What Is Sleep And Insomnia?

Everyone needs sleep because lack of sleep can affect our health and wellbeing. Some people spend enough time in bed, but their sleep is not refreshing. And while occasional restless nights are often normal, prolonged insomnia can interfere with daytime function, and may impair concentration, diminish memory, and increase the risk of substance abuse, motor vehicle accidents, headaches, and depression. In a 2002 survey, the National Sleep Foundation found that 58% of adults have trouble sleeping at least a few nights a week.

What is sleep?

Sleep is one of the bodyТs most mysterious processes. The most significant characteristic of sleep which differentiates it from the waking state is the interruption of perception. A sleeping person does not see or hear. Additionally, sleep is marked by decreased movement of the skeletal muscles, slowed-down metabolism, and complex and active brain wave patterns.

There are two major types of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep:

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. It comes and goes throughout the night, and makes up about one fifth of our sleep time. During REM sleep, our brain is very active, our muscles are very relaxed, our eyes move quickly from side to side and we dream.

Non-REM sleep. The brain is quiet, but the body may move around. Hormones are released into the bloodstream and our body repairs itself after the wear and tear of the day. There are 4 stages of non-REM sleep:

• Pre-sleep - the muscles relax, the heart beats slower and body temperature falls.
• Light sleep - we can still be woken easily without feeling confused.
• Slow wave sleep - our blood pressure falls, we may talk in our sleep or sleep walk.
• Deep "slow wave" sleep - we become very hard to wake. If we are woken, we feel confused.

We move between REM and non-REM sleep about five times throughout the night, dreaming more as we get toward the morning. During a normal night, we will also have short periods of waking. These last 1 or 2 minutes and happen every 2 hours or so. We aren't usually aware of them. We are more likely to remember them if we feel anxious or there is something else going on - noises outside, our partner snoring.

Sleep is an important factor in all our lives. Sleep helps the body restore and rejuvenate in many different ways. Sleep enables the brain to encode new information and store it properly. REM sleep activates the parts of the brain that control learning. The parts of the brain that control emotions, decision-making and social interactions slow down dramatically during sleep, allowing optimal performance when awake.

Sleep enables the immune system to function effectively. Without proper sleep, the immune system becomes weak and the body becomes more vulnerable to infection and disease. During sleep muscle tissue is rebuilt and restored.

Children need much more sleep than adults. Growth hormones are released during sleep, so sleep is vital to proper physical and mental development. Tired children are often cranky, fussy and become easily frustrated and difficult.

What is insomnia?

Insomnia is a term used to describe several types of sleeplessness. With insomnia, you experience a significant lack of sleep on a regular or frequent basis. Insomnia usually takes one or more of the following forms:

• Difficulty falling asleep - more common among young people.
• Difficulty maintaining sleep (sleeping lightly and restlessly, waking often, lying awake in the middle of the night) - more common in people over 40. In younger people it may be associated with depression.
• Waking early and being unable to get back to sleep - this is more common in older people and anyone worrying about something in particular.

Types of Insomnia

There are two broad categories:

• Chronic insomnia - lasting for several weeks, months or even years.
• Transient insomnia - lasting for a few nights or weeks only, usually connected to a stressful event.

Chronic insomnia

Chronic insomnia is long-term and may last a month, several months, or years. Chronic insomnia may be caused by either a medical problem, a psychiatric problem, a sleep disorder (sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, etc.), or poor sleep hygiene. Self help may solve the poor sleep habits, but professional help may be necessary for sleep disorders or for underlying medical or psychiatric problems.

Transient/Acute Insomnia

The most common type of insomnia is transient (acute) insomnia. Transient insomnia lasts from one night to a few weeks and is often caused by an emotional or physical discomfort. Typical factors include stress, attempting to sleep in a new place, changes in time zones, changing bedtimes due to shift work, environmental disturbances such as noise, light and temperature.

Insomnia is also classified into primary and secondary insomnia.

Primary insomnia is insomnia that is not caused by other health problems. This is the most common type of insomnia.

Secondary insomnia is a symptom of another underlying condition that causes the insomnia. When you receive effective treatment for the underlying condition, the insomnia usually goes away.

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

The amount of sleep each person needs depends on many factors, including age. Some people find that they only need 5-6 hours of sleep, while others need 10-11 hours for optimal performance. The average adult functions best with 7-8 hours of sleep a night. However, it is important to consider how much sleep you need on an individual basis. The signs of inadequate sleep are low energy levels, drowsiness, irritability, and poor concentration.

