101 Ways to Fall Asleep Fast
Introduction................................................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 1 - Getting a Good Night’s Sleep .................................................................................................... 2 Sleep Cycles.............................................................................................................................................. 2 Why We Need Sleep ................................................................................................................................. 2 How Much Sleep Do We Need? ............................................................................................................... 3 How Do I Know If I’ve Had Enough Sleep? ............................................................................................ 3 Morning Person - Night Owl - Dead on Your Feet................................................................................... 4 Sleep Debt................................................................................................................................................. 4 When to Sleep ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Factors that Can Adversely Affect Sleep .................................................................................................. 5 Sleep Disorders ......................................................................................................................................... 5 See Your Doctor ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2 – Creating a Relaxing Sleep Environment ................................................................................... 7 Room Ambience ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Remove the Distractions ......................................................................................................................... 10 Your Throne for Sleep ............................................................................................................................ 11 Wrap Yourself in Fine Threads............................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 3 – Preparing for Bed .................................................................................................................... 13 Before You Go to Bed ............................................................................................................................ 13 Dressing for Bed ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 4 – Taming Your Internal Dialogue .............................................................................................. 15 Stilling the Chatter .................................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 5 – Making Sleep Important.......................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 6 – Coping with Partners, Kids and Pets ....................................................................................... 18 Your Partner and Sleep ........................................................................................................................... 18 Help for Those Who Sleep with Snorers ................................................................................................ 19 Please Let Me Sleep................................................................................................................................ 19 Crying, Unhappy Children...................................................................................................................... 19 Pesky Pets ............................................................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 7 - Overcoming Sleep Obstacles ................................................................................................... 21 Pregnancy & Weight Issues .................................................................................................................... 21 Hot Flashes & Night Sweats ................................................................................................................... 21 Illnesses and other Conditions ................................................................................................................ 21 Chapter 8 – Pay Attention to What You Put in Your Mouth ...................................................................... 22 Food and Sleep........................................................................................................................................ 22 Chemicals and Sleep ............................................................................................................................... 22 Natural Products and Sleep ..................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 9 – Sweet Dreams.......................................................................................................................... 24
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Introduction
Sleep (noun) - a natural, periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended. During sleep our bodies grow, memories are stored, mental and physical energy is refreshed and our dreams (or nightmares) are explored. Sleep is as vital to us as food, water and air.
Chapter 1 - Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
Although we spend at least one-third of our lives sleeping and it has been studied for decades, many aspects of sleep are still a mystery. What we do know from scientists is that we must have ample sleep to function properly and many of us don’t.
Sleep Cycles All animals have natural rhythms and cycles; one of the most critical cycles for humans is the sleep cycle. Sleep is not a single act, but a series of events each with their own purpose. Your body goes through five different stages when you sleep, each lasting from 90 to 120 minutes with some repeating throughout the night. Stage one – The initial falling asleep period where drowsiness sets in. If waken during this 5 to 10 minute period, you’d feel as if you had never fallen asleep.
Stage two –
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Stage three – Stage four – Stage five -
REM (rapid eye movement) sleep where your eyes move back and forth quickly and randomly. It takes about 90 minutes from falling asleep to enter the REM stage. Although your blood pressure raises, heart rate increases, breathing speeds up and muscles tense, this is the important restorative stage. This is also where you dream the most. Your body begins to relax and prepare for deep sleep. Eyes stop moving erratically, muscles begin relaxing and the heart rate returns to normal.
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The first of the deep sleep stages where your body temperature lowers and muscles are relaxed. A deeper, more intense stage of rest and relaxation.
Interrupting a stage or the progression of these sleep stages is like having a short in an electrical plug. Contact is made; but it isn’t a strong, consistent signal so your mind and body cannot operate optimally. Why We Need Sleep Sleep is one of the best activities we can do for ourselves – physically and emotionally. Here are a few of the most important reasons why you MUST HAVE a good night’s sleep to: Refresh and energize our body Maintain memories Increase learning capacity Delay mental and physical aging Cope with stress Heal mentally and physically
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Promote creativity and problem-solving Grow your body A lack of adequate sleep causes such problems as: Driving accidents – Over 1,500 fatalities each year are attributed to lack of sleep. Disastrous events – Nuclear plant accidents, hazardous chemical spills and wartime friendly-fire incidents have all been caused by insufficient sleep. Home and workplace accidents – Data shows accidents are more likely to occur on Mondays after sleep was disrupted by weekend schedules. Alcohol factors – Combined with fatigue, can cause deadly decisions, slower responses and increased alcoholism risk. Health risks – Increased risk of diabetes, infertility, depression, chronic pain, high blood pressure, obesity, immune deficiency. Emotional risks – Increased irritability, stress, child abuse, road rage, poor impulse control. Performance issues – Contributes to poor concentration and reduced athletic performance.
How Much Sleep Do We Need? We know for optimum health, typical adults require 6 to 9 hours of sleep every day. Our body can cope with varying amounts of sleep and a lack of sleep but we will suffer – even if we don’t realize it. What is considered “adequate sleep” varies by your age, personal bio-rhythm, health and sleep-altering factors such as alcoholism, drug abuse, pregnancy or medication.
