For millions of years, humans have gone to sleep and awoken with the setting and rising of the sun.
This natural circadian rhythm (from Latin: circa, meaning "around"; and dia, meaning "day") has become ingrained in our very biology, so that it governs not only sleeping and waking patterns, but also the time of hormone release, brain wave patterns, cellular repair and regeneration.
However, the last few hundred years have seen this cycle violently disrupted as electric lights have allowed us to work and play late into the night, such that often we are rarely asleep before midnight.
Today, an incredibly 75% of us suffer from some form of sleeping problem-how can something so natural and restorative be so problematic? In this article I'll look at some excellent ways to remedy the situation, and hopefully help you get a better night's sleep from now on.
One of the simplest ways to help ensure a good night's sleep is to make your bedroom literally that-a place for your bed, a place where you go to sleep, and nothing else.
Too often people put televisions and computers in their bedrooms, creating opportunities for distraction, entertainment and reasons to stay awake.
Clutter can spill out everywhere, making your bedroom feel crammed, busy, energetic, all wrong things for your achieving peace and quiet.
Clear out your room! Remove everything you don't need, starting with digital forms of entertainment to clutter.
The cleaner and emptier it is, the more easily you'll fall asleep.
Second, try to adopt constant bed and wake up times.
Our bodies respond wonderfully to habit, and can be trained to adapt to a new rhythm if we adhere to it long enough, but by constantly switching from one routine to another, our body is unable to adapt and begin to enjoy the benefits of systematic brain wave regulation.
Remember, our bodies release melatonin when things are dark, so dim the lights before trying to go to sleep, and remove all sources of illumination from your room if you can't turn them off completely.
You should also try to phase into sleep and wakefulness, and not treat the process as an 'on/off' switch.
By slowing down the pace of your night, by cutting back on stimulation, you prepare yourself to sleep.
Watching television or playing video games until the last minute will keep your mind stimulated and keyed up, with spikes of cortisol pumping through your system such that when you lie down, you'll be tossing and turning for a long time, waiting for your system to cool.
If however you spend the last half hour before bed reading fiction, or doing some other quiet, meditative work, your body will slow down naturally, and drop off into sleep with pleasure.
Waking should also be more of a gradual process-a blaring alarm clock and only five minutes to get out the door will start your day off with adrenaline and more cortisol, wearing you out in the long term and proving unhealthy.
Try to time it so you have a few moments to get out of bed, to get ready.
Don't sprint! Finally, be aware of what you're eating before you got to bed.
Carbs or desserts will dump a lot of sugar into your system, resulting in a rush that will energize you just as you're supposed to be going to sleep.
Instead, try to have a meal that's mostly protein and veggies, and if you're a wine drinker you can perhaps accompany it with a glass of red wine.
Chamomile tea is also a mild, natural sedative, and can help you prepare for the night's rest.
But remember: avoid sugars! They'll only jazz you up, and make falling asleep impossible.
So there you go.
A blend of the above should help you resolve most of your difficulties.
If they don't, you should begin to examine your diet and exercise routines more closely.
Try not to automatically reach out for prescription medication-there are easier, healthier routes to take!
This natural circadian rhythm (from Latin: circa, meaning "around"; and dia, meaning "day") has become ingrained in our very biology, so that it governs not only sleeping and waking patterns, but also the time of hormone release, brain wave patterns, cellular repair and regeneration.
However, the last few hundred years have seen this cycle violently disrupted as electric lights have allowed us to work and play late into the night, such that often we are rarely asleep before midnight.
Today, an incredibly 75% of us suffer from some form of sleeping problem-how can something so natural and restorative be so problematic? In this article I'll look at some excellent ways to remedy the situation, and hopefully help you get a better night's sleep from now on.
One of the simplest ways to help ensure a good night's sleep is to make your bedroom literally that-a place for your bed, a place where you go to sleep, and nothing else.
Too often people put televisions and computers in their bedrooms, creating opportunities for distraction, entertainment and reasons to stay awake.
Clutter can spill out everywhere, making your bedroom feel crammed, busy, energetic, all wrong things for your achieving peace and quiet.
Clear out your room! Remove everything you don't need, starting with digital forms of entertainment to clutter.
The cleaner and emptier it is, the more easily you'll fall asleep.
Second, try to adopt constant bed and wake up times.
Our bodies respond wonderfully to habit, and can be trained to adapt to a new rhythm if we adhere to it long enough, but by constantly switching from one routine to another, our body is unable to adapt and begin to enjoy the benefits of systematic brain wave regulation.
Remember, our bodies release melatonin when things are dark, so dim the lights before trying to go to sleep, and remove all sources of illumination from your room if you can't turn them off completely.
You should also try to phase into sleep and wakefulness, and not treat the process as an 'on/off' switch.
By slowing down the pace of your night, by cutting back on stimulation, you prepare yourself to sleep.
Watching television or playing video games until the last minute will keep your mind stimulated and keyed up, with spikes of cortisol pumping through your system such that when you lie down, you'll be tossing and turning for a long time, waiting for your system to cool.
If however you spend the last half hour before bed reading fiction, or doing some other quiet, meditative work, your body will slow down naturally, and drop off into sleep with pleasure.
Waking should also be more of a gradual process-a blaring alarm clock and only five minutes to get out the door will start your day off with adrenaline and more cortisol, wearing you out in the long term and proving unhealthy.
Try to time it so you have a few moments to get out of bed, to get ready.
Don't sprint! Finally, be aware of what you're eating before you got to bed.
Carbs or desserts will dump a lot of sugar into your system, resulting in a rush that will energize you just as you're supposed to be going to sleep.
Instead, try to have a meal that's mostly protein and veggies, and if you're a wine drinker you can perhaps accompany it with a glass of red wine.
Chamomile tea is also a mild, natural sedative, and can help you prepare for the night's rest.
But remember: avoid sugars! They'll only jazz you up, and make falling asleep impossible.
So there you go.
A blend of the above should help you resolve most of your difficulties.
If they don't, you should begin to examine your diet and exercise routines more closely.
Try not to automatically reach out for prescription medication-there are easier, healthier routes to take!
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