• Infants and Children. Infants require about 16 hours a day. From 6 months to about 3 years, childrenТs sleep requirement decreases to about 14 hours. Young children generally get their sleep from a combination of nighttime sleep and naps.
• Teenagers. Teenagers need about 9 hours of sleep a night. Sleep is crucial for teenagers because it is while they are sleeping that their bodies release a hormone that is essential during their growth spurt.
• Adults. For most adults, 7 to 8 hours a night appears to be the best amount of sleep, although the amount ranges from 5 hours to 10 hours of sleep each day depending on the individual.
• Pregnant Women. Women in the first trimester of pregnancy, and sometimes throughout pregnancy, need significantly more sleep than usual.

People tend to sleep more lightly and for shorter time spans as they get older, although they generally need about the same amount of sleep as they needed in early adulthood. About half of all people over 65 have frequent sleeping problems, such as insomnia, and deep sleep stages in many elderly people often become very short or stop completely.

Taking Care of Insomnia the Natural Way

Every single human being needs sleep. For some, a few hours of daily sleep is enough but for others they will need a lot more, perhaps an average of eight to ten hours minimum so that they can function properly during the day. If they don’t get this amount of daily sleep their professional and social life will be affected. Sleep is essential to any one who wants to lead a healthy and happy life.

Insomnia affects the lives of millions each night depriving them of sleep, which in turn leads to other troubles in their daily lives. The life of an insomniac is definitely not a pleasant life. Night after night of sleeplessness, most would try any method that would promise a night of sound and solid sleep.

Insomnia is usually triggered during a very stressful time in ones life and can easily turn into a continual cycle of sleep deficiency. What usually happens is it disrupts the normal pattern of sleep, and will require great effort on the behalf of the now insomniac to revert back to a normal sleeping pattern. This can be a very tiring and daunting experience.

For those who suffer from insomnia, the most commonly prescribed treatment is sleeping pills. The problem with sleeping pills is that the users can become dependant on them in order to gain some sleep. This dependency is hard to break and often leads to a lifetime of addiction to the sleeping pills. This however is not the only way to treat insomnia as there are many alternative approaches, the main one being traditional medicines, which work just as well.

There are other forms of sleeping tablets which comprise of many different herbs. When taken the effects of the combined herbs in the tablet can put you to sleep just as a normal sleeping tablet, only this is an herbal tablet.

Another one of the most popular traditional treatments for insomnia is herbal teas, such as chamomile tea. This has a soothing and calming effect which can turn your insomnia into a friendly feeling of drowsiness, which quickly overtakes you and puts you to sleep. It is as effective as taking sleeping tablets only this tea is not addictive. Even if it were in the long run it is beneficial to the person’s health rather than damaging as in the case of the chemicals involved with sleeping tablets.

An ancient remedy which many people turn to when they have to put up with insomnia is to drink a glass of warm milk. Milk contains a chemical named tryptophan which is a type of amino acid that gets released when milk is heated. This chemical relaxes the body and helps you to drift off to sleep. Besides being a natural cure for insomnia, milk also has the advantage of being a significant source of calcium.

Insomnia or lack of sleep can change a person's life in many ways. A regular sleep pattern is very essential so a person can function to the best of their capacity. By taking advantage of the natural remedies mentioned, the troubled sleeper will once again find rest and ease without risking their health.

