Insomnia is one of the most difficult conditions that people face on a daily basis. It is often associated with a lack of sleep, but anytime there is a disturbance that is consistent and chronic with a person’s sleeping habits, insomnia is present.
Instead of feeling happy and refreshed in the morning when you get up, you just want to slam your alarm clock into the wall and roll over instead of getting out of bed.
It is estimated that one out of every 10 people struggles with insomnia on a daily basis. If you are that person who is struggling to get a good night’s sleep, then it is important to understand your condition so that it can be fixed.
How To Cure Insomnia Depends On Your Issues
Sometimes you can’t do anything about your insomnia. Just ask the average parent with toddlers and you’ll get very descriptive stories about what life is like when enough sleep isn’t had.
When children are outside of the equation, there are some specific reasons why your sleep routine might be being disrupted. The #1 reason why people are suffering from insomnia today is because of stress.
If you can find a way to cope with the stresses of daily life, then you have the chance of curing your insomnia right away.
There are a lot of ways that you can cope with stress.
Some people like to journal. Others like to use products such as brainwave entrainment. Going for a run or doing some weightlifting at the gym can also prepare your body for sleep later on in the day.
If stress is not the issue, then here are some of the other primary reasons why insomnia tends to develop.
- Feeling hopeless or having symptoms that are similar to depression can cause anxiety that prevents sleep.
- Traumatic experiences that trigger negative memories can keep people awake at night.
- Certain medications have the ability to change the body’s internal clock, making it nearly impossible to get to sleep.
- Taking stimulants, such as the caffeine in coffee, can make it difficult to get to sleep even when someone is feeling tired.
- A lack of vitamin D can actually cause the foundations of insomnia to begin building.
Until the exact cause of a person’s insomnia is discovered, there is a good chance that acute insomnia will become chronic insomnia. Once that happens, good health can quickly turn into bad health.
How Can You Begin To Fix the Problem?
Fixing insomnia takes time. Sleeping pills or alcohol might seem like a good idea when you are in the throes of chronic insomnia, but they do more harm than good.
To change insomnia, you have to change certain components of your life. That’s why using a sleep diary is such an effective option. By keeping track of your habits, you can begin to make connections between why you can’t sleep and what you are doing during the day.
Some habits are so ingrained that we don’t even realize that we are doing some of the things that we do on a daily basis.
When you begin a sleep diary, it is also important to begin sticking to a regular schedule for sleep.
The human body loves a good routine. This is why you get tired at certain times during the evening and wake up at certain times during the morning.
If you can plan your day around the time you go to bed and the time you get up in the morning, you can begin to change the habits that are causing chronic insomnia.
If you give yourself two or three weeks, you will begin to see better sleeping habits start coming your way.
It Is Important To Eliminate the Distractions
If you have a racing mind, then it is important to find a way to quiet it down.
For most people, having a dark and quiet room is the most effective method of obtaining sleep. You may need to find curtains that can keep more exterior light out of the room.
Using earplugs or blindfolds even white noise machines to reduce external stimuli can also help.
Sometimes a higher level of familiarity can create better conditions than a quiet room. Some people really struggle to stay put in a dark and quiet location. It actually causes them more anxiety in the dark and quiet and this can cause higher levels of insomnia.
In these unique circumstances, finding auditory input that is gentle and familiar can lead to a cure for insomnia. One of the best auditory solutions is brainwave entrainment.
Brainwave entrainment incorporates certain sounds with certain soundwaves to tune the mind to a specific frequency.
When the brain is out of sync, it’s a lot like having an uncontrolled electrical charge pulsating through a computer. All of the components are still there, but the increased levels of power make it nearly impossible for the software to boot up.
The sounds of brainwave entrainment help to balance what is going on inside the mind so that real sleep can be achieved.
You Need to Create New Associations
When you are suffering from insomnia, your bedroom can become a dreadful place.
Instead of tranquility and relaxation, it is filled with intense fear. Your mind begins to associate your bedroom in a negative way instead of a positive way.
This has to change before insomnia can be truly cured. It is important to have realistic expectations during this process of change. If you decide to change your associations, but set a goal for 10 hours of sleep your first night, when that is not achieved, failure can create even more negative associations.
Being realistic isn’t just in your expectations, however, because we all tend to exaggerate problems to make those problems seem worse than they really are.
Not every night is the same when you are suffering from insomnia. Just because you don’t get a lot of sleep doesn’t mean you are going to do a lousy job at work the next day.
Your perspective must be as realistic as your goals. If they are not, then it will be more difficult to stop insomnia in its tracks.
At the heart of creating new associations is to start creating positive affirmations.
When insomnia takes over willpower, the average person will have a self-defeating attitude. This creates negative self talk.
The cycle of insomnia then starts over because the negative emotions take over. All of your plans go away because they get lost in the floods of low self-worth
If Nothing Else, Focus On Your Breathing
If you really struggle to replace the “What Ifs” that are keeping you awake at night, then it is important to find a new focus.
A great place to start is to monitor your breathing. Take deep, slow breaths and focus on the feelings of bringing the air into your lungs and expelling it outward.
Think of it like this: you are bringing in the good and releasing the bad. Every breath brings you one step closer to the threshold of a good night’s sleep.
This is the foundation of meditation. This is also why brainwave entrainment works.
As you work toward changing your overall focus, you are also pressing the invisible red reset button of your mind. It’s a lot like turning your computer off and then turning it back on again.
The more you press this reset button, then the more likely you are to start reducing the occurrences of insomnia in your life.
You are more likely to be able to operate at your full capacity.
Daily habits could be contributing to your lack of sleep more than you might believe. If you are accustomed to eating your final meal of the day near bedtime, then you are setting yourself up for insomnia.
The same is true if you drink a cup of coffee after lunch. Caffeine has a shelf life in the human body that can reach 12 hours. Cigarettes and other stimulants contribute to the problem. Avoiding these can help you avoid your insomnia.
Are You Ready To Make Some Changes?
If you are living with insomnia right now, then you have a choice to make. You can either just keep on going with the status quo… or you can decide to make a change.
By establishing rituals that help you wind down and incorporating components like a sleep diary and brainwave entrainment, you can begin to see real changes take place in your life.
Insomnia doesn’t have to rule your life anymore.
Make sure that you establish a routine and make a vow that you won’t get extra sleep or take afternoon naps unless you absolutely need them.
Keep your alcohol intake controlled. Fit in some exercise, but don’t do it right before you plan to go to bed.
By doing enjoyable things that help to relax your mind, you will set yourself up for more sleep success. In doing so, you may just find that you can defeat insomnia once and for all.
You may also be interested in:
1. Best Headphones For Sleeping & Meditation
2. How to Fall Asleep Faster and Easier
3. Home Remedies For Sleeping Problems
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