Insomnia in the modern world has become a real epidemic – many are “office lifestyles”, suffer from physical inactivity, glut of information, stress and overwork. How to improve sleep and feel rested in the morning? Insomnia has many forms – some wake up several times a night, others – for no apparent reason cannot sleep until dawn, sleep in fragments or wake up long before the alarm clock rings.
What causes sleep to be disturbed?
The main culprits of insomnia are stresses, “chronic fatigue” and depression. To get rid of insomnia, first you need to adjust the rhythm of life – to stop working for 10-12 hours, not to take work at home, have a regular rest (and on weekends and on vacation), solve problems, and if it does not work out – change your attitude to him and thereby reduce stress.
Insomnia can also be short-lived, for example, when a person is tormented and not allowed to relax unfinished business, anxieties, worries and unresolved issues.
If insomnia in your life is not a permanent phenomenon, then it is worthwhile to become aware of the causes of internal excitement and all offenses, problems and experiences.
Also on the list of good sleep enemies are alcohol, tobacco, and birth control pills: some of them destroy vitamin B in the body, causing sleep to be disturbed.
What to do?
Specialists develop entire programs to help get rid of insomnia, but they are used in especially neglected cases when you need to see a doctor.
But you can fight insomnia yourself – we offer simple and effective means and tips to help you quickly relax, forget about your daily worries and fall asleep:
- Sleep at least 8 hours! It is this amount that is considered optimal for maintaining youth, beauty and health, both physical and mental. And do not count on the weekend, when “you can sleep.” Firstly, it’s impossible to compensate for a weekly lack of sleep in two days, and secondly, on a decisive night from Sunday to Monday you cannot sleep normally, because your body will not be able to relax when confused with a shower.
- Awakening at the right time. Scientists have found that if you wake a person during a slow sleep, it will be harder for him to adapt to active day life, and he will be sluggish and tired all day. But the awakening from the fast phase, similar to waking, will be easy, even if you slept less than usual. Calculate how long you need to set the alarm is not so difficult. According to scientists, a full sleep cycle lasts an hour and a half: it begins with a slow phase and ends faster. It remains only to calculate your schedule. Suppose you go to bed around twelve, which means that the first fast sleep will come to an end at 1:30, the next – at 3 nights, then at 4:30, and so until the morning. That is, the alarm should be set to 7:30 or 9:00.
- Sports – only 6 hours before bedtime. Physical activity excites the nervous system, therefore, in order not to reduce the time of night rest, you need to finish all workouts no later than 6 hours before bedtime. And try not to neglect the morning exercises.
- Proper evening snack. The correct menu in the evening should consist of soothing carbohydrates, and oddly enough, these are buns, cakes and cereals – they are considered the best sleeping pills. You can eat a little – the main thing is not to overdo it and not to cause damage to the figure! And losing weight can drink a little kefir or eat cottage cheese.
- Refusal of the TV in favor of the book. Watching TV or a movie before bed is the worst thing a person who suffers from insomnia. Never look at night thrillers, action films, horror films and fiction. The black list includes tearful melodramas and funny romantic comedies. Though they do not frighten, they excite the imagination no less than a horror film. If you want to relax – read, but the book should choose a calm one.
- Scented herbal bath. If you take a bath before going to bed and add herbal decoction to it, then the dream will come quickly, be strong and pleasant. You can take a bath in an hour after dinner. Temperature – 37-38 degrees. For herbal soothing bath it is best to use 50 g of infusion of calendula, lemon balm, oregano. We do not recommend taking a bath for more than 20 minutes. By the way, and without additives, the bath is an excellent tool for relaxation and stress relief.
- Pillow with herbs. It is better to do it individually, based on your own tastes – you should like the inhaled aromas. You can stuff a cushion with crushed hop cones, chamomile, pine needles, hazel – these plants contain essential oils, which, when inhaled, soothe and put to sleep. The bag of herbs itself can be put both around the head and under the pillow.
- Dill tea. Dill has many useful properties, among them – the fight against insomnia. Tea recipe: pour 1 tbsp. l crushed grass with a glass of boiling water and infused for about two hours. If there is no fresh dill, you can use 2 tsp. ground seeds. You need to drink half a glass 3 times a day before meals and 1 glass for the night.
Dill contains essential oils that relieve stress and promote good sleep. Also, the infusion of dill herb improves appetite and helps with the initial stage of hypertension, and the infused dill seeds are a good expectorant and carminative agent. - Tincture of wormwood. Wormwood – the best way to fight insomnia. The recipe is simple: 1–2 tbsp. l roots or grass wormwood insist in 2 cups boiling water for 2 hours. Drink before bedtime.
Also, the tincture can be prepared in another way: the seeds are crushed in a coffee grinder, pour vegetable oil in the ratio of 1: 4, insist 1 week in a dark place, shaking daily. After that, the oil must be filtered. It is recommended to take 1–2 drops on a piece of sugar 2–4 times a day to calm and relieve tension, for the hypnotic effect the dose should be increased by 3–5 times.
- Infusion of valerian. Recipe: put 2 tbsp. l dry chopped roots and rhizomes of valerian in an enamel pan, pour 0.5 liters of boiling water, stand under a lid in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Insist until cooling, strain, squeeze the remains in the infusion, add boiled water to the original volume. Take 1 tbsp. l during the day, and at night – half a glass.
If there is no time or opportunity to prepare the infusion, simply brew the roots of valerian, like tea, and drink half a cup just before bedtime.
It is necessary to take this infusion with caution, since an overdose of valerian gives the opposite effect: a person is overstimulated, there can be no question of any kind of sleep and peace. - Proper arrangement of the bed. First, in bed you can not read, because this place should be associated only with sleep. Secondly, bed linen plays a big role. Luxurious silk lingerie looks advantageous only in the movies, but in fact it is uncomfortable, cold and slippery. For a good sleep, it is best to choose bed linen made of cotton, flax, poplin.
Thirdly, it is important that the bed let in air, therefore it is better to refuse fluff, giving preference to woolen underwear or with bamboo filler. - Do not worry! The most important thing for successful struggle with insomnia is to stop taking it to heart. After all, the harm to the body is caused not so much by insomnia itself, as by constant experiences because of it.