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The following ranges must be tailored to you or your child’s individual sleep requirements. It may take some of trial and error to determine what is best for your body. Add or reduce sleep hours gradually as your body will need to get used to the change. Infants (birth to 2 years) – 13 to 17 hours Toddlers – 9 to 13 hours plus daytime naps Preschools – 11 to 12 hours School age – 10 hours Teens – 9.5 hours Adults – 7 to 9 hours Over 65 – 6 to 8 hours
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How Do I Know If I’ve Had Enough Sleep? The right amount of sleep is when you wake feeling well. A clear head, a sense of well-being, feeling refreshed and energetic are all signs that you have received ample sleep. The key is to find the “right” number of uninterrupted hours for your body. Too little sleep and you are too tired to function properly. Likewise, too much sleep can leave you lethargic, inattentive and unable to focus on the task at hand. If you aren’t certain how much sleep you need, keep a sleep log. Every night record the time you go to bed. When you wake, record the time and how refreshed/revitalized/energetic you feel. Keep brief notes during the day on when you feel fully awake, when you feel fatigued and when you feel sleepy again at night. Below is a brief list of items you might keep track of to determine your sleep needs.
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How long did it take to fall asleep? Did you wake up during the night? How many times? Did you have problems getting back to sleep? What woke you? What were you thinking about when you were awake? Did other people wake you? Did you have to go to the bathroom, get a drink or clear your sinuses? Were you snoring, kicking, tossing, turning or grinding your teeth while you slept? Ask your partner if you aren’t certain. What did you eat in the 3 hours prior to bedtime? Do you smoke? Drink alcohol or caffeinated beverages? Take drugs? You should soon see a pattern after 10 to 15 days and be able to isolate your sleep range (minimum and maximum hours required). You may also discover internal and external conditions/situations which are keeping you for getting a good night’s sleep. Morning Person - Night Owl - Dead on Your Feet Whether you love to rise before the rooster’s crow or prefer an after-midnight bedtime, it’s in your genes. Or specifically in a single gene called Period 3 – a long version signals a strong preference for early morning hours and a short one means a strong preference for light night living.
Your internal clock is also regulated by hormones created in the pituitary and adrenal glands. Anticipation and stress can cause your body to increase these hormones which keep you up all night or cause you to wake up early.
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Your lifestyle also affects your sleep cycles. Whether you reluctantly give in to the need for sleep or keep on dancing the night away, you may be working against your natural body rhythm. You may not even know you are in need of more sleep. Sleep deprivation is more than having a hard time staying awake during the day. There are a variety of subtle signals that you aren’t fully recharging your batteries every night. You may be sleep deprived if you are… Bored during class or at a business meeting. Fall asleep after a glass of wine with dinner. Not able to exercise as vigorously. Struggle with decision-making. Letting the housework pile up. Fall asleep in less than 5 - 10 minutes. Feeling groggy all day. Feeling weighed down after a heavy meal. Absentmindedly staring into space. Snapping at your kids or spouse. Sleeping longer hours on days off. Depend on caffeine to keep you alert. Struggle with finding the “right” word.
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Sleep Debt “Sleep debt” refers to the difference between the amount of sleep your body needs and the amount you are actually getting. This debt compounds daily and creates a continual stress upon your mental and
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physical condition. As the debt increases, even your ability to determine whether you are sleep-deprived is compromised. Sleep researchers believe that missing one hour of sleep every night for a week has the same effect on your body as missing an entire night’s sleep. Because our bodies crave to be on a regular cycle, going to bed earlier the following night or sleeping later won’t help you “catch up” on your sleep. Your best bet is to get back to a regular sleep pattern as quickly as possible. If your body is in a state of sleep distress, take a 20 to 30 minute nap (never more as this will leave you groggy) in the early afternoon. When to Sleep Your body also has an optimum wake/sleep pattern. However, willingly or reluctantly, we often ignore the natural sleep cycle. In our busy 24-hour world, there is plenty of work has to be done, books to be read, Web sites to explore, homework to finish and entertainment to enjoy. We simply haven’t scheduled in enough sleep time. Ayurvedic medicine (the ancient Indian system of medicine) adheres to the “early to bed, early to rise” proverb of Benjamin Franklin. They believe the daily Ayurveda life cycle makes it advantageous to go to sleep at 10 p.m. and arise 8 hours later. Western medicine bases our cycles a circadian, or 24-hour, cycle which corresponds to daylight and darkness. From midnight to six a.m., our bodies crave sleep – even if we have already slept eight hours during the day. That’s why nightshift workers often struggle to keep awake during the last half of their shift.
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Factors that Can Adversely Affect Sleep Although sleep is a natural state that the body craves, internal and external factors can easily disrupt a good night’s sleep. Some conditions are temporary such worrying about a test the next day or being excited about a trip or sleeping in an unfamiliar room. With a healthy sleep routine, you should “recover” from the disruptions once the situation is over.
Poor sleep habits and lifestyle choices contribute to your lack of sleep. Even moderate use of alcohol, caffeine and illegal drugs can disrupt your sleep. Behavior modification does work; but like any new habit it may take some practice to find the right solution to your sleep issues and make it a part of your daily routine. Think about what influences or behaviors that may be robbing you of sleep and check out the appropriate chapter to learn how to create the sleep of your dreams! Ongoing stressors, such as worrying about a sick relative, dealing with a nasty boss, waiting on a new baby or suffering from a chronic illness, can be outwitted by using various tips and tricks in this book. Sleep Disorders Difficulty falling asleep, waking throughout the night, waking too early and fitful sleep are symptoms of various sleep disorders. While you may feel that being sleepy during the day is just part of a busy 21st century life – it actually may be due to poor sleep habits and routines or a medical condition requiring treatment.
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In this book, we’ll teach you 101 ways to fall asleep fast, stay asleep and sleep well. If you do not find relief here, see your doctor to discuss your sleep issues. Poor sleep can be a signal that you have a medication condition that needs to be addressed.
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