spicy food 3-4 hours before bed time.
- Room should be a comfortable temperature and well ventilated with a fresh air supply.
- Relax before sleep: Avoid stimulating TV, or work-related material, excitement, hard work or stress before sleep. Read this before sleep: “There is nothing to do right now: No problems to solve, no other place to be. This is my “me time”, my better health time. Nothing is more important than my health because everything else that I do depends upon my health. Anything I do will be done better after a good sleep. As I climb into bed, all my concerns and challenges dissolve.”
- When you sleep, your mind processes the day’s happenings. When you wake up, you may have the solution to your concern or challenge that you had the night before. Your subconscious mind never sleeps and is always looking after you. Trust your subconscious mind.
- Avoid nicotine and smoking, especially 4 hours before bed time. Smoking close to bed time or at night can disrupt sleep. (Recommended: My Stop Smoking hypnosis DVD’s or CD’s)
- Have a relaxing massage, self-massage or trade a massage with your partner.
- Avoid day napping if possible. If needed, do self-hypnosis power napping to refresh and to increase your concentration. Aim for napping of less than 30 minutes. Lack of alertness can cause accidents. (Recommended: My Self-hypnosis or Mind Power Seminar CD’s:)
- Avoid excessive liquid a few hours before sleep or you may have several middle of the night bathroom visits.
- Use the bed only for sleep and sexual activity. A bed should not be associated with an all activity area.
- Have a warm bath, do light stretching and/or listen to relaxing music before sleep. Epsom salts in the bath before sleep can relax the muscles and calm the nerves.
- Before going to sleep mix warm sesame oil in hot water and then give yourself a foot massage with the oil. Be sure to cover your feet in heavy socks to protect the sheets.
- Aromatherapy, lavender as a drop on your pillow, temples, or bottom of feet can improve sleep for many people.
- If pain interferes with sleep, see your physician. (My Pain Control hypnosis CD’s may also help.
- Do you have a comfortable mattress and pillow?
- Switch off electronic devices such as computers at least one hour before bedtime to avoid blue daylight spectrum light which interferes with sleep.
- Practice yoga deep breathing and progressive relaxation techniques before sleep. It is easier to do this if you listen to a hypnotist. Use my Control Stress Seminar (4 CD’s) for a complete program. Doing mental exercises by yourself, especially if you are a beginner, keeps your mind actively thinking what to do next. By listening to a hypnotist, you can be passive and simply accept and follow instructions.
- Write your worries on a paper and set a time limit on how long you will worry at a certain chosen worry spot. Then store them in a container with a lid. Leave your worries there until tomorrow. Walk away from them. Worry wastes energy. Nothing is more important than sleep. (Recommended: My hypnosis CD Banish Worry.
- Imagine a bright red balloon with helium and all your concerns filling with more helium, growing larger, then floating away through the roof, into the sky and clouds and into the solar system.