Getting A Better Night Of Sleep Without Turning To Pills

Many of us today have busy and often stressful lives and this can lead to several sleep problems including insomnia. For a lot of us this means turning to sleeping pills as a quick and simple answer but, regrettably, this short term answer more often than not results in long term problems as addiction to sleeping pills sets in, they lose their effectiveness and side effects start to rear their ugly head.

The answer to sleep problems therefore is to find an alternative treatment and to seek out an insomnia cure that does not involve using sleeping pills. Accordingly, here are four simple things to help you to get a good night's sleep.

1. Take regular exercise. Exercise is an excellent way to reduce the stresses and strains of life and there are exercise routines available nowadays. For instance, you not have to confine your exercise to the gym which a lot of people find to be boring to say the least. The best exercise is aerobic exercise and so any sort of outdoor games, swimming, walking, tennis, badminton and 101 other activities are just fine. Do not forget though that you ought not to exercise too near to bedtime and so late afternoon or early evening is a very good time to choose.

2. Learn a relaxation technique. To sleep properly you need to relax your body and your mind and this means taking a little bit of quiet time to concentrate on clearing your mind and consciously relaxing your body. Here there are all sorts of relaxation techniques that you can follow and the secret is to simply find one that you enjoy and that works for you and then to set aside twenty minutes each evening to practice relaxation before going to bed.

3. Recognize the importance of laughter. It is frequently said that 'laughter is the best medicine' and this is undoubtedly true. We are not talking here necessarily about the need to laugh out loud in true 'belly laugh' style and for a lot of people engaging in an activity that raises a smile is enough. A good way to do this is to watch a comical television program, rather than an action packed movie, during the course of the evening or to read a comical magazine or book before going to bed.

4. Eat the correct foods. The body is basically a chemical processing plant and the food that you eat has a considerably effect upon the degree of chemical activity within the body. Consequently it is vital that you avoid foods that are likely to have a stimulant effect in the hours before you go to bed. For instance, you should steer clear of things like alcohol and caffeine and rich foods like those that are high in sugar. You should also avoid consuming a heavy meal too near to bedtime and, although you ought not to go to bed hungry, a light snack that is just enough to take away those hunger pangs, rather than a large pizza is the key to a good night's sleep.

These are of course only 4 out of many things that you can do to make sure that you get a good night's sleep and the secret to curing insomnia is to find natural lifestyle solutions and not follow the traditional and damaging sleeping pill route that so many people have followed for years.
by Donald Saunders