Help Me To Sleep

Helping you get better sleep

How many times do we hear our friends and colleagues say that they wish someone would help them to sleep? Lack of sleep can drain your energy and leave you feeling disorientated and depressed. So how can we help someone to sleep? Well the first steps have to be in understanding what sleep is, being able to appreciate the issues and knowing whether it is a temporary problem or maybe a longer term one requiring professional help and guidance.

Let’s start by trying to define sleep. In Wikipedia it says

What Is Sleep?

“Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles”

Essentially sleep is in your mind. There are, of course, many physical things which can impact on your sleep but bottom line is that when you sleep your conscious  mind closes down and anything which interferes with this will delay your sleep periods.

Your Biological Clock

Your body has a natural biological clock. There are times of the day when you will feel sleepy and others when your energy levels are higher. There is very little that you can do to change this. It is very important that you remember this the next time that you feel tired and drowsy. Ask yourself is this part of my daily rhythm or is it longer term tiredness?

Chemicals and Their Effects

Chemicals will change how you think. Alcohol, caffeine, pain relief pills all these will change the chemical balance in your mind and impact your ability to sleep.

Distractions

Distractions can be both good and bad. Most distractions will keep you awake. Think of the loud music coming from a neighbor. But sometimes they can work the other way. Think of soothing music or the gentle lapping of waves which will calm your thoughts and take your mind away from the day to day problems which plague it so much.

Crafting A Sleep Solution

Solutions which calm the mind

Anything which will stop your mind racing and thinking and worrying. Basically you have to distract your thoughts, for example

1. Listening to gentle music, following the steady beat of a clock or as in meditation following your breath as it enters and leaves your body.

2. Repetition of a simple mental process such as counting sheep, imagining yourself following a familiar journey or gently rocking on a boat.

3. Have you ever fallen asleep whilst listening to a boring talk? Have you ever dozed off whilst listening to an audio book? These are good examples of how you can become calm and ready for sleep through using outside stimuli.

Solutions which calm the body

It is difficult for the mind to be calm and quiet if the body is active and restless. This is where the term “dog tired” comes in. If your energy is spent then it is much easier to relax and to prepare for sleep. There are well proven mental exercises to help you to relax your body and prepare for sleep.

Chemical solutions

Make no mistake here. Sleeping pills are not a good long term solution. Caffeine does not help and alcohol is not a way forward. A warm drink of a tea infusion can help but as a general rule you want to try and avoid food and drink prior to sleep.

Repetition and habits

It really does help if you have set procedures preparing you for sleep. Following the same procedures will quieten your mind and help you prepare for sleep.

Recognising the best times to sleep

Not all sleep is equal. There are different phases within your sleep cycle and these will repeat throughout the night. How refreshed you are in the morning is a reflection of how complete your sleep cycles have been. This is why a device such as the Zeo sleep coach is so valuable. It will help you to monitor your sleep patterns.

How should you plan your campaign to sleep better?

Try and decide what is the main problem which is stopping you falling asleep. How can you overcome this problem? You might well be surprised how easy this can be. But do rest assured that sleeping problems are not unusual.If you find that you cannot improve your quality of sleep or that the suggested solutions are too difficult to keep to then there are sleep professionals who can help. You can always check out your local sleep center.