Hey UM,

Its been really hard for me this past week or so, trying to get to sleep. I go to bed around 11 and still find myself awake at 2, I resorted to listening to music or reading until I get bored, but I dont want to wait that long. I try to empty my mind, but its hard to concentrate trying not to concentrate. When I'm laying down, I close my eyes but my heart is still beating pretty rapidly and I lay very still, trying to relax.

So, how do you find sleep in the easiest manner?

Lie down and try to focus on 1 thing. If your mind drifts, take note, and gently bring your mind back to the one thing you have chosen to focus on. This thing may be a word or a picture, or just an emotion.

Focus on one part of your body, like your big toe, and feel it getting heavier, and from your toe become aware of every other part of your body. This heaviness will spread from your toe to the rest of your body.

As you achieve awareness of your entire body, see your body from above you. Don't try to do it, just let it happen. Imagine a soothing spherical wave around you contracting and expanding.

After trying this for a while, and if you find that you still have no hope of getting to sleep, get out of bed and do something. Start some reading or writing. I wouldn't recommend TV, radio or video games. Try keeping your physical activity to a minimum shortly before bed.

If you haven't been getting much exercise during the day, that might help you get to sleep easier.

Limit caffeine and other substance use. No caffeine 8 hours before you plan to go to sleep. If you smoke limit your smoking to 1-2 hours prior going to bed.

A light snack high in carbs also may help, but avoid large meals, especially meals high in fat shortly before bed.


You also may try waking up earlier so you are tired earlier. You may be getting too much sleep. If you take naps try limiting them to 30-45 mins max.


You also may try staying up for a night and day without sleep. That should cause you to be tired enough to get to sleep the next night on time. This is a trick to reestablishing circadian rhythm.

Hey, thanks alot. I think its something to do with the exercise, I've had cross country practice for the past week and so. That's probably it.

Try Fantasizing sex scenes LOL

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, BUT: I have had trouble sleeping for YEARS. The ONLY method that helps me is to get drunk. My family is encouraging me to slow down, so I am investigating Benadryl. Still working on that..

I lightly hypnotise myself, and make sure I do not TRY to get to sleep, next thing I know it is morning

Hello

Sometimes I can't stop thinking, so it takes forever to fall asleep. Normally I listen to the radio or read something until my body is very relaxed, then when I'm really tired I let it go and it only takes a short time to fall asleep. I don't know how some people manage to fall asleep in a few seconds.

Just close your eyes and lay there, works for me.

Fortunately I've only had that problem a few times...I would find myself falling asleep, only to have woken up 2 minutes later...I would usually get up and read a few pages of a book...It would remove any subconscious from me, I would relax and find a good nights sleep after that...

I have lots of probs getting to sleep, but i find that a well chosen podcast helps on occasion

I just lay there, shut my eyes and I go to sleep.

However, when I have found it difficult to sleep, I have made myself a hot drink, that has helped. I will also get up as I just presume I am not tired.

The only thing I am sure of is that if you are worried or anxious, sleep does not come, all problems seem to be hugely magnified at night.

Try half an aspirin.

I can't remember the last time i went to bed on time, and going straight to sleep. I toss and turn.. my mind goes 100 to nothing... speeeding in thoughts.... ugh!!

I've gotten used to having hardly any sleep at all... I'm lucky to get two hours straight through without waking up.. very frustrating at time, especially when you really are tired.. but just can't sleep.

Nice cuppa tea (or even better, cocoa or drinking chocolate).
Try going to bed an hour or two earlier...
Talk Radio (I use Radio 4 in the UK.. just quietly on in the background...).
A good book.
Reading all the "Iraq" posts in the News and World Affairs thread

Meow Purr.

No matter how absurdly this may sound, Drinking does make you some what tired, or at least for me it does. Though, it will not help you to sleep soundly. Every night before bed try a glass of Vodka on the rocks...More specifically try Stoli's!

Have a hot shower right before going to bed, always gets me pretty tired.

Haha I'm underaged, so I cant drink... Legally

Surely you can in your own home, right?

Ouuu party foul....

Well um, stick with the book reading then...and...er...good luck!

I have the opposite problem! I start work in the early hours so when it comes to about 8pm I cant help falling asleep. Very annoying when I want to watch something on TV!

If your heart is racing, it sounds like it could be some kind of stress or anxiety that's keeping you awake. In normal pre-sleep conditions, your heart beat should drop to resting heart beat rate, 70 - 80 beats per minute for an adult, not racing.

Is it is anxiety, maybe speak to your doctor, who can help in loads of different ways to help you unwind.

Stress and anxiety have loads of different ways in surfacing and inability to sleep is one of the most common.

