Posted on March 22, 2011 by Deah Curry PhD, CPC

This morning I coached a client whose racing thoughts at bedtime kept her from falling asleep.  After quickly ruling out any serious mental health problem,  a little more questioning revealed  a list of innocent seeming activities that were just enough to keep her central nervous system revved up too much for easy sleep, such as:

• going to the gym late in the evening after work
• working at the computer until past midnight
• drinking tea or coffee after dinner
• reading mystery novels and watching cop shows at night
• walking the dog just before bedtime
• showering before bed
• getting out of bed to take the vitamins and supplements she’d forgotten in the morning
• incessant worry about things over which she had no control

Prolonged bouts of insomnia — either having difficulty getting to sleep or trouble staying asleep — can have a   devastating impact on many aspects of normal life, including:

• mental focus and comprehension
• physical reaction time, especially in driving
• good judgment in decision making
• emotional stability under stress
• frustration tolerance in relationships
• self-regulation on diets and exercise
• the biological healing process

We are wise to do everything we can to change the habits we have that contribute to this condition of insomnia.  Here are a few ideas that have worked for me personally, and for my clients.

Write a do to list for the next day, in bed, ending with writing out a statement such as:  I can let today and tomorrow take care of themselves now, while I easily go to sleep.

Reduce the amount of light in your home 2 hours prior to bedtime because bright lights stimulate the brain unnaturally.  A single 25 watt lamp is enough.

Reduce or eliminate conversation for 2 hours prior to bedtime, to start letting the brain and emotions relax.

Eliminate coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, even products like Excedrin, and anything else with caffeine after 4 pm, or if you are highly sensitive, make it after 12 noon.

Take vitamins in the morning, especially if they include vitamin B because that’s an energy booster.

If you need extra help, try taking  half a melatonin capsule — a natural hormone —  right at bedtime to aid the brain in relaxing into sleep.  Other sleep aids such as valerian or skullcap may be helpful as well.

Learn a meditation practice to help you fall asleep.  Here’s one:

Breathing Meditation to Lull Yourself into Sleep

1.  Mentally count to 4 very slowly while inhaling deeply.
Again count to 4 while exhaling slowly.
Keep doing that until the body relaxes. This gives the mind something focused to do.

2.  Pair the counting with a mental image of something expanding when inhaling and then contracting when exhaling — maybe a flower getting bigger then smaller. This gives the mind something else focused to do.

3.  Finally, create and repeat an auto-suggestion (self-hypnosis) mantra, which is an image form of an affirmation statement. Something like: I feel my body relaxing. The gears in my brain are slowing for sleep. The circles of thoughts going round and round are stopping and holding still.

There are a myriad of unconscious daily habits many of us engage in, that have many self-sabotaging consequences when they start interfering with our sleep.  But tiny changes can produce big results.  And there’s nothing better for healthy mind, body, and spirit, than getting enough sleep.