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I get it. I really do. I had insomnia almost as far back as I can remember. As a young girl, my mom advised me to read myself to sleep, but reading never ever worked. Not even Leviticus! (More on that another day). At slumber parties, when every other girl had finally fallen asleep, I would lay on the floor in my sleeping bag listening to the peaceful breathing of those around me and feel… wide awake.
And then in college, I decided that enough was enough, and I did my research. I studied sleep habits and sleep hygiene, and I learned how to manage my sleep. And my insomnia largely went away. Now, of course, I’m a mother to a 3 year old, so I fall asleep watching TV, reading books, even while reading books out loud to her! But I remember what I learned, and I’m happy to pass it on to you now, so you can start to manage your insomnia and learn how to sleep well and soundly!
Step One: Rule out medical issues
Seriously – if you have long standing issues with sleep, you’ll want to make sure there isn’t anything medically wrong with you. So go on, stop reading and call your doctor RIGHT NOW!
Step Two: Create a soothing bedtime ritual
Arrange your bedtime tasks into a ritual: put scented lotion on your bedside table and put it on your hands after you turn out the light. Read a chapter in a devotional book after you get in bed. Do some stretching exercises after you brush your teeth. As you create a ritual and stick to it, your body will learn to relax and go to sleep whenever that ritual is performed.
Step Three: Keep your room dark
Use blackout curtain, keep the TV off, and turn the alarm clock to the wall. After sunset tonight, go into your bedroom and turn off all the lights. Give yourself a few minutes to get used to the darkness, and then locate all light sources. Hide them!
Step Four: Turn off the screens
Phones, tablets, and TVs all give off a wavelength of light that tells your brain to chemically wake up. So make sure your reading material is lit by a lamp, not a computer screen.
Step Five: If you have been awake and alert for more than 20 minutes, get out of bed and do something.
This is very important, because our actions train our bodies. Just as a bedtime ritual will send your body signals to sleep, if your body associates the bed with tossing and turning and worrying, a vicious insomnia cycle will develop.
Step Six: Get up at the same time every day, even on weekends
This is an essential rule of sleep hygiene. I don’t care if you only got 4 hours of sleep due to Rule 5, still get up.
Remember, unless you have a medical problem, you will sleep. You physically cannot keep yourself from sleeping. We allow our brains to interfere with our body’s needs, but if you practice the rules above, especially rules 5 and 6, eventually your body will overcome your mind and you’ll fall asleep. Let your body do what it does best: function autonomously.
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Source by Elaine F Bayless