Not everybody is blessed with the ability to always sleep well at night. Poor sleep, or insomnia, may be caused by medical factors such as pain, difficulty in breathing or weakness of the bladder. Poor sleep may also be caused by psychiatric illnesses such as anxiety, depression or psychosis. Poor sleep may result from jet lag, shift work or even advanced age. Finally, some persons sleep poorly for no evident reason
Bigg Boss, the TV show, teaches us the basics of sleep hygiene – essential to maintaining our biological clock. No, I’m not joking. Here are a few suggestions on how to tackle sleep difficulty without the need for medication. As I said, Bigg Boss shows the way.
Fix a wake-up time
It is essential to wake up at the same time everyday – seven days a week. The ideal time would be between 4.00am and 8.00am, but the key here is that it must be one particular time. Let’s say 7.00am works for you – you’ll wake up at (or before) 7.00am EVERYDAY – seven days a week.
During the day
Do not take a nap during the day unless doing so improves your quality of life. If you do so, accept that your night time sleep will be correspondingly shortened. Get some physical exercise on a regular basis, preferably in the morning. Regular exercise improves restful sleep. This includes walking, stretching and aerobic exercise. Note that while moderate physical fatigue can be relaxing, excessive fatigue may cause aches which can interfere with sleep.
A practical way to operationalize this would be: no sleep for 14 hours from the “fixed” wake up time. In the 7.00am example, this would mean you’ll avoid sleep till 9.00pm – irrespective of when or how well you slept the previous night. Remember that you cannot nap during the day in the Bigg Boss house.
Before bedtime
Taper your physical activity towards bedtime; otherwise, you will be too alert to sleep.
It's a healthy habit to have dinner at least two to three hours before bedtime. This will ensure that you don't have a full stomach when you sleep and also prevent acid reflux (heartburn). It is especially important to avoid stimulants such as chocolate, coffee, tea, cocoa and colas. However, a glass of warm milk or a carbohydrate snack just before retiring may help you feel sleepy.
Do not have a cold bath for one to two hours before retiring; this will make you more alert. Do not have a hot bath, either; your body needs to feel cool if you are to fall asleep. Bathing is itself a physical activity which may make you more active and alert.
Before bedtime, avoid debates, arguments or any social activity that makes you irritable or angry. However, casual conversation with a family member can be relaxing.
Avoid mental activity before retiring. Watching an engrossing TV program, playing chess or concentrating on any other task may make you more alert. However, this may not apply to activities that you consider work. For example, attending to your accounts or other paperwork may tire you enough to make you look forward to closing up and going to bed!
Don’t think about emotionally disturbing matters. If you are tense, alert, or irritable, do something that is calming or relaxing in the five to 20 minutes before you retire. This includes meditating, praying, reading, pottering around the house or pursuing any other activity which helps you unwind. Such activities are a useful routine, but become especially important if you are keyed up.
Don’t listen to loud, peppy music. Avoid exposure to bright lights and don’t watch television for the 5-10 minutes or so before you retire. Bright lights will tend to make you more alert.
At bedtime
Retire only when you feel sleepy; if you retire when you feel wide awake, you will toss and turn and find it hard to fall asleep. If you feel sleepy, retire soon; otherwise, your body will slowly become more alert, and you will find it harder to fall asleep. Preferably, sleep in the same place every night. This will help you get conditioned to feeling sleepy when you head for your bed. If you change your sleeping arrangements often, you may take time to adjust to the change before you begin to feel sleepy.
Reduce environmental stimulation in your sleep zone. Use minimum lighting (or none at all), avoid noise, disconnect your phone, and do whatever else is necessary to ensure that there is no disturbance. Some persons find it easier to fall asleep if there is soft music playing. Others find that music captures their attention and keeps them awake. If traffic noise, festival celebration, or other disturbances are inevitable, adopt an accepting attitude and let the sound recede into the background much as you would accept the sound of a ceiling fan. If you resent the sound, your anger and the attention that you pay to it will not allow you to sleep.
Ensure that your pillow and bed are comfortable. Ensure that you are sufficiently warm during winter, and adequately cool during summer. Take measures to minimize pests such as mosquitoes.
Identify bed with sleep. Do not work, read, watch television or work out crossword puzzles while lying in bed. If you can't sleep in 30 minutes, get out of bed. Don't lie awake trying to get sleep any longer than 30 minutes. Do not go to bed for the next one hour.