Tips on Coping with Sleeplessness from a Psychotherapist
A leading British hypno-psychotherapist explains the importance of sleep and what you can do in order to ensure you get the proper amount.
At one time or another, insomnia and sleeplessness can affect us all and really isn’t something to be too concerned about. Sooner or later, we naturally find ourselves returning to our normal sleeping patterns and things just fall back into place.
Yet research has found that around 30% to 50% of people report being affected by insomnia, while about 10% report suffering from chronic insomnia.
Exactly how much sleep each person needs is, of course, entirely subjective.
The Power Of Sleep
Sleep is perhaps one of the most underrated aspects of keeping healthy and feeling great. In our fast paced society people are sleeping less and less. People are losing touch of there body’s natural cycles and do not understand that a solid sleeping habit will increase vitality. Our ancestors from 50 thousand years ago slept on average 8-10 hours, going to bed well before midnight and waking at the crack of dawn to start off hunting. More recently in 1910 people slept on average 9 hours per night. Alarmingly in 2005 the average amount of sleep was a mere 7 hours, which can be attributed to the pace of life and items such as television and computers keeping us up later then ever before.
Meditate Your Way To Sleep
You had a long and stressful day at work and now you are ready to relax and prepare yourself for bed. But somehow, your mind just wouldn’t switch off. You’re still thinking of the events that happened at work today, or are worried about the important meeting you’re going to have tomorrow. You can almost hear the mechanism in your brain still actively whirring – it just wouldn’t wind down. You really need that quality sleep so that you can be refreshed for work tomorrow. But sleep isn’t coming. You toss and turn in frustration, trying to force yourself to sleep – but somehow you know that’s not going to happen, and you’re likely to step into the office the next day feeling like a zombie as usual.
What I Can Do In Bed To Get To Sleep
In determining whether your sleep problems are really worthy of concern, and not something easily adjusted to with proper understanding or a new schedule, keep in mind that your sleep needs may vary with circumstances. For example, you might need more sleep during periods of crisis or change, or when you are under emotional stress. Many women often need more sleep during pregnancy or their menstrual period; other women might experience temporary insomnia at those times. Changes in your work schedule or social life, a new diet or unusual meals, getting more exercise or less - these are all examples of conditions that might throw your sleep temporarily out of whack and trick you into thinking you have insomnia.