I noticed I sort of jumped in a started giving you guys tips on how to fall asleep without first properly introducing sleep basics. So here I am making up for that :D

Understanding the basics of sleep is very important and will be more helpful than you may think. I don’t know how much you already know or how much you think you know, but if you are not familiar with the basics, this will definitely be launch point towards getting over insomnia and getting more energy throughout your day.

Understanding the hidden processes which control your sleep will give you a sense of power;  you can study your problem, why its there, how it should be, and from that, develop a plan to get rid of it.

What Is Sleep?

It’s not until recently that scientists have come into the possession of the technology needed to measure and study precisely what happens in the human brain and body while we are sleeping.

Until the 1950s, almost everyone believed that sleep was a passive and inactive state where the mind and body are shut off and had absolutely nothing to do with our non-sleeping lives.

However, with the new research done, we have learned that our brains are in a very active state during sleep, and what occurs during sleep greatly affects our waking lives. The new technology allows sleep researchers to measure the brain’s electrical activity. These activity levels are called Electroencephalographs (EEG) recordings or, a more common term, brain waves.

Each stage represents a different mental and physical state of the body while asleep. During some stages, the body is experiencing lighter sleep (faster brain waves) and can be awakened easily. Other states indicate a very deep sleep (very slow brain waves).

Why Do We Sleep?

We are not sure why we sleep,  but the two basic theories are that sleep has a restorative process and a adaptive process.

Sleep as a Restorative Function

The restorative theory of sleep suggests that sleep assists the body to recover from the work it did while awake. Research has shown that the more physical exercise we do during the day, the more slow wave sleep (SWS) we have. If you lack SWS in your sleep, you’ll likely be physically tired, anxious and irritable during the day.

Sleep as an Adaptive Function

Sleep may have evolved from our ancestor’s survival instincts to protect themselves at night. Because they couldn’t function well at night, due to their inabilities to see in the dark, search for food, and defend against predators, they instead slept.

Sleep gives your body a rest and lets it to prepare for the coming day. Sleep also gives your brain the opportunity to sort things out. Scientists believe that sleep may be the time when the brain organizes and saves information, replaces used chemicals, and solves problems.

Editors Note:
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Daily stress keeps people awake at night. In a study of over 2000 people, 51% of Americans said that they lose sleep due to stress. There are many steps that can be taken to reduce and relieve stress, especially in the bedroom. Here are 50 ways I’ve collected from various lists:

1 – Listen to Music
Throughout the day and before you go to sleep, listen to music. In a growing field of music therapy, there is evidence that shows that links music to stress reduction and increased happiness in doing everyday things. So keep your ipod handy at all times.

2 – Fish & Aquarium
Studies have shown that gazing at fish in an aquarium reduces stress and decreased blood pressure. So get yourself your own Nemo.

3 – Set Up a Home Spa
Run some warm water in the tub, scented candles and relaxing music to really drift into relaxation.

4 – Decrease Commitments
We tend to over schedule ourselves and commit to too many things. Leave room in your schedule to just relax.

5 – Practice Breathing Exercises
Take several long breaths, inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. When you breath, let your stomach rise and fall, not your shoulders and chest. This can be don’t anywhere and helps get rid of stress.

6 – Doodle
Whip out the paper and colored pencils (or markers if you prefer) and just start doodling. Drawing gets our minds off things and lets us express ourselves freely.

7 – Meditate
Meditation has long been used to empty your mind and calm the body. A great way to relax and relieve stress.

8 – Prepare the Day Before
If you know what you will be doing the next day, prepare as much as you can the day before. Being ready to go through the day easily gives lots of peace of mind.

9 – Be Comfortable
Wear comfortable clothing, sit in a comfortable chair, and live in a comfortable environment. Anything less can annoy and bother you throughout the day.

10 – Write Stuff Down
Our memories aren’t perfect and trying to remember everything is hard. If we realize we forgot something, it can be really stressful trying to remember what it is we forgot. Carry around a small notepad and a golf pencil and jot down things you need to remember.

