Dealing with insomnia can be a frustrating and exhausting process.
Not getting enough sleep makes you feel tired, foggy, irritable, and can even negatively impact your health. While you may go to bed with all the best intentions, lying awake for hours can lead to feeling stressed, which in turn, leads to more insomnia.
Fortunately, unlike other sleep disorders, insomnia is generally the result of poor sleeping habits and stress, instead of underlying medical conditions. This means, there are several lifestyle changes you can make to beat insomnia and reclaim your healthy and happy life.
If you have been suffering from insomnia and are looking for ways to get to sleep, this guide is for you.
A great tip for how to beat insomnia is to establish a sleep schedule. Going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning will create a healthy habit for your body. After following your sleep schedule for a while, you will notice you are feeling tired at the same time every night and can fall asleep quickly.
It can take about 21 days to create a habit, so follow your sleep schedule for 21 or more days before you expect to see results.
One of the best ways to find insomnia relief is to use your bed correctly. Ideally, your bed should only be used for sleeping and being intimate with your partner.
Working, eating, or just relaxing in bed results in your associating your bed with a place to work, eat, or just relax. This lessens your associating your bed with sleep, which can make managing insomnia difficult. If you aren’t sleeping or being intimate, complete your tasks somewhere else.
If you wake up in the middle of the night and cannot return to sleep, go to another part of your home until you are ready to go back to sleep.
If you are suffering from insomnia, it may be tempting to take a nap during the day. A lack of sleep the night before will leave you exhausted and make a nap sound like the best idea you’ve had all day. Unfortunately, giving in to this temptation will only make it more difficult to fall asleep at night.
Similar to a sleep schedule, following a bedtime routine will get your body into the habit of preparing for, and then going to, sleep. You should have a few tasks you do to prepare for bed, such as avoiding screens about 30-60 minutes before bed and dimming the lights. Eventually, this bedtime routine will trigger tiredness in your body, which will help you fall asleep easier.
Using stimulants before bed will increase your insomnia symptoms and make it that much more difficult to fall asleep. For this reason, you should avoid caffeine for a few hours before your bedtime routine. This includes chocolate and caffeinated sodas.
You should also avoid drinking alcohol a few hours before bed. Alcohol is also a stimulant that will make you have disruptive and unsatisfying sleep.
Essential oils have many benefits, one of which is helping you fall asleep. Several essential oils are calming and encourage restful sleep, including lavender, sweet marjoram, sandalwood, and bergamot. You can use these oils in a diffuser or by applying a few drops on your temples, chest, wrists, stomach, or feet.
For more information on using essential oils, check out this blog post on the perfect amount of essential oils to use: https://www.everlastingcomfort.net/blogs/comfy-reads/know-the-limits-how-many-drops-of-essential-oil-do-you-put-in-a-diffuser.
Some of the many benefits of meditation include calming your mind, easing anxiety, and helping you fall into a deep and restful sleep. There are many meditations apps you can use that combines a soothing voice with relaxing music to gently guide you to sleep. You will also find sleep stories and relaxing wind-down tracts on most meditation apps and programs.
While you can buy OTC insomnia relief, drinking herbal tea offers the same benefits without all of the side effects. Herbs like chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, kava, and rosemary leaf are ideal for helping you fall asleep. You can buy these herbs individually and use them to create your own blend of nighttime tea.
If you are not interested in creating a blend of individual herbs, many popular brands have bedtime teas you can use as a replacement.
The temperature in your room directly affects how quickly you fall asleep and how deep and relaxing your sleep will be. Your body initiates the sleep cycle as your temperature drops, making a cool temperature ideal for getting quality rest. Make sure to keep your room cool as extreme temperature, either cold or hot, can disrupt your sleep.
While we are conditioned to think we need a solid 8 hours of sleep each night, consider changing your mindset about the way you get your sleep.
Segmented sleep occurs when you rest for a few hours during the night, wake up for 1-2 hours, and then go back to sleep. While this may sound odd or even unhealthy, segmented sleep is an ancient method of sleeping that is making a comeback in modern times.
If you are trying everything but can’t seem to sleep for a solid 8 hours a night, consider segmenting your sleep.
By implementing these tips, you can finally beat insomnia for good.
Start by establishing health habits during the day and right before you go to sleep. You can use essential oils, meditation, yoga, white noise, or relaxing music to help lull you to sleep after a long day. The good news is, curing your insomnia might be as simple as changing your mindset about how you sleep.
Whatever method you use, know that you can get better sleep, and improve the quality of your life.
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