Sleep And Insomnia by Yury Bayarski

Everyone needs sleep because lack of sleep can affect our health and wellbeing. Some people spend enough time in bed, but their sleep is not refreshing. And while occasional restless nights are often normal, prolonged insomnia can interfere with daytime function, and may impair concentration, diminish memory, and increase the risk of substance abuse, motor vehicle accidents, headaches, and depression. In a 2002 survey, the National Sleep Foundation found that 58% of adults have trouble sleeping at least a few nights a week.
What is sleep?
Sleep is one of the bodyТs most mysterious processes. The most significant characteristic of sleep which differentiates it from the waking state is the interruption of perception. A sleeping person does not see or hear. Additionally, sleep is marked by decreased movement of the skeletal muscles, slowed-down metabolism, and complex and active brain wave patterns.
There are two major types of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep:
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. It comes and goes throughout the night, and makes up about one fifth of our sleep time. During REM sleep, our brain is very active, our muscles are very relaxed, our eyes move quickly from side to side and we dream.
Non-REM sleep. The brain is quiet, but the body may move around. Hormones are released into the bloodstream and our body repairs itself after the wear and tear of the day. There are 4 stages of non-REM sleep:
Pre-sleep - the muscles relax, the heart beats slower and body temperature falls.
Light sleep - we can still be woken easily without feeling confused.
Slow wave sleep - our blood pressure falls, we may talk in our sleep or sleep walk.
Deep "slow wave" sleep - we become very hard to wake. If we are woken, we feel confused.
We move between REM and non-REM sleep about five times throughout the night, dreaming more as we get toward the morning. During a normal night, we will also have short periods of waking. These last 1 or 2 minutes and happen every 2 hours or so. We aren't usually aware of them. We are more likely to remember them if we feel anxious or there is something else going on - noises outside, our partner snoring.
Sleep is an important factor in all our lives. Sleep helps the body restore and rejuvenate in many different ways. Sleep enables the brain to encode new information and store it properly. REM sleep activates the parts of the brain that control learning. The parts of the brain that control emotions, decision-making and social interactions slow down dramatically during sleep, allowing optimal performance when awake.
Sleep enables the immune system to function effectively. Without proper sleep, the immune system becomes weak and the body becomes more vulnerable to infection and disease. During sleep muscle tissue is rebuilt and restored.
Children need much more sleep than adults. Growth hormones are released during sleep, so sleep is vital to proper physical and mental development. Tired children are often cranky, fussy and become easily frustrated and difficult.
What is insomnia?
Insomnia is a term used to describe several types of sleeplessness. With insomnia, you experience a significant lack of sleep on a regular or frequent basis. Insomnia usually takes one or more of the following forms:
Difficulty falling asleep - more common among young people.
Difficulty maintaining sleep (sleeping lightly and restlessly, waking often, lying awake in the middle of the night) - more common in people over 40. In younger people it may be associated with depression.
Waking early and being unable to get back to sleep - this is more common in older people and anyone worrying about something in particular.
Types of Insomnia
There are two broad categories:
Chronic insomnia - lasting for several weeks, months or even years.
Transient insomnia - lasting for a few nights or weeks only, usually connected to a stressful event.
Chronic insomnia
Chronic insomnia is long-term and may last a month, several months, or years. Chronic insomnia may be caused by either a medical problem, a psychiatric problem, a sleep disorder (sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, etc.), or poor sleep hygiene. Self help may solve the poor sleep habits, but professional help may be necessary for sleep disorders or for underlying medical or psychiatric problems.
Transient/Acute Insomnia
The most common type of insomnia is transient (acute) insomnia. Transient insomnia lasts from one night to a few weeks and is often caused by an emotional or physical discomfort. Typical factors include stress, attempting to sleep in a new place, changes in time zones, changing bedtimes due to shift work, environmental disturbances such as noise, light and temperature.
Insomnia is also classified into primary and secondary insomnia.
Primary insomnia is insomnia that is not caused by other health problems. This is the most common type of insomnia.
Secondary insomnia is a symptom of another underlying condition that causes the insomnia. When you receive effective treatment for the underlying condition, the insomnia usually goes away.
How Much Sleep Do You Need?
The amount of sleep each person needs depends on many factors, including age. Some people find that they only need 5-6 hours of sleep, while others need 10-11 hours for optimal performance. The average adult functions best with 7-8 hours of sleep a night. However, it is important to consider how much sleep you need on an individual basis. The signs of inadequate sleep are low energy levels, drowsiness, irritability, and poor concentration.
Infants and Children. Infants require about 16 hours a day. From 6 months to about 3 years, childrenТs sleep requirement decreases to about 14 hours. Young children generally get their sleep from a combination of nighttime sleep and naps.
Teenagers. Teenagers need about 9 hours of sleep a night. Sleep is crucial for teenagers because it is while they are sleeping that their bodies release a hormone that is essential during their growth spurt.
Adults. For most adults, 7 to 8 hours a night appears to be the best amount of sleep, although the amount ranges from 5 hours to 10 hours of sleep each day depending on the individual.
Pregnant Women. Women in the first trimester of pregnancy, and sometimes throughout pregnancy, need significantly more sleep than usual.
People tend to sleep more lightly and for shorter time spans as they get older, although they generally need about the same amount of sleep as they needed in early adulthood. About half of all people over 65 have frequent sleeping problems, such as insomnia, and deep sleep stages in many elderly people often become very short or stop completely.