Personally, I have a genetic condition which means I only ever sleep for 4 hours absolute tops. It's all to do with high frequency brainwaves and means I am actually physically unable to sleep more than that.

However, it's not a disorder where I need sleep and can't get it, it's a disorder where my brain and body don't actually require any more than the 4 hours.

I can't remember the last time I actually felt tired. Sometimes I am physically tired if I've had a strenous day, but a relax in a chair for half an hour and I'm raring to go again.

All in all though, I think it's a good thing because then I get to sit up late and surf the internet for hours and hours

Anyway, back to your topic.....

For a great relaxation technique whilst laying waiting to nod off, try this.

Lay in a comfrotable position on your back with arms and legs straight.

Now think about your toes. Physically tell your toes that they are relaxed and untense the muscles in just your toes until you can feel that only your toes are relaxed.

Next think about the area between your toes up to your heel. Again, physically relax just this little area.

Once your feet are fully relaxed and completely without stress, think about the area from heels to mid calf. Relax this.

Move steadily up your body, relaxing it bit by bit. Work on areas in this order:

Toes
Toes to heel
Heel to mid calf
Mid calf to knee
Inner and outer thighs
Hips
Front pelvis
Buttocks
Small of back
Stomach
Waist
Spine
Sides of torso
Rib cade
Chest
Fingers
Hands
Wrists
Forearms up to elbow
Elbows
Top of arms
Shoulders
Neck

By this time, you have physically let go of every area of your body and told it that it has relaxed and let any tension go in the seperate areas.

Next thing is to relax your chin
Then mouth
Then cheeks
Then forehead
Then ears (yes ears)
Then your scalp

Now you are fully relaxed and have let go of every muscle and should be pretty relaxed and un-tensed.

Now lay still as you can and just start to think about something really really nice and relaxing, whatever makes you relaxed, whether that is imagining you're near the ocean or something else. The thoughts shouldn't involve any movement, just laying, so it would be laying by the ocean or laying in a field etc.

Hopefully, at this point, you area fully unwound and sleep will come to you.

This is a technique taught to me in a sleep clinic when I was looking for ways to sleep more - until I actually accepted I didn't need the sleep.

The trick is to not move on to the next area until you have fully relaxed the previous area.

It might take a few seconds or a minute to relax each bit but never move to the next until you're ready.

Hope this helps.

That may be okay to begin with, but how long before one drink was not enough. The human body has a weird way of getting used to things, eventually more than one drink may be needed to get the same amount of sleep.

Good advice Sassages.... its 2.22am here now and im about to give that a go..... if theres another post on here tonight from me, it hasnt worked lol

Interestingly enough, there was a feature on the radio today about insomnia, (a friend pointed it out to me, but I missed the start of it). among the things they said to avoid, one was activity before bedtime as it will increase your alertness.... also, alcohol may help you get to sleep, but your quality of sleep will be poor.

goodnight

How much exercise do you do? I cycle and swim and I have absolutely no problems getting to sleep. There have been periods of months where I have stopped exercising for whatever reason and my sleep pattern is far less consistent when I am not doing exercise. My lifestyle changes; I dont eat as well, and I spend more time on the computer. I am not physically tired but I feel heavy; I am tired but I cant sleep.

Tea has caffeine in it, so might be best to avoid it. Hot chocolate has quite a bit of sugar, which might stimulate you rather than relax. Honey or malt powder in milk is probably better.

Bananas have magnesium, a muscle relaxant, and also serotonin, which regulates mood, sleep, anger, body temperature, and other basic functions. Almonds also have magnesium and serotonin. Try eating some a while before you go to bed. Valerian is a mild natural narcotic that can help you sleep, and there are probably a bunch of other herbal alternatives to sleeping pills or alcohol.

I cant really see how this is a mystery of mind, space or time though...

thats not as bad as it seems ,worked for me on many a night

Currently Im doing cross country for my skool, so i run about 5 days a week. I try to eat a little before I go to sleep, but sometimes when I do it would be like a fruit or something. I dont want to eat any pills or anything, becuase thats not really solving the problem, and I dont want to become dependent on it. And as a matter of fact, I took one the other night and I woke up at 3 and couldnt go back to sleep till 4.

I'll try some milk or honey.

I would first say I don't know if you smoke, but if you do, dont' smoke within at least an hour before you lay down. That will help.

