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Introduction to Insomnia	Conventional Treatment
Causes of Insomnia	Commonly Used Medications for the Treatment of Insomnia
Call Your Doctor If	Common Sense Remedies
3 Surefire Ways To Cure Insomnia While Sleeping Less!

Common Sense Remedies

• Go to bed only when you are sleepy. Get up at about the same time every morning, no matter when you go to bed.

• Do not go to bed until you feel sleepy. If you go to bed and do not fall asleep within 20 minutes get up and do something else until you feel sleepy again.

• Keep your bedroom quiet and dark. Earplugs and eye shades may help; light comes in even through closed eyelids.

• If you wake up at night and can't go back to sleep, remain quiet and relaxed. Be patient; sleep usually returns.

• Have a light snack (a piece of toast or an apple are good.) or read for 10 minutes before you turn out the light. You may have trouble sleeping if you are over-stimulated by activity or watching television just before bedtime. A quarter hour of quiet conversation, light reading, or soft music may make a big difference.
Instead of just listening to music in the evening, sing. Singing is a wonderfully enlivening activity that increases happiness and inner peace.

• Laughter is a powerful way to defuse stress and anxiety. Watching humorous movies or reading humorous books or comics can cheer you up and get your mind off your troubles.

• Avoid alcohol and caffeine for several hours before bedtime.

• Use the bedroom only for sleep and sex-not for reading, working, eating, or watching television.

• Set an alarm clock and get out of bed at the same time every morning, no matter how you slept the night before. Once normal sleep patterns are reestablished, most people find that they have no need for an alarm clock.

• Exercise regularly in the late afternoon or early evening- but not right before bedtime.

• If your bedroom is too noisy or too bright, do what you can to create a quiet, dark environment with adequate ventilation and humidity; excessively dry air can cause nasal passages to contract and make you uncomfortable. Wearing earplugs and eye shades will help to keep out distractions.

• Learn to put worries out of your mind. If you have occasional trouble getting to sleep, concentrate on pleasant memories and thoughts. Recreate a pleasurable time or event in your life and relive it in your mind.

• Sleep in natural fiber linens and nightwear only. The electromagnetic field created by rubbing synthetic fibers can disturb the sleep pattern. Sleep at least nine feet away from electrical appliances like TV, clock radio, answering machine and electrical wall outlets. Use a pulsing electromagnetic device to counteract the damaging effects of the electromagnetic influences.

• Early Morning Exposure to Light

Spend some time in bright sunlight during the morning hours. Bright early morning sunlight has a powerful influence upon circadian rhythms, or biological clocks. Studies have shown that exposure to bright, early morning sunlight (between about 7:00 A.M. and 9:00 A.M.) for at least fifteen minutes is perhaps the most powerful signal that "sets" the biological clocks each morning and entrains them to the twenty-four-hour light/dark cycle. Humans naturally have a 24.8 hour circadian rhythm, and would naturally go to bed about an hour later each night and wake up about that much later each morning. Bright sunlight each morning coaxes the biological clock to conform to the twenty-four- hour day.

If you cannot get bright early morning sun, you can sit in front of a bright light. (Light therapy)

• Make the break

Making a break between daytime activities and the inactivity associated with night helps to encourage sleep. If you are worried about your work, or business, job, money, or afraid of forgetting an important appointment, this will toss and turn in bed without falling asleep.

Write down everything that is preying on your mind. Do this when you come home from work or after you have finished the main activities of the day. Review the activities of the day and prepare a plan for the following day. After writing down, the problems will seem smaller and more manageable. If there is anything you can resolve straight away, do it and get it out of the way. If there is nothing you can do until the next day, accept this and forget about it.

• A bath before bedtime

Take a bath before going to bed. A bath is more relaxing than a shower. The warm water raises body temperature that helps you to sleep. Keep the water temperature slightly warmer than your own body temperature. Do not make it too hot as this can make you feeling weak and sweaty. Don't stay in a hot bath more than about 15 minutes. Add a few drops of aromatherapy oil into the bath water. Choose those with soothing and relaxing properties.

• Late-night reading and watching television

Many people like to read and watch television before going to bed at night. Reading and watching television are not good for those with sleep problems. What you read or watch has a great influence on your ability to get a good night's sleep.

Do not read anything related to work just before going to bed. Avoid reading mysteries or other exciting books before going to sleep. You may find it hard to put down.

If possible, avoid having television in your bedroom. Avoid watching stimulating or frightening programs just before going to sleep. Don't start to watch a program that goes way past your usual bedtime.

• Sex and Insomnia

Sex is a great aid to sleep if you have a willing partner. Humans thrive on touch and sex can provide a closeness and warmth that can make other problems fade into the background until morning. In addition, sex itself has beneficial effect on our ability to sleep. Many people just roll over and fall asleep after sex. A bedtime massage can also help. It puts you in the mood for sex and calms your nervous system.

• Don't Go To Bed Angry

Anger can prevent you from getting to sleep. Do not start an argument just before bedtime. You will be too disturbed to sleep.