11 – Prioritize
Set priorities to all of your life’s actions and complete them in that order. This will also give you a list of everything you need to do, making managing your responsibilities easier.

12 – Avoid Negative Nancys
Pessimists will always find something wrong and will likely make you feel glum. Don’t be negative Nancy, instead try to make people look on the bright side.

13 – Look On The Bright Side
There is almost always a positive from every event that occurs. Find it and make that the primary emotion you feel.

14 – Make Copies
Make copies of anything important that you would feel stresses about losing (keys, documents, etc). This way, if you lose something, you at least have a duplicate and will help ease the stress.

15 – Manage Your Time
Try to make a time table for all your activities with room for error. This way you know what you have time for and what you don’t have time for and don’t need to lose sleep thinking about “Will I have time to do X tomorrow?”

16 – Stay Organized
This will not only help you manage your time and prevent things from needlessly being lost, but will also make you much more efficient. Take the time needed to set up organization in your life and stick to it.

17 – Fix Or Replace Everything That Doesn’t Work
These broken (or about to break) objects are the small daily hassles that build stress. Fix or replace anything that you’ve been putting off for a while and reap the benefits of a long awaited accomplishment.

18 – Laugh
Laughter is the best medicine. Surround yourself with as many things that make you laugh as you can. Hang around funny people or rent a funny movie.

19 – Set Periodic Attainable Goals
Set small goals for yourself and accomplish them one at a time. Each time you accomplish a goal, you’ll feel better about yourself and do something that needed to be accomplished.

20 – Read a Book
Reading is peaceful and relaxing. Go to your local library and ask someone what their favorite fiction novel is. Check it out and read it.

21 – Have a Plan B
Things don’t always go the way we plan them to in life. Having a plan B will have you better prepared for the uncertain and take loads off your mind.

22 – Exercise
Any physical exercise helps relieve stress. It pumps up your endorphins and improves your mood.

23 – Clean Your House
Take it one step at a time and clean one room. Really give it 110% making sure absolutely everything is spotless.

24 – Fresh Air
Unless you live in a place filled with smog, open up a window and get fresh air inside your home as much as you can.

25 – Nice Smelling Fresh Air
Get incense or scented candles in every room, car and workplace to make the place smell pleasant.

26 – Learn Something New
It’s always great to know about something new (whether its a fact or skill). Learn it and share it with friends and family.

27 – Don’t Procrastinate
Get things done ahead of time. This is huge.

28 – Get a Massage
Relax the body as well as the mind. A full body massage will relax your tense muscles and body aches.

29 – Find a Hobby
Hobbies are fun things that you like to do in your free time. They let you have fun, relax, and some let you hang out with other who have the same hobby.

30 – Say No
You don’t have to say yes to every request that is made to you.

31 – Don’t Assume
You know what assuming does don’t ya? Talk things through instead of assuming and turning out to be wrong.

32 – Keep Finances In Check
Always have a money in the bank. In the event of some emergency which will cost you, you won’t have to scrape up money in a hurry or cut back from other activities.

33 – Yoga
Yoga is like meditation for the body. It stretches out all your muscles and helps them relax. If you do a group yoga session, you also get the ability to meet new people.

44 – Meet Someone New
Meeting a new person can change a person’s life for the better. New stories, activities and more fun to be had when you introduce someone new into your life.

45 – Hang Out With Friends
If you don’t want to meet anyone new, just hang out with your current friends. Hit up a bar, casino or show to get your mind off things and relax.

46 – Go to a Restaurant
When does delicious food ever make us feel worse? Someone else cooks it for you too!

47 – Let Go Of Things Not In Your Control
Many people stress about things that are not in their control. Accept and adapt to whatever happens. Fussing over something that you can’t affect only makes things worse.

48 – Take Mini-Vacations
Go skiing, jet skiing, mini golfing, comedy club or anything else that breaks you usual daily routine and have fun.

