I Want To Be A Morning Person But I Can't Sleep
If you are having trouble getting out of bed, it may be the problems you have when getting into bed. The body is on a cycle, going to bed after midnight effects that cycle no matter what your age. Use these steps to improve your chances for slumber.
1. Eating before bed keeps your stomach and metabolism working and interferes with deep, healing sleep.
2. You must realize that if you want to make changes in your life you have to remove the phrase "I can't help it." There is no such thing. The ego makes up that phrase early in our life to make up for not understanding how to change. Now you are a grown up.
3. You cannot fix problems or schedule the next day in bed, in your head, and expect a good nights sleep. As a matter of fact, you will inhibit your ability to recall dates and times by putting unnecessary stress on your body and mind just before you go into the most healing part of your day for your brain.
4. Habit eating after 8pm? You do not need anymore food to survive the night than the 3 or 4 meals you have already enjoyed. Nightmares are caused by late night eating. Your dreams turned into horrors because you are digesting in bed.
5. If you find your mind habitually drifting into problem solving and scheduling, interrupt that thinking with a list of good things in your life. This works.
6. Catch yourself during the day if you say or think, "I'm tired of ___." I'm tired of being fat, I'm tired of being late, etc. Stop feeding your mind junk food that has no emotional value.
7. You can tell yourself when to wake up in the morning, just before you go to sleep. My father taught me this and he learned it in boot camp. After you close your eyes, repeat the time you want to wake in the morning. "I will wake up at 7:30am, I will wake up at 7:30 in the morning, I will be up at 7:30. And you will.
8. When you get under the covers, try breathing ‘The 8's.’ Breath in for 8 seconds, hold it for 8 seconds, breath out for eight seconds. Calms the mind and gives more oxygen to your brain and relaxes your muscles.
A few hours after the sun goes down is when Melatonin starts to produce in your brain. It is time for bed. Go to bed, lay there and get used to being in the bed at that time. Tell yourself during the day you will be in bed by 10pm. And soon you will.
1. Eating before bed keeps your stomach and metabolism working and interferes with deep, healing sleep.
2. You must realize that if you want to make changes in your life you have to remove the phrase "I can't help it." There is no such thing. The ego makes up that phrase early in our life to make up for not understanding how to change. Now you are a grown up.
3. You cannot fix problems or schedule the next day in bed, in your head, and expect a good nights sleep. As a matter of fact, you will inhibit your ability to recall dates and times by putting unnecessary stress on your body and mind just before you go into the most healing part of your day for your brain.
4. Habit eating after 8pm? You do not need anymore food to survive the night than the 3 or 4 meals you have already enjoyed. Nightmares are caused by late night eating. Your dreams turned into horrors because you are digesting in bed.
5. If you find your mind habitually drifting into problem solving and scheduling, interrupt that thinking with a list of good things in your life. This works.
6. Catch yourself during the day if you say or think, "I'm tired of ___." I'm tired of being fat, I'm tired of being late, etc. Stop feeding your mind junk food that has no emotional value.
7. You can tell yourself when to wake up in the morning, just before you go to sleep. My father taught me this and he learned it in boot camp. After you close your eyes, repeat the time you want to wake in the morning. "I will wake up at 7:30am, I will wake up at 7:30 in the morning, I will be up at 7:30. And you will.
8. When you get under the covers, try breathing ‘The 8's.’ Breath in for 8 seconds, hold it for 8 seconds, breath out for eight seconds. Calms the mind and gives more oxygen to your brain and relaxes your muscles.
A few hours after the sun goes down is when Melatonin starts to produce in your brain. It is time for bed. Go to bed, lay there and get used to being in the bed at that time. Tell yourself during the day you will be in bed by 10pm. And soon you will.
Do not expect these steps to a better nights sleep to work overnight. Realize, this will take time and eventually you will change your current habits. That is really all we are doing is changing a habit into a better one. Not changing your life. That can take years.
Average sleep needed by humans.
Newborns (0-2 months) = 12 to 18 Hours
Infants (3 months to 1 year) = 14 to 15 Hours
Toddlers (1 to 3 years) = 12 to 14 Hours
Preschoolers (3 to 5 years) = 11 to 13 Hours
School-aged children (5 to 12 years) = 10 to 11 Hours
Teens and preteens (12 to 18 years) = 8.5 to 10 Hours
Adults (18+) = 7.5 to 9 Hours
Excellent advise and very useful information. Seems just before I go to bed that my mind tends to start drifting to all sorts of things I could be doing whether work related or otherwise. I find a good physical workout a couple hours before bedtime also does wonders to relieve stress and exhaust the body.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'll give that a try.
ReplyDelete