I'm not sure which is worse. Not being able to get to sleep when you go to bed, or waking up several times during the night, even if only for a few minutes. Waking up is dreadful when it's for an hour or more.
If you're waking very early in the morning and after only five or six hours'sleep, perhaps talk to your doctor. S/he will be able to help you work out the reasons for that phenomenon. It is sometimes linked to being in a depressive state but by no means is that always the case. Sometimes, you have something on your mind as the saying goes. Although you may not be overtly worried about it, that situation or decision is preying on your ability to sleep.
There are a number of things we all must do if we want to sleep soundly through the night. I'm offering you six gentle suggestions that will help you sleep better. They're NOT rules, and you may have much better ideas. If you do, please let me know and I'll publish them
My six suggestions are:
1.Avoid alcohol
2.Have a calming drink before bed
3.Use some vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements
4.Say good-bye to each day in a positive way
5.Plan your day ahead
6.Use my fr+ee audio Relax on Cue
Gentle Suggestion #1: Avoid alcohol.
Many, many people use alcohol to unwind, relax, calm down. And please don't worry. I am NOT going to say that you must ban it from your diet. (Diet being everything we eat and drink). I will let you know some irrefutable facts about it. First, it raises your blood sugar levels causing adrenaline and cortisol to be released. You'll know from reading some of my other articles on this site - including Let Food Be Your Medicine - that cortisol could readily be re-named super-stress-plus.
Anyone who has anxiety or stress-related sleep disturbance needs to minimise the body's production of cortisol.
Related to cortisol, alcohol stops tryptophan being transported to your brain. So? You might well ask. Tryptophan is transformed into serotonin which most of you will have heard about in terms of its depletion being implicated in some forms of depression. In turn, serotonin is responsible for your sense of calm and relaxation and your happy mood.
Yes, a glass of wine makes you feel more relaxed but if you want to enjoy alcohol, be sure that you do two things.
* First, have three alcohol-free days each week.
* Secondly, have your alcoholic drink at least two hours before going to bed.
A confession. Having said that, I must confess that I love Champagne...the real thing although some sparkling wines are great. I have been known to take a bottle of Champagne to bed to drink, whilst munching on chocolates. But that was maybe four or five times a year when my late husband and I escaped from the children. So yes, contrary to my children's belief, I do know what 'fun' means. Life is meant to be enjoyed. It can be totally joyous without over-indulging in alcohol. Or chocolates. :-) Given that Sam died prematurely, I'm glad I have those happy memories.
Gentle suggestion #2: Have a calming drink at bedtime
I know that something like orange tea or camomile tea is not exactly up there with Champagne. For a restful night's sleep, camomile is truly great. It has a calming effect on your digestive tract and your whole being.
I won't insult your intelligence by telling you that it's really a total no-no (and another no) to even think about having a co--ee, or any drink containing caffeine.
The most calming drink of all? Warm water. If you've never tried it, do. You'll love it.
Gentle Suggestion #3: Try some vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements
In my article Vitamins and Minerals that Help to Keep You Calm, I've mentioned some herbal supplements that are (a) an aid to relaxation generally and (b) neither harmful nor addictive. Having said that they're not harmful, please remember that just because they're natural, doesn't mean that you don't have to be careful about dosage - particularly if you're on any other medication, or if you have an ongoing medical condition.
The first among those is L-Theanine. The beauty of L-theanine is that in addition to relaxation, research suggests that it may have other positive benefits, with no known downside. Those benefits include, improving learning performance, heightening mental acuity, and promoting concentration. It's found in green tea but I prefer to take it as a capsule. Green tea, though good for you, has caffeine in it. Besides, too much of it can mean a wakeful night with trips to the bathroom.
Other herbs known to aid in the body's response to life in the 21st century - are Passion Flower, Ginkgo Biloba, Schizandra, Chamomile Extract, Jujube Seed, L-Glutamine and Inositol. Talk to your healthcare professional about any or all of these natural remedies.