And second, I'm not a doctor and do not claim to give medical advice, but if your heart is beating hard and rapid to the point that you are easily noticing it and are unable to relax past it's sound or feel, I would maybe see a doctor. You may be having panic attacks when you're trying to relax for some reason. Also, my father-in-law has a hyperactive thyroid, and he first had these problems too before he found out what was wrong. A chemical is hyper-released, making it difficult for your hearbeat to slow down. Either way if it continues on for long periods of time and no one's advice has helped, I would probably seek out the advice of a physician.

I have worked at physically demanding jobs most of my life and when you do strenuous activates it can raise your endorphin levels, which can be like a natural kind of stimulant that your body produces

I have found the simpler the better what seems to work real good for me is simply lay on your back in your bed and concentrate on the feeling of the weight of your body on the bed and relaxing your face muscles make your hole body relax, concentrating on these 2 things is key. If this doesn’t work for you there are other relaxation techniques just keep it simple.

You are right stay away from the drugs and drink not a road you want to go down your own mind and body have all you need to accomplish what you want

Claizen,

Being inactive throughout the day does it, do some exercise Or just try to keep your eyes open and stay awake, itll knock you out.

Peace.

Hello - I too have issues falling asleep mostly due to anxiety/panic issues. When I am just laying in bed is when I tend to have bad anxiety attacks. Other nights I am paranoid about having an anxiety attack so i try to keep my mind occupied by reading myself to sleep. When I do feel the anxiety creeping in I meditate. When I first started meditating I used word association to pick an image that represents Fear and Peace. I thought of each word and the first image that popped into my head represented the corresponding word. Fear - Water/ Peace - Tree.
Taking slow deep breaths in I think of the Tree and on the exhale I think of Water(fear). Over time I have developed my own method. When I start, there is just one tree and I start to image my body being full to the brim with water and that water represents negativity, fear, anger, hurt, etc. So when i breath in I think of the tree and when I breath out I imagine the water coming out of my mouth like a fountain and it slowly draining from my body until it is all the way down where my toes are and when I breathe out I imagine it coming up my calfs, my thighs, throught my abdomen, stomach, chest, throat and finally out my mouth. While I am doing that I have been focusing on my peace image, the tree during my inhale. It starts as just one tree and it become a Red Wood, the Red Wood becomes 2 Red Woods and then 3, 4, 5, etc, until I have a whole forest of them and then the forest becomes alive with animals, flowers, birds chirping etc and that correspondes with the water. My forest becomes full and alive right as the last of my water is exhaled from my toes.
It works for me and by the time I am finished(it usually takes me about an hour or so) I am so relaxed and peaceful I sleep like a baby.
If meditation is not your thing I would suggest just finding a good book, get a little reading lamp and try to read yourself to sleep.

The only thing you can really do, so that you get some type of sleep and don't become an addict of some type....is to just plain sleep when your body and mind tells you to. Then after that is all cleared up, progress your sleep stages by the hour until your routine is where you want it to be at so timing is planned by you and not the demand of a problem.

oh great then he'll exercise too much and get cramps hahahaha

There are lots of scientifically recognised ways of helping you get to sleep These include; going to bed at a regular time. not taking any form of stimulants in the hours before bedtime, switching the lights in your environment as low as possible for a couple of hours before going to bed and others.

I personally use a mental technique actually designed to promote lucid dreaming, which also has the effect of putting me to sleep within a few minutes. Technically you should take more than 10 minutes and less than 30 minutes to fall asleep. if you take less than 10 minutes you are probably sleep deprived and if more than 30 you have some form of sleeping disorder.

I usually fall asleep within 30 seconds to a few minutes, so i am probably sleep deprived. Your problem seems to be not getting to sleep but waking up again.( Sorry I misread your opening post, but I will leave this here for those who do wake up after a few hours sleep.) I had this problem, which was diagnosed as part of stress, and i would get up and read for a few hours rather than lie there worrying about work money etc. Since working only 3 days a week i no longer wake up much in the early hours, but if i do i concentrate on going back to sleep so i can have some more interesting controlled lucid dreams.

My technique for getting back to sleep is the same as going to sleep in the first place. Visualise and develop in your mind a gateway to your dream worlds. This could be like a star gate, an old fashioned door, or any other symbol you like. I have developed a reflecting pool in a green glade, surrounded by a stand of bamboos, then roses and forest land. In concentrating on the formation of the gateway, i usually fall asleep very quickly and the symbolism also inserts itself into my subconscious mind, encouraging it to become self aware and allow for controlled lucid dreaming, where i can continue to constuct; worlds, characters, and story lines at will

Despite others advice i would avoid using alcohol as an aid to sleep for a variety of medical reasons. If alcohol helps someone to sleep, then it may be addressing a psychological problem like stress or worry, but it is not a recommended solution in the long run.

Yeah maybe you were already sleeping but don't know it yet.