49 – Don’t Solve Everyone’s Problems
Don’t take everyone’s problems to be yours. You don’t need additional burden to up your stress.

50 – Smile
Just do it.

Do a few of these every day and you’ll feel the stress leave your daily life and become a thing of the past.

Quick Tip #4 – Drink A Glass Of Warm Milk To Help You Sleep

Milk has the chemical tryptophan which makes your sleepy. Drinking a warm glass of milk does help you get to sleep.

Another addition I like to make is adding a teaspoon of honey and mixing it. Honey has sleep inducing qualities as well. Try to get darker honey as opposed to lighter honey.

In a recent study done by a British sleep expert suggests that our bodies could be saying something about us even when we are asleep. He interviewed 1000 men and women and found a correlation between their personalities and sleeping positions.

The study found that the 6 most common sleep positions are:

Image Source: PureDoxyk

Here are their personalities and percentage of people who slept in that sleeping position:

Fetal Position 41% – Tough on outside but sensitive at heart. Shy at start but quick to relax.

Log Position (straight on side) 15% - Easy going and sociable. Generally trusting of strangers but sometimes gullible.

Yearner (arms outstretched on side) 13% - Open nature but can be suspicious and cynical. Slow to reach decisions and reluctant to change their minds.

Soldier (flat on back) 8% - Quiet and reserved. Don’t like a fuss. Set high standards for themselves and others.

Free Fallers (on stomach) 7% - Brash and gregarious on the exterior but thin skinned. Outward confidence masks a personality that responds badly to criticism.

Starfish (on back with hands above head) 5% – Make good friends because they are ready to listen and offer help. Unassuming and happiest out of the spotlight.

So what is your sleeping position? Does your pesonality match up?

Although I haven’t tried this myself, I have heard this works.

2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons of honey

1 cup of warm water

Mix them all together and drink before going to sleep. You can adjust the quantity of honey and vinegar to best suit your flavor.

If anyone does try this, please comment on the results.

Sometimes, especially when I have something important the next morning, I have so many thoughts racing through my head that I can’t fall asleep for hours. Then when morning comes, I under perform from lack of rest. On days like these, I need a little extra help going to sleep.

To help knock me out fast, I use Sleep Quick Strips. These bad boys are all natural (ingredients below) and kick in within 15 minutes. You wake up feeling completely refreshed.

There site doesn’t give any information on the contents of the product, so I called them up and had them give me the list of ingredients. Here are the main active ingredients:

Phenibut - A derivative of a neurotransmitter commonly referred to as GABA (which is found naturally in your body). This neurotransmitter deals with nerve signal transmission efficiency and increased GABA levels. In regular sleep patterns, GABA levels are increased. Phenibut increased the GABA levels and induces natural sleep. In addition, it reduces anxiety and stress. Lots of research has been done on phenibut and it is used as a sleeping aid across the globe.

(more…)

Yet another one of countless reasons to get a good night’s sleep every single night.

Check out this great post for some nuggets of information on how sleeping helps you lose weight.

Recap:

Less sleep = more hunger. Lack of sleep messes up your hunger hormones which not only make your hungry all day but crave high-carb foods.

More tired = less exercise. Since you don’t get the sleep you need and don’t get your energy, its a lot harder to muster up the energy and motivation to burn some calories with exercise.

Lack of sleep leads to obesity. Some outrageous numbers. Every additional hour of sleep in 6th-grade decreased a child’s likely of being overweight by 20%, while every additional hour of sleep in 3rd-grade decreased the risk of being overweight in 6th-grade by a whopping 40%. The numbers don’t improve with age as we become less active, more stresses and sleep less.

Quick Tip #4 – Exercise in the morning to sleep at night

Right after you wake up, do a moderate intensity workout. This will tell your biological clock that it is time to wake up with an increase heart rate. You’ll have more energy and feel better trhoughout the day and fall asleep faster at night.

For more information on how exercise can help you sleep, read exercise to get sleep.