4 Tips for Better Sleep at Night
By Stephen R. Farris
For most of us, getting a good night's sleep can be challenging. There are a lot of factors involved, ranging from weird work hours, or following up work with taking night classes, then studying, or taking care of the family when you get home. That's enough to make you want to fall asleep, but for some reason it doesn't.
If you're having difficulty falling asleep at night, then you might try some of these remedies to see if they will help you drift off to the land of slumber.
Breathing Technique
Here's a method that may help you fall asleep. It's called the 4-7-8 method, developed by Dr. Andrew Weil. Basically, it involves 6 steps to help control your breathing so your nervous system becomes more calm. This method can also help you if you're experiencing anxiety and when you feel stressed out.
Scheduling
Getting a good night's sleep can be as simple as rearranging your schedule. Believe it or not, if you have a sporadic schedule, it can affect your body's clock, which could be one of the problems if you're not sleeping well at night. When you have a fixed schedule, your body adjusts and becomes adapted to it. Once adapted, it knows approximately the time frame it needs to shut down to rest.
Practice Yoga or Tai Chi
Both yoga and tai chi implement breathing techniques with their movements. Both can also be a great way to relieve stress and tension in your day to day life. If you go to bed feeling stressed, then it can be very difficult to fall asleep. So try doing some yoga or tai chi before it's time to shut down for the night.
Clock Watching
We're all somewhat guilty of this. Watching the clock after waking up during the middle of the night. It's one of the worst things we can do when it comes to getting a restful night's sleep. In most instances, we end up not falling back asleep, but instead, toss and turn until we actually have to get up. If this is your problem, then try taking the clock out of your room. If you use an alarm to wake up in the morning, then turn the clock around where you can't see it. Your alarm will still go off at the precise time, but you won't be worried in the middle of the night as to what time it is.
If you find yourself having difficulty sleeping, visit your local chiropractor to hear some of the tips and suggestions they can offer to help you get better rest at night.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Tampa, Fla.