How to Get to Sleep

Rozanne Paxman

Awesome Advice from Our Readers – How to Get to Sleep

A couple of weeks ago, I told you guys about my sleep disorder and asked for advice about what I could do to get to sleep easier. Boy! Did you guys come through for me! I received so many superb suggestions that I thought it would be a shame to keep it to myself. After all, most people have trouble sleeping at some point in their life. Print out this list and save it. You'll be glad you did.

Thanks to everyone who took time to send me your suggestions. I'm excited to have so many neat things to try. I'm sorry that I couldn't send you all a personal email, but I want you to know that each email is so special to me. You're all awesome!

1. Exercise. (Lots of people advised me to exercise.)
2. Wear socks to bed.
3. No computers or television 1-2 hours before bed. This means no iPad either. The blue light the devices put out interferes with sleep. (Reading my iPad at night is a great weakness I have. I need to read a real book instead.)
4. No caffeine after noon.
5. Use a fan to create white noise. This helps block out noises that will wake you up.
6. Fill a long sock with rice, chill it in refrigerator, or freeze it and stick under neck or pillow.
7. Turn off the light on your alarm clock or turn it away from your face. It inhibits melatonin.
8. Find a calming word (a mantra), such as "peace, calm, nature...." At night, when you are laying in bed, repeat that same calming word over and over. "Nature, nature, nature." It helps quiet your mindand keeps your mind from wandering to other things.
9. Drink herbal tea. Lavendar, Sleepytime (by Celestial Seasonings), peppermint, and chamomile tea were recommended most often.
10. Spray your linens with lavender linen spray. (I've done this for years. I adore the scent of lavender! I also rub lavender lotion on my feet when I am feeling particularly stressed.)
11. Don't take a nap during the day, no matter how tempting it might seem.
12. Talk to your doctor about trying a new sleep medication. People get tolerant to the one they are using over time.
13. Try herbal sleep solutions (such as melatonin, valerian,L-Tryptophan, or HTP5), but before you do, check with your doctor to make sure that there won't be any drug interactions with the medications you take.
14. Yoga.
15. Meditation (A lot of people mentioned this one.  Twice a day for 20 minutes was recommended.)
16. Calm music. (Set your radio on a timer so that it automatically turns itself off after a period of time.)
17. Wine. (Since I don't drink, I can't try this one.)
18. Read something boring like computer manuals or technical books.
19. Curl up with a little dog. (A Pomeranian was strongly recommended.)
20. Have blood work done to see if you need supplements.
21. Lymph node massages.
22. Go gluten free.
23. Create a worry hour during the day and then forget them until the next day. If they pop into your head when you are trying to fall asleep, write them down so that you won't forget them. This will relax you.
24. Engage in a hobby during the day as a stress-reliever.
25. EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) - which is sometimes known as tapping. There are a lot of good websites, YouTube videos, and eBooks that teach this technique. (I have used this a lot for other things, but it hadn't occurred to me to use it to fall asleep. I'll do that.)
26. Hypnosis.
27. Reiki, which is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing.
28. DVDs or CDs that play music from nature (like ocean sounds). "Pillow Music" was recommended.
29. Tell yourself a story.
30. Breathing exercises like Dr. Andrew Weil teaches. You can get iPad apps that have them.
31. If you don't fall asleep after 15-20 minutes, get up and do something else for awhile.
32. Eat yogurt.
33. Put a square of plain chocolate in your mouth and concentrate on the taste as it melts. (Sounds fun!)
34. Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation.
35. Do something relaxing for the two hours prior to bedtime. Do not work.
36. If you get five hours of sleep a night, you got your "core" sleep so don't worry if you can't get more than that.
37. Don't go to bed if you're not feeling tired.
38. Take all of your worries and set them outside of your bedroom door. Then close the door.
39. Get regular massages.
40. Play Solitaire.
41. Watch the same movie every night. (My daughter used to do this during high school. Her favorite fall-to-sleep movie was the old Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.)
42. Have a sleep study to see if you have a medical condition. (I've actually had one before. That is how I was diagnosed with my sleep disorder. But I've started to wonder if I could have sleep apnea, too, so it's worth checking into.)
43. Decide not to dwell on negative situations.
44. Keep yourself on a schedule – going to bed at the same time each night and waking at the same time each morning.
45. Limit your sugar intake before bedtime.
46. Read the Bible.
47. Breathe in for four counts and then out for four counts to relax you. Do this four times.
48. Look for your "sweet spot" of time when it is easiest for you to go to sleep. Get into bed at that time each night.
49. Get into a night time routine that you use each night to signal your body that it is time to sleep.
50. Write in a journal. (I love this one and use it myself!)
51. Get your hormone levels checked to see if you are in menopause or peri-menopause. You may need hormone replacement. (I had a complete hysterectomy in 1993 and have been on hormone replacement since I get really sick without it so I'll always be doing this one. I mention it because it can be so important!)
52. If your mind is chattering away, tell yourself that there is nothing you can do about it at night so you'll forget it until the next day.
53. Think about something beautiful that you enjoy.
54. Cross-stitch using big stitches in rows so that your mind isn't taken up with patterns.
55. If your spouse likes to watch TV, get them some earplugs so that you don't have to hear the sound.
56. Self-hypnosis. I received a nice method of doing this which is as follows: First, tense all of the various muscle groups one by one, and then relax them.Do this 2-3 times.Then, beginning with your toes, wiggle them and then relax them. Tell yourself how heavy and tired your toes are. Then move up to the arch of the foot and then the ankle. Next, do the same with your calves and onward to your thighs. Once you reach your thighs, change your focus to your fingers and slowly and deliberately work your way up to your shoulders.
    Once you have told all of the muscles in your limbs to relax, be tired and feel heavy, you begin the final step which is mental visualization. Imagine your favorite water spot. I personally remember a visit to one of my mother's best friend's home in Pennsylvania which we took when I was in my early teens. I remember sitting under a weeping willow tree on the banks of the Susquehanna River and watching and hearing the movement of the water going downstream. I concentrate on those sounds and think about hearing the birds, the sound of one of the neighbors mowing the lawn, and children playing in the distance.
57. Listen to the program Autogenics on your mobile device. There are two parts to it: a part that you listen to during the day to reduce your stress and a part that you listen to as you fall asleep.
58. Physical therapy/personal trainer to teach you how to stretch your muscles.
59. Practice the awareness of God's presence. Give Him your worries.
60. Count your blessings.