Before we learn how to get a good night’s sleep, we must first know what one is. A good night’s sleep is defined as “enough sleep for your body to fully restore its energy level to perform the activities needed throughout your day.” It is not based solely on hours, although you do need a minimum of four to six hours each night to allow your mind to relax and dream, what psychologist call “REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.” At this deepest level of sleep, there is rapid eye movement, increased heart rate, muscle relaxation, and dreaming (i.e a state totally devoid of reality, where the mind is totally free).
One usually doesn’t get to this level of sleep until after two hours of regular sleep has occurred. The REM sleep occurs (usually for about 2-4 hours), then sleep elevation occurs, where you begin to wake up out of your subconscious mind and back to reality (usually another hour or two). Without REM sleep, the mind is not able to totally relax and one becomes less effective and in extreme cases, possibly neurotic. So, a good night’s sleep is where one is fully rested and has had the opportunity to dream peacefully, so that the body is fully energized and pain-free the next day when you awaken.
Here are some tips to help you get to that REM sleep faster and stronger:
1. Start keeping a sleep log/diary by your bed. You can’t measure what you don’t know and you cannot change what you do not measure. Establish a baseline of what you have been doing. Record the time that you went to bed and EVERYTIME you wake up during the night, as well as the time you finally wake up. Do this for one week to establish your average daily sleep baseline.
2. Remove the t.v. from your bedroom so that you are not watching television or listening to the radio while you sleep.
3. Take whatever required medications as directed by your physician or pharmacist before you go to sleep for the night.
4. Stop drinking caffeine products at least two-hours before bedtime if you know you have a problem with caffeine.
5. Stop drinking water at least two hours before you go to bed if you have been drinking a lot during the day. Your bladder was only meant to hold but so much liquid before it forces you to remove it (via urination). Be sure to use the bathroom right before you go to bed.
6. Practice peace, especially right before bedtime. Do not watch horror movies, movies that get you emotionally and/or physically upset. No arguing with anyone for any reason before bedtime.
7. Stop arguing with people. That can be very disruptive to your sleep. After about five minutes of a heated discussion/argument… you are not changing the mind of the person you are arguing with. Then it becomes a competitive event and anger arises. Your goal is to get peace, not anger, in your life.
8. Turn off the lights and reduce the sounds. If you desire a nightlight for security reason, then do so, just don’t use your bedroom lamp for such a purpose.
9. Get out of the bed if you find you are not sleeping when you are supposed to. Go read a book, or do something else that is quietly constructive and that will not be a distraction to
anyone else that may be sleeping.
10. Do not nap during the day. It means that you miscalculated how much energy you REALLY needed. Go to bed sooner tonight.
