How do you fall asleep and stay asleep at night? How do you wake up in the morning? How long has that been going on?

Most poor sleepers shrug their sleep problems off, but, without resolution, poor sleep infiltrates our decisions, health, mood swings and how we view the world. In this time of Covid and politics adding pressure to most people’s lives, the repercussions of poor sleep are even higher than usual.

One of the leading reasons for fatigue, poor learning, negative and hostile attitudes, weight gain, lack of focus, stress, diabetes, heart disease, brain fog, failing memory and Alzheimer’s disease is poor sleep patterns. Specifically not enough REM sleep in which endorphins restore the body and neurotransmitters (brain hormones) put things into mental and psychological order. We get exposed to lots of information during our waking hours, but our homework occurs in the REM portion of our sleep cycles, organizing, making sense of the input and committing it to short and long term memory.

Big Pharma has its answer and sells it through doctors as the quick easy fix. Well, before you get near that “slippery slope” and find yourself upping dosages, growing hair in places there shouldn’t be hair, or going through raging personality changes and depressions, at least look at a list of positive, natural solutions.

28 behavior modifying ideas to make your sleep better

1. Learn self hypnosis or use a hypnosis recorded session to put you to sleep and create a more efficient sleep cycle. Great, not just for sleep,but for organizing and writing better mental scripts for personal and business success. Hypnosis, (ie. combining meditative techniques, mindfulness and affirmations) makes sense.
2.  Avoid eating, caffeine, sugars and excessive liquids 2 hours before bed time. Do your weight training or aerobic exercising earlier in the day (hours away from sleep time). This keeps your metabolism lower and your body core temperature cooler, making it easier to fall asleep.
3. Choose a darker (black out drapes), cooler, rather than warmer, room temperature. This sends messages to your brain to produce the sleep neurotransmitter, melatonin.
4. Write out a thorough To-Do list and prioritize your next day’s tasks (do it just before lights out). The conscious portion of your brain that works overtime worrying about forgetting to do tasks the next day can release and relax.
5. Break the existing lack of good sleep pattern by rearranging your pre-bed time activities. (if you read–don’t) (TV–don’t) ( sex–you’re on your own).
6. Go to sleep and wake up at the same times. Your mind/body likes consistency.
7. Take a warm bath. Relaxes the muscles and the mind.
8. Put electronic tools and toys (blue light) away an hour before bed time. Light flickering, even from the TV can prevent sound sleep.
9. Avoid naps during the day.
10. Focus on relaxing, not sleeping.
11. Earplugs can help.
12. Drink more water during the day. Dehydration can mess with your moods.
13. Avoid sleeping pills and OTC medications.
14. Sleep in pajamas instead of baggy clothes to associate the clothes with sleep.
15. Instead of counting sheep, go to your “happy place” instead.
16. Read one chapter of a book.
17. Face your clock away from you.
18. A glass of milk can help. Contains tryptophan.
19. Laughing more during the day has shown to produce more melatonin.
20. De-clutter your bedroom. Cluttered space/cluttered mind.
21. Studies have shown that wearing socks to sleep can reduce waking during the night.
22. Write out a Gratitude List just before going to sleep.
23. Don’t skimp on spending for quality sheets, bedding or a bed.
24. Lose weight. Exessive weight adds fat blockage in your throat.
25. Stop smoking.
26. Keep pets off the bedding. Animals can share dander, dust and pollen.
27. The bedroom is for sleep and sex. Get your office out of there.
28. Sleep on your left side for better digestion and toxin elimination.