Eight Tips to Help You Cure Insomnia by Abbas Abedi

Insomnia is described as difficulty in falling asleep or difficulty to achieve continuous sleep. It is not a disease or diagnosis but a symptom. An average person experiences insomnia at least once in their life. It was found that 30-50% of people are insomniacs.
All age groups are affected by insomnia. Its incidence increases as age increases because stress is the most common cause of insomnia. Furthermore, women are more affected by this than men.
The cure for insomnia involves activities that would promote sleep and reduce stimulation. Several activities are advised to the insomniacs to prepare their body for sleep.
1. Exercise regularly. Studies have shown that regular exercise helps the body with its sleeping problems. It is generally important to attain optimal health. It is important to stress that exercise should be made early in the morning and not immediately before sleeping.
2. Avoid heavy meals and lots of fluids before going to bed. Large meals could lead to indigestion while a lot of fluids will increase the incidence of having to get up to urinate in the middle of the night
3. Maintain a peaceful and comfortable environment. During bedtime, turn off the lights, turn off anything that could create noise, and be sure you are comfortable with the room temperature. These factors affect sleep. Remove the clock from sight because it will contribute to your anxiety and frustration when you can't fall asleep.
The following are excellent tips to put an end to your sleepless nights.
1. Decrease ingestion of stimulant-containing substances such as tea, coffee, alcohol, and cigarettes. Stimulants increase alertness, which are not needed during sleep.
2. Eat a very light carbohydrate snack before bedtime; or better yet, drink warm milk
3. Take a warm bath 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime. The immediate effect of a warm bath is sedation. When the bath is taken more than an hour before bedtime, an arousing effect would occur instead of a sedating one. Furthermore, warmth relieves body tension.
4. Stop watching TV, reading, or engaging in any mind-stimulating activities at least an hour before bedtime. These activities tend to prolong your wakefulness.
5. Use only your bed for sleeping (and sex). This will help your body associate your bed to just sleep. Thus, when you lie on your bed, it is a signal that it is time to sleep.
6. Engage in relaxation activities: listening to music, deep breathing exercises, meditation, etc. These activities slow down body processes and help the body to relax. Both functions aid the body in falling asleep.
7. Clear your mind. Remove all concerns and worries from your mind. You can do this through writing your thoughts and ideas in a journal.
8. Do not take naps. Try to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday. Taking naps will only disrupt your biological clock. On the other hand, sleeping and waking up at the same time everyday will help your body set your biological clock.
Through following these tips, a good night's sleep is very much attainable. Remember that sleep is essential for the body's growth and repair. Insomnia is not something that occurs naturally in your body. Thus, it must be treated.
If the mentioned tips do not cure or even minimize the insomnia or if insomnia is quite bothering you for a long time, do not hesitate to consult a doctor

8 Simple Remedies To Beat Insomnia by Sue Jan

Insomnia affects millions around the world. Sleep is fundamental to every human being for a healthy way of life. Without regular sleep, people are not able to function properly. Some may only need a few hours of sleep a night, but most generally need a minimum of eight hours to function properly during the day, without which their health, life, work and relationships suffer. There are many ways to combat insomnia:
* What you eat during the day for breakfast, lunch or dinner could be the cause of insomnia. Change your diet to include food that helps the body relax and fall asleep, such as lemons, whole grain breads, and milk. Milk, in particular, once heated is quite effective, as it releases a chemical called tryptophan that relaxes the body and helps you sleep.
* Drinking herbal tea before bed is also said to have a soothing effect on the body.
* Try waking up earlier in the morning in order to force your body's internal clock to adjust. With this shortened sleep schedule, you will tire earlier at night so that you are ready to hit the sack by your regular bedtime.
* Taking afternoon naps may disrupt your sleep at night so it is a good idea to cut out the nap and instead exercise or do some other activities.
* Certain exercises help you to sleep better at night. Non-strenuous exercises such yoga help, and so do walking and swimming as long as you do them in a non-vigorous, relaxing and leisurely manner. It is also better to do these exercises early on in the day and not after late afternoon. On the other hand, strenuous exercises that energize and gets the adrenaline pumping makes it very hard for you to get a good night's rest.
* Television may adversely affect your sleep especially when you watch something thrilling or scary. These types of shows tend to get the body all pumped up with adrenaline, making it difficult to calm down and go to sleep. Instead of watching TV before bedtime, you could instead try unwinding by reading a book, listening to soft music, or playing a card game.
* Taking a warm bath helps to relax your muscles and body, and helps you get a good night's rest.
* Certain soothing sounds seem to enhance the desire to sleep, in particular, the sound of nature such as the sound of water flowing in a river, or of birds chirping. Soothing music also seems to help, especially relaxing and repetitive music.
Making these positive changes in your daily habits is a step in the right direction towards beating insomnia. With these simple but effective remedies, you will once again get the rest you need for a healthy body and mind.

