Sleeping Beauty: 10 Tips and Tricks for Beating Insomnia
Frustrated that you can’t sleep when you want to? Try one of these techniques to bring on the zzz’s peacefully and naturally.
-Melanie Kozlan, Four Green Steps
Tired of being tired? Try some of these natural insomnia remedies and make up for lost sleep.
1. Avoid coffee/tea, caffeine and alcohol at least 4 hours before bed. Alcohol might seem like a quick fix for a night of sleep, but you might only be sleeping off the alcohol and wake up still tired. You also don’t want to create a sleep pattern that depends on alcohol.
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2. Never exercise close to bedtime. You might feel like you’re tiring yourself out, but you’re actually waking your body up.
3. Have a small snack before bed. Going to bed hungry will only keep you awake.
4. Develop a routine. Going to bed and waking up around the same time everyday will make your body accustomed to a healthy sleep schedule.
5. Only use your bed for sleeping! It seems irrelevant, but using your bed as a home base for everything from eating, working, or using Facebook weakens your mind’s association between your bed and sleep. Using your bed for various activities will make it more difficult to turn off your thoughts when you want to sleep.
6. If you can’t fall asleep, do something else. You’ll be more productive than just lying awake frustrated. And, by the time you go back to bed, you’ll have a better chance of falling asleep easier.
7. Have a hot bath an hour or two before bed. Simple as that!
8. Try an herbal remedy. Venereal and lavender root are said to aid insomnia.
9. Start a sleep ritual. Convince yourself you need a glass of warm milk or to watch an episode of 30 Rock before bed.
10. Make your bed somewhere you want to be. If it’s too hot/cold, bright or uncomfortable ,your body will mostly likely dread bedtime.
Tell us: What are your tricks for falling asleep fast?
Melanie Kozlan is a lifestyle writer and the Senior Content Director of FourGreenSteps.com: Your one-stop destination for all things green & the World’s largest marketplace of eco-friendly products.