Magnesium, found in wholegrain flour and cereal seeds, helps fight stress. It's absolutely vital for any of you who have to endure muscle cramps, or who have restless legs syndrome. You can't possibly be lacking in Magnesium and still be calm and at peace in your body.
VITAMIN B Among the vitamins and minerals that help you de-stress, B group vitamins are top of the list. With a good diet, I doubt very much that you need to spend an ever-increasing amount of money on supplements. You'll find Vitamin B in peanuts, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and some meats. Beans, lentils, pulses, bran, wheatgerm, and all green leafy vegetables will supply all the vitamin B you need.
Gentle Suggestion #4: Say 'good-bye' to your day in a positive way.
I know that sounds a bit twee. But your thoughts are a huge part of your feeling state. Just remembering past occasions when you felt anxious are
often enough to trigger, as if by magic, those same anxiety symptoms.
If you have legitimate reasons to be worried about something, please find a way to set it aside at bedtime. Even saying to yourself or your partner, "I won't think about X or Y this evening" is a good start. Let's be honest: that won't guarantee that you won't think about it. But it does increase the possibility of that
situation not being a source of worry to keep you awake.
So it's a good idea to sit for a few minutes, with or without pen and paper, and just think about at least three things for which you are grateful in the day that is just closing.
I've asked some of my counselling clients to keep a note book specifically to write those thoughts. Not a journal or anything as arduous as that, although many enjoy journalling. After a few months, it's a wonderful treasure to look back on. I say that because for most of us life is fairly mundane, in its own enjoyable way. If you put effort into thinking about three (or more) things for which you're grateful, you'd be surprised at how special your mundane life will seem when you re-read those notes a few months later.
If you honestly can't think of three things, there will always be at least one, because life itself is an argument for gratitude. Please do think about that. I do realise that some of you will be facing big and small problems in your lives. I certainly don't want to suggest that we go around with a false perpetual smile. I
have found that if, at the closing of my day, I spend even a little time reliving the good, funny, uplifting, encouraging things in my day, I sleep better.
Gentle Suggestion #5: Plan your day ahead
When I worked advising Ministers of Parliament, I found that it was a good idea to map out in writing the main things I'd need to get done the next day. That way, I felt I was not going to forget anything major, and my mind wasn't engrossed trying to think about who was coming to what meeting, where and why. Whatever your work, paid and unpaid, it's a calming strategy to jot down any tasks you absolutely must get done the following day. Only so that you can leave them until that time.
Gentle Suggestion #6: Use my fre+e audio Relax on Cue
That audio can be downloaded from my website www.calmingwords.com. Not only will it guide you into a deep and restful sleep, the purpose of that audio is to give you an extra tool to use whenever you feel afraid or anxious. Relax on Cue, as the name implies (I hope) uses autogenic training to allow you to by-pass some of your unhelpful behaviours, like reacting in an anxious or panic-stricken way to certain people, places and situations.
Cut and paste this link to download it. http://www.calmingwords.com/audio/Relax_on_cue.mp3 It's a big file (13Mb)so if you're on dial-up, you might want to start writing that novel while you're waiting.
Enjoy.
I do have a number of other strategies to make sure that I get a great night's sleep. The one I can't seem to follow is the best one of all. That is, making sure that you're in bed and asleep by 10pm. The two hours before midnight are better quality sleep than any number after midnight. I won't go into why that is so, but it comes down to the fact that although we wear nice shoes, we work on the same biorhythms as all animals. When the sun goes down, we should think about shutting down too. But there's so much fun to be had.
Do write to me at Jeannette@calmingwords.com to let me know if you have any additional ideas that help you sleep. When I simply can't seem to unwind - either because I'm really happy, excited, worried or upset - I cheat. I use my Insight CD. It's meant to be used while you're sitting in a chair wide awake and I do that too. But I know that if I really need to get to sleep and it's eluding me, I put the little earphones in, and I don't get to the end of the first track.
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