How to Improve Sleep Without Sleeping Pills by Yury Bayarski

Insomnia is a term used to describe several types of sleeplessness. With insomnia, you experience a significant lack of sleep on a regular or frequent basis. Insomnia is not really a serious health problem, but it can make you feel tired, depressed and irritable. It can also make it hard to concentrate during the day.
Causes of Insomnia
The most common causes of insomnia are:
Anxiety. Everyday anxieties as well as severe anxiety disorders may keep your mind too alert to fall asleep.
Stress. Concerns about work, school, health or family can keep your mind too active, making you unable to relax.
Depression is one of the most common causes of chronic insomnia.
Learned insomnia (expecting to have difficulty sleeping and worrying about it). If you sleep poorly, you may worry about not being able to function well during the day. You may try harder to sleep at night, but unfortunately this effort can make you more alert, set off a new round of worried thoughts, and cause more sleep loss.
Hormonal changes in women. Menstruation, menopause and pregnancy can trigger insomnia.
Decreased melatonin. To feel sleepy your brain needs to produce a chemical called melatonin, a natural sedative.
Physical health problems. These include sleep apnea (abnormal breathing while asleep), asthma, hyperthyroidism, tinnitus, arthritis, congestive heart failure, pain, prostate problems that mean frequent trips to the toilet at night, and indigestion.
Pain. Some types of pain (muscle, bone, organ pain) can be key insomnia causes.
Sleep related disorders. These include sleep apnea and periodic leg and arm movements during sleep (in which one's muscles excessively twitch or jerk). Sleep apnea, may affect people who breathe normally while they are awake. Breathing related sleep problems are most common in men, snorers, overweight people, and older adults.
Jet lag. Air travel across time zones often causes insomnia.
Working the night shift or long shifts. About 60-70% of all shift workers develop sleep disturbances.
Medications. Drugs that may contribute to insomnia: corticosteroids, decongestants (pseudoephedrine), beta blockers, diuretics given at bedtime, oral contraceptives, antidepressants (Bupropion, Prozac), appetite suppressants (Meridia, Fastin), thyroid hormone, and amphetamines. Insomnia also may be the result of withdrawal from benzodiazepines (Valium, Librium, Ativan), antihistamines, amphetamines, cocaine, and marijuana.
Caffeine intake. Caffeine blocks the chemical that promotes sleep.
Nicotine use. Nicotine is a central nervous system stimulant that can cause insomnia.
Alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, so a "nightcap" may help some people to fall asleep initially, but it also contributes to frequent awakenings, nightmares and poor quality of sleep. A bedtime drink can also stimulate some people by raising epinephrine levels, thus making it harder to settle down to sleep. Alcohol can also worsen snoring and other breathing disorders.
Noise. Excessive noise outside your bedroom, on the street or because of noisy neighbors.
Light. Light affects your brainТs production of the hormones that regulate sleep rhythms. Too much light in the bedroom can keep your body from deep sleep.
Extreme temperatures.
Napping. Daytime napping will affect nighttime relaxation.
Eating too much too late in the evening. Eating heavy, spicy, or high-sugar foods at night may cause indigestion.
Sedentary lifestyle.
How to Improve Sleep Without Sleeping Pills
Insomnia is usually treatable whether it is a symptom of a disease or a condition itself. Strategies to improve sleep:
Establish a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including weekends, even if you didn't get enough sleep. This will help train your body to sleep at night.
Develop sleep rituals. Follow the same bedtime routine, such as having a warm drink or a light snack, reading something soothing or listening to relaxing music. Let your body know you're getting ready to sleep.
Don't spend too much time in bed. Once you wake, get out of bed. An excess of time in bed rather than sleep time may cause poor sleep in the future.
Don't eat a heavy meal late in the day. If you eat a heavy meal before bedtime, it can interfere with sleep.
Bedtime snacks. Have a light snack before bed. If your stomach is too empty, that can interfere with sleep. Dairy products and turkey contain tryptophan, which acts as a natural sleep inducer. Tryptophan is probably why a warm glass of milk is sometimes recommended.
Avoid or limit caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol late in the day. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants and can keep you from falling asleep. Although alcohol can make you relax and fall asleep, the relaxed feeling wears off, making you wake up in the early hours of the morning, feeling alert. Alcohol can also cause snoring which can disturb your sleep and that of others.
Don't drink fluids just before bedtime.
Gradually decrease mental and physical activity before going to bed.
Sleep environment. Proper sleep environment can contribute to a good night's sleep. Keep the bedroom cool, well ventilated, quiet, and dark. An ideal environment for sleep is free of computers, fax machines and work projects.
Associate your bed and bedroom with sleep. Don't watch TV or read in bed. Although these things help some people sleep, they can also give your brain the idea that bed isn't just for sleeping - and this can keep you awake.
Don't go to bed until you are sleepy. If you can't sleep, get up, go into another room and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy. If you can't fall asleep for more than 15-20 minutes get up and read or do something that is not overly stimulating until you feel sleepy.
Light. Keep lights low before bedtime. To feel sleepy your brain needs to produce a chemical called melatonin, a natural sedative. Being in a brightly lit room or in front of the computer makes it harder for your brain to produce melatonin, and this delays the drowsy feeling that helps you sleep.
Naps. Try not to nap, especially in the evening, because naps may make you less sleepy at night.
Do not look at the alarm clock or watch during the night.
Get regular exercise. Exercising during the day encourages drowsiness at bedtime. The best time to exercise is in the daytime - particularly late afternoon or early evening. Exercising later than this may disturb your sleep.
Relax before going to bed. Follow a routine to help relax and wind down before sleep, such as reading a book, listening to music, or taking a bath.

