- Understanding your chronotype- You need to understand what is your chronotype before you label yourself as an insomniac. If you belong to the category of night owl and you go to bed early trying to sleep it will be difficult cause you are going against your chronotype. Hence, it is very important first to figure out when do you function better during mornings or evenings. Figure out your chronotype and try to work accordingly it will do miracles to your life.
- Abdominal breathing- The best and most simplest exercise before you start preparing yourself to sleep engage with abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing. Lie down flat on your back with your knees bend and place your one palm on your navel and other palm turned upwards away from your body. Now, close your eyes and inhaling observe for 5 breaths how your belly moves with every breath. Next breaths make sure inhaling your abdomen moves out and exhaling moves back in.inhaling abdomen out and exhaling abdomen in. Doing this continuously for 10 to 15 breaths will automatically stimulate your relaxing system in your body. It tells your brain it’s time to slow down and move into a tranquil state. You could practice this at this present moment and feel the change of peace.
- Regular wake up and sleep time- When your body clock is fixed and you have fixed wake up and sleep cycle it gives a beautiful aid in your sleep pattern. Brain and body know it’s time to sleep.
- Dark- As it’s time for you to sleep dim the lights of your home and create an ambient environment telling your eyes and brain it’s time to sleep. Staying away from blue lights television, laptops, phones at least 1 hour before your sleep would stimulate the night time hormone to get released. Sit in a room which is pitch dark 15 minutes before you sleep, your eyes benefits from darkness and secrete melatonin.
- Cool- Make sure the environmental temperature is cooler along with the core body temperature being dropped by 2degrees C. Hot showers before you sleep will dissipate the heat away from core to extremities and lower your core body temperature. Thus, creating an optimal environment to induce sleep.
- Detachment- Close your ears with your thumb and place other 4 fingers on your face covering your eyelashes and other fingers gently around your nose and lips. Do this for 3 to 4 minutes everyday before sleeping. Doing this practice will make you understand the power of detachment in the most profound way.
- Avoid caffeine specially after mid -day- caffeine which includes both your tea and coffee are stimulant. If you consume coffee or tea around 7pm and go to sleep at 11pm only 50% of coffee has been washed out. When you sleep with effect of stimulant still in your body it doesn’t reach its depth. There is light deep and dream state but with the residual of the stimulant in the system you don’t enjoy the deep state of N~REM sleep. In the morning when you wake up there is a feeling of lethargy and drowsiness and you need something external to wake you up. Again you add coffee or tea and keep increasing from one cup to two eventually and the vicious cycle continues.
- Brake pedal to your thoughts ~ Doing practices like reflection which simply means objectively observing your day from morning to night without any judgement keeping your eyes closed. When your mind is directed into something the constant chatter comes to halt. Reflection reduces the number of thoughts and teaches you the art of detachment as you keep doing it on regular basis. It also enhances your memory which gives an added advantage.
- Alcohol~ It is the most misunderstood sleep aid. It is only knocking out your cortex in your brain and sedating you more quickly so loose consciousness and not going into natural sleep. You will wake up more quickly and sleep will be consolidated and not go into the dream state. There is no R.E.M sleep cycle under the influence of alcohol.
- Gratitude journal~ Before sleeping writing or simply thinking about all things in your life you are grateful for creates a beautiful preparation for sleep. Expressing gratitude for being alive, having eyesight to see beautiful things around, all our 5 sensory organs, arms and legs, beautiful heart and lungs functioning and working so hard for oxygen and blood movement, abdominal organs stomach liver spleen pancreas and so on.. when we express gratitude to this beautiful and most intelligent machine~our body every cell is listening and opening up. Gratitude could extend to your family, home, friends, breath, work, 5 elements~ air, water, fire, space, earth. Go to sleep with the thoughts of abundance and blessings in your life.
- Food shifts the energy before sleeping~When you consume a pill or food before you sleep you change the course of the bodily cycle. In the phase of restoration and repair if you put in something body starts to work on breaking down in other metabolising. You halt the repair way and reduce the time of recuperation and disturb the sleep cycle again. Don’t go to sleep with a heavy meal immediately.
- Go to bed only when you are sleepy~Read a book, meditate, do breath works anything that you feel will stimulate the sleep or relax you but not in your bedroom. Your brain and body should know that bed is meant for sleeping and not tossing and trying to sleep. Never stay in bed awake.
Being aware of your thoughts during the day, creating space in the body by stretches, exposing to fresh air and sunlight during the day will create a powerful night sleep and an even more beautiful start to the next morning.