Welcome to My World – Trouble Falling Asleep?

Hello World! Today I’m sharing info for those of you who have trouble falling asleep and what to do about it.  I’ve shared info, in a previous post, about what to do, naturally, to help you sleep.  Now, I fall asleep just fine, but my issue is staying asleep… Ahhh, the joys of getting older 🙂 🙂 🙂 …

I “normally” fall asleep fine,

but the past two nights, a raccoon in my backyard, has decided to move into my chimney, and boy, is he ever noisy. And of course, the chimney is next to the master bedroom so I have to listen to him rattling around a good part of the night. I thought I was smart yesterday, but it outsmarted me… 🙂 When he came out to eat the cats’ food, which he does every night, I covered the hole it went in with a ceramic tile and used bricks to hold it in place. Well, that worked as it didn’t use that hole. It simply made a new one 🙁 – a much bigger one, so, now I have a big new hole to cover. Not sure who will win here, or if I am going to have to call someone and get it out of my yard all together, but we shall see. It’s been eating cat food for a long time now so I never thought it would go inside a wall or chimney, etc… Hmmm, guess I was wrong.

I really don’t want to be outsmarted by a pesky raccoon, but I am not sure who will win. I am also hoping it isn’t a pregnant female, trying to build a nest. Now, that would not be fun as all the noise would be awful. It doesn’t look pregnant, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a pregnant raccoon before… Ugghhh, enough about the pesky raccoon and back to what to do about sleep issues… Sorry about the diversion, but I needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

Can’t Fall Asleep? Try These Things ASAP

Tossing and turning? You’re in good company… or at least restless company. A recent Consumer Reports survey found that 27% of people have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep most nights.

68% struggle with sleep at least one night a week. And though we’re spending more and more on sleep aids every year ($41 billion in 2015 and expected to grow to $52 billion by 2020), they don’t seem to be helping any more than staring at the ceiling for hours does.

So what does work? According to researchers, these things do:

Count sheep (seriously).

Stressful thoughts—like “If I fall asleep NOW, I’ll get 5 hours” and “If I fall asleep NOW, I’ll get 4 hours”—won’t help you drift off to dreamland. But repetitive, boring imagery might, researchers say.

If you’re worrying, you’re producing the stress hormone cortisol, sleep

psychologist Dianne Richards tells ABC Health & Well being. “Once that happens, you’re ‘wired’ and you’re opportunity to sleep takes a nose dive.” And if jumping sheep are too stimulating, Richards says, try something more relaxing, like imagining them standing still as you pet them.

Move your alarm clock.

A major contributor to those anxious “if I fall asleep now…” thoughts that

keep you up? Watching the clock, of course. Avoid triggering your body’s stress response—get your clock, wristwatch and phone out of sight, out of mind.

Do squats.

What, doing squats at 2am while wearing pajamas sounds strange to you? Some research shows that diverting blood flow away from the brain and to your legs may actually help you calm your mind and get to sleep easier. Worst-case scenario, you lose a few more minutes of sleep and gain buns of steel. 🙂

Turn off your phone.

Yes, logging into Facebook and catching up on what your high school lab partner has been up to the past two decades does sound like a great idea in

the middle of the night. But it won’t help you get shut-eye any faster. Not only does it keep your eyes on the time, staying on your phone means you’re getting exposure to blue light. And blue light—which is also emitted by your television, laptop and tablet, just FYI—will keep your brain and body wired, disturbing your sleep and messing with your alertness the next day.

Deprive your senses.

Light tells your body it’s time to wake up—and sometimes it’s not enough to just draw the shades to turn off that wakefulness response. Do

whatever you can to get your bedroom even darker: use blackout curtains, put a sleep mask over your eyes and check the room for sneaky sources of light—like a closet light or a power strip with light-up indicators. If you’re prone to being distracted by street noise, consider adding some white noise—there’s an app for that, or simply keep a fan going in your room. I can’t sleep without a fan on.

Imagine falling asleep.

Picturing yourself falling asleep can help you actually do it—but we mean

really committing to it, not just indulging an anxious thought spiral about how much you want to go to sleep. Researchers call it muscle relaxation training—just breathe deep as you picture each part of your body relaxing, from head to toe. In one study of the technique, 82% of insomniacs reported a positive impact on falling asleep and staying asleep.

Take a warm shower or bath.

Turn on the air conditioner in your bedroom and take a warm shower

while the room cools down. The drop in body temperature as you go from warm water to cool air slows down your heart rate, breathing and digestion, signaling to your body that it’s time for sleep.

Put on socks.

If your toes are feeling a little too cool after your warm shower, put on

socks. Heating cold feet dilates your blood vessels, which tells your brain that it is bedtime.

I always wear socks to sleep. It definitely helps me. Give it a try as it may work for you too.

———————————

I found this to be a light, interesting read with stuff worth trying. What do you have to lose?  Now, if I can only figure out what to do with the noisy raccoon… If you’re already losing sleep, you may gain something extra hours each night… Let me know what you think…

Have a great healthy day!