The 8 Mistakes Most Insomniacs Make by Tony Strecker

As a result of "Learned Insomnia", people usually try to re-cooperate by taking actions to work around their Insomnia. All these actions actually make Insomnia worse, by drastically weakening the sleep system and perpetuating it instead of solving the problem; because they do not attack the "cause" of Insomnia, only its symptoms.
Here are some of these actions, you'll probably notice what you're doing right now falls somewhere on to this list. Being aware of these actions and their effects will give you a better perspective on your Insomnia
1. Taking Sleeping Pills As you will soon see in the next section, this is the death rattle, which in most cases turns Insomnia into a life long condition. We'll explore all the effects of pills on Insomnia in the next section.
2. Going to bed early, and sleeping late on weekends to "Make up Sleep" This makes Insomnia even more likely to happen as you are putting your body temperature levels out of wack. Creating the same effect that jet lag produces. This weakens your body's natural sleep system. You will also limit your exposure to sunlight, which plays a key role in your melatonin hormone levels.
3. Trying to "make up" sleep with long naps during the day. This also weakens your body's natural sleep response, as you will be less likely to fall asleep later. Naps are Okay, and actually part of a way to cure Insomnia, only if you take them properly, as I'll show you later on.
4. Eating large amounts of food, sugar, or candy before going to sleep to try to make yourself sleepy or tired. Doing this does not solve the "cause" of insomnia, which is a weakened sleep system and a non-responsive "natural sleep response". You may feel sleepy, but you will still wake up Un-rested. Nearly all the sugar you eat is turned into fat by your body, will in turn can create risk of Sleep Apnea.
5. Drinking alcohol before going to bed to induce sleep. Many people think that drinking a glass of wine before bed is a good idea. It might make you feel sleepy but the disadvantages are many. Alcohol dehydrates your body, making it more likely you will wake up during the night thirsty for water. You will also most likely feel Un-rested, drowsy, and dis-oriented the next day(hang-over). Drinking Alcohol before bed will also increase fat gain drastically.
CAUTION: Alcohol should NEVER be combined with sleeping pills, it is extremely dangerous, and it has and can cause death.
6. Not exercising, and using your "lack of sleep" as an excuse not to exercise. Lack of exercise plays a key-role in chronic Insomnia. Not exercising due to Insomnia only makes the Insomnia Cycle stronger; not exercising weakens the natural sleep response, as well as the sleep system. Not exercising weakens your metabolism, weakening your heart, creating respiratory problems, making you more likely to wake up during the night, or suffer from sleep apnea.
7. Trying to force sleep This will only increase your anxiety and frustration, weakening the "natural sleep response", and making the "SLEEP = PAIN" anchor stronger and more apparent for your mind.
8. Reading a Book or Watching TV in Bed to Induce Sleepiness Not only does watching TV or reading keep your "conscious" racing mind active, it also diminishes the "natural sleep response." As this supports the negative anchor in your mind that the process of falling asleep is something you have to AVOID. The more awake time you spend in your bed, the more your mind associates that the BED = AWAKE. SLEEP = PAIN.