Sleep is a major player when it comes to good health, yet one of the activities we tend to neglect the most. Most of us are aware that we need to get adequate rest to function, but for many of us sleep gets low priority to our relationships, our bills, and the never-ending to-do list. Insomnia can be defined as “a chronic inability to fall asleep or to enjoy uninterrupted sleep”. Many of us have suffered from lack of sleep at least at some point in our lives, but if it’s an ongoing struggle for you to get to bed and actually fall asleep once you’re there, here are some simple ways for you to take the reins on your sleep cycle and get back on track.

Chances are, you will suffer from difficulty with insomnia at some point in your lifetime. It can be distressing, and cause difficulty with functioning during your wake hours. The first thing you may want to do is to run to the doctor for a prescription for a medication to help you sleep.

However, you don’t always need to rely on medications. In fact, insomnia can usually be cured on your own by simply changing your lifestyle and routines.

Resist the temptation to run to the doctor right away, and instead take some steps to treat your insomnia naturally before you seek your physician:

1. Do all your unpleasant tasks and work stuff early in the evening. 

Worrying is one of the biggest culprits of a sleepless night. As counter intuitive as it may be, one of the reasons a lot of us suffer from lack of sleep is because we’re up worrying about getting enough sleep! Dr. Fuhrman brought this up in one of his tele-seminars that I was listening to a few days ago and it got me thinking about how true that really is. I myself have been guilty of laying in bed checking the clock, and restlessly counting the hours of sleep I would get if I fell asleep quickly. Worrying about how many hours of sleep you’ll get, hoping you’ll get to sleep quickly, being concerned about having to get up early; all of those things actually prevent you from getting to sleep in the first place.  You definitely don’t want to be thinking about annoying, stressful bills or your boss before you go to bed. That’s the perfect recipe for insomnia!

2 . Adopt a routine schedule

Try to maintain a regular, routine sleep/wake schedule. That is, go to bed at the same time every night and awaken at the same time each morning no matter how sleepy you are. This may cause some difficulties the first few nights, but eventually your body will get used to maintaining the same schedule. Do not vary your weekend schedule by more than one hour from your weekday schedule. Continue reading Some insomnia tips to help you fall asleep without drugs →