3 Ways to Combat Insomnia

People with insomnia tend to have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep throughout the night, or they wake up too early in the morning. According to the National Sleep Foundation, “insomnia is the inability of the brain to stop being awake.” Waking up in the middle of the night is a common problem. Mid-sleep awakenings often occur during periods of stress, anxiety or a busy mind. If you have trouble with insomnia, here are some tips that have helped me in getting back to sleep at night:

Avoid Caffeine

Avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and evening, and alcohol close to bedtime will allow your body’s REM (rapid eye movement) sleep cycle to stay in tack and aids in staying asleep throughout the night.

Make Your Sleep Environment Quiet & Dark

Making sure your sleep environment is quiet and dark throughout the night is effective to battling the mid-sleep awakenings. This method really helped me to stay asleep all-night long. By using dark shades to block street lights and early morning light, and a fan or noise machine to block sounds, will provide an environment of peace and comfort for your body to rest.

Practice Simple Breathing Techniques

If you are unable to fall back asleep for twenty minutes, do not lay in bed and worry about not sleeping. I violate this tip most of the time as my go to is to get on my phone and find something to occupy my mind. It is true though, when I do get out of bed and go to a space in my home to do a relaxing activity like reading, not on my phone, but with a book under a dim light, it really helps to go back to sleep.

Try making these little changes that can help you sleep better.

“We are asleep with compasses in our hands.” – W.S. Merwin