[Sleep] Two Insomnia Cure Ideas

I have recently realized that a very big reason I have difficulty with my memory, focus and concentration may be related to my difficulty sleeping. It takes me a long time to fall asleep. I wake up about every 2 hours and have to work to get back to sleep. Then I wake up feeling tired and groggy. Do you have the same problems?

It would be so nice to be able to fall asleep quickly; to be able to stay asleep for 6-9 hours; to wake up feeling refreshed and alive, ready to start another day.

Well, I am now on a quest to improve the quality of my sleep. I want to see what that does to my memory and concentration, as well as my overall health and well-being.

I have done several things to try to improve my sleep including
- moving the television out of the bedroom
- getting rid of the clock on my bedside table
- keeping the bedroom dark and cool
- changing my schedule so that I don’t need an alarm; I wake up when I am ready to
- no longer sleeping with dogs
- simplifying my life and schedule so that I am not under so much stress
- go to bed when I am tired, not at a certain time
- eat smaller meals in the early evening (bigger meal at noon)
- drinking more water during the day so that I am not thirsty in the night

Here are some things that I still need to change
- stop watching television (or playing on the computer) right up until bedtime
- exercising more
- not eating things that shoot my blood sugar up (sugar, white bread, alcohol)

The last couple days, I ran across a couple of articles containing ideas on how to cure insomnia and sleep better.
First, two insomnia cure ideas: hard exercise and replaying my day in my head, in minute and excruciating detail. These ideas came from an article on zen habits called The Simplest Cure For Insomnia.

The second article is from Dr. Joseph Mercola. This article discusses how altering our circadian rhythm can hurt metabolism and make it difficult to learn. I had heard the term ‘circadian rhythm’ but didn’t know that much about it. Basically, our bodies have a cycle of about 24 hours regulating things like body temperature, secretion of melatonin and cortisol. Light is a primary stimulator. Read more here.

When we disrupt the natural rhythm, we open ourselves to all kinds of problems, mentally, physically and emotionally. We have problems with short-term memory. Our immune system becomes compromised, allowing us to become susceptible to flu, colds, diabetes, even cancer. The article Circadian Rhythm Can Disrupt Your Metabolism and Interfere with Learning gives more information.

So, all we really need to do to avoid major health problems and improve our memories is to get great sleep on a regular basis. I’m up for this, are you? Let us know your idea on how you get a good nights sleep.

Advertisement