Insomnia - 10 Practical ways to beat it

Living with insomnia is debilitating and annoying, blurring the lines between night and day and making you feel like you’re in another world.

Beating insomnia is one of life’s biggest challenges. Thankfully, plenty of people win the battle and go on to sleep perfectly. If you’re struggling, we’ve prepared ten practical ways to beat insomnia below. Hopefully, we can help you out.

Turn your phone off!

Screen-time is linked to poor sleep through the blue light spectrum, suppressing melatonin (sleep hormone). But this isn’t the only way; it also keeps you awake with things to do and stimulates your brain.

Worst of all, it fuels anxiety. If you worry about things, your smartphone becomes a device for problem solving, solutions, and self-help. Rather than benefit you, this opens the door to fuelling your anxiety and stress.

Wake up at the same time each day

Waking up simultaneously each day will put your body into a cycle.

The trick is to constantly wake up simultaneously, irrespective of how much sleep you get. Never sleep in! Training your body to wake up at a consistent time will also train your body to feel tired at night, and this can help beat insomnia.

It can be tempting to fuel yourself with multiple coffees during the day, but this wreaks havoc on your body by giving you artificial energy.

Limiting your stimulants to one coffee in the morning will make your body find energy from its reserves, making you feel more tired at night.

Hit the weights and go for a run

Aerobic and anaerobic exercise shocks the central nervous system, which is why some of us have a downer immediately afterward. This shock increases the need for sleep to heal and re-energise, making you feel more tired at bedtime.

Strength training, in particular, is excellent for sleep because it creates a molecule called adenosine (ATP), which causes drowsiness. ATP stays in your body until you sleep, so it can help you sleep when you close your eyes.

Try some breathing exercises to calm your mind

Because insomnia is linked to stress, breathing exercises can play an essential role in helping you sleep. Several techniques work; the trick is to close your eyes, zone out, and focus on breathing.

Read a book to reduce stress

Turn off your phone and TV and read a book instead. Studies show that reading for only six minutes reduces stress, and it doesn’t matter what you read. This is a far better use of your time than Naked Attraction or dozens of YouTube Shorts.

If you can’t do anything about it now, forget about it

Anxiety can cause serious sleep issues by exasperating the worries in your life. Excessive worrying is terrible for sleep because it keeps you up.

If you can’t do anything about a problem now, forget it. Read a book or think about something else. Oh, and don’t grab your phone for solutions - turn that thing off when you are in bed; otherwise, you’ll be up all night.

Your mattress, duvet, and pillows play an essential role in your sleep. For example, an uncomfortable mattress that makes you toss-and-turn reduces sleep quality, and a duvet that is too hot or cold will keep you awake

Get a professional diagnosis

You need to know what kind of insomnia you have, if you have it at all.

Insomnia can be short-term or long-term (chronic). Short-term insomnia is linked to stress and tends to resolve itself after a few weeks; chronic insomnia happens at least three nights per week for three months or more.

Speak to your GP. A professional diagnosis will give you a baseline to work with and provide invaluable advice on new medications and treatments.

Speak to a pharmacist

There are plenty of over-the-counter sleeping aids that can help you nod off. While they are only short-term, they can be the difference between sleeping or not.

Some sleeping aids contain natural ingredients (valerian, melatonin), while others, like Nytol, are antihistamines.

Before speaking to a pharmacist, talk to your doctor. Your doctor will determine if over-the-counter products can help.

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Health & Wellbeing

Insomnia - 10 Practical ways to beat it