1. Getting Ready for Bed
Insomnia is often caused by over-stimulus during the day that we simply cannot shake when we crawl into bed at night. If you find your mind racing with the day's activities or tomorrow's busy schedule, basic relaxation techniques may be the best insomnia treatment for you. Try taking a soothing bath or hot shower before bed, or even doing a bit of yoga or meditation. When lying in bed, begin to tense and then relax the muscles of your body to stimulate deeper relaxation, beginning at the toes and working all the way up to your facial muscles. Practice deep breathing techniques and try listening to soothing music or watching television to help distract and calm the mind.
2. Make Your Bed a Sacred Space
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a common treatment for insomnia and includes a variety of techniques which help you to reorganize your conscious and subconscious thoughts about sleep. As part of this therapy, you should ingrain in yourself a feeling that your bed is a place for sex and sleep, but not for restlessness and insomnia. At the moment you begin to feel agitated for not being able to sleep, leave your bed and sit quietly, reading, watching television or doing some other restful activity until you feel ready to sleep. Only when you begin to become sleepy should you return to your bed.
3. Create a Healthy Sleep Schedule
Having a sleep disorder doesn't end when the alarm goes off in the morning, it continues throughout the day. While it may be difficult at first, try to avoid taking naps and set a regular sleep schedule for every day of the week. Plan on going to bed and getting up at a set time everyday. Even if you feel that you can't sleep or want to sleep more, get in and out of bed by the clock. Eventually your body should adjust to the idea of your set sleep schedule.
4. A Natural Remedy for Sleeplessness
Valerian root has been used as a natural medicine for insomnia for centuries, as it has very few side effects and is non-habit forming. For gentle relief from insomnia, take no more than 600 mg of valerian root in capsule form about 4 hours before bed.
5. Sleeping Pills for Temporary Help
Insomnia can be harmful to your mental, emotional and physical well-being as well as your work and social life. If relaxation, behavioral therapy and natural remedies are not working, it may be time to ask for a helping hand. A doctor can recommend the right medication for your, which may include hypnotic medications which help you to fall asleep, antidepressants which calm and sedate the mind, antihistamines which often work for short bouts of insomnia or actual sleeping pills which help you sleep throughout the entire night. Any form of sleeping pills can become habit forming and should be monitored closely by your doctor.
