"Life is something that happens when you can’t get to sleep." said Fran Lebowitz
Was Fran serious when he said this? I am not too sure because I have never had it good when I dont sleep well. How about you?
# Do you remember the night just before a viva or an interview? Atleast I do remember, giving company to the stars and the moon. And ofcourse, the next day, waking up and seeing a puffy-eyed, dark-circled reflection in the mirror!!!
# Do you remember the day after a late night party? Too tired to sleep!! And the next day sleeping through the meetings and the bickering with your colleagues?
# Do you remember the night when your best friend visited you and you sat through the night, hardly giving your mouth any rest? Do you remember the next day full of "Aspirin" tablet?
# Are you a senior citizen and envy your 2 year old grandchild!!! How peacefully they sleep?
Tch tch tch… I am sorry to tell you that you are suffering from “INSOMNIA”. Hello, don’t give that appalled look. In lay mans terms, it is the "sleeplessness" and something which each of us have witnessed at some point in our life…
But dont worry, (except for the last point above) you are not a chronic patient just transient.
Transient insomnia is short term, a day or so, and usually linked to an emotionally exciting or stressful event.
Chronic insomnia is long-term and may last months, or years and usually caused by a medical problem, a sleep disorder, poor sleep hygiene or age.
You ask me how it can affect you?
Besides a feeling of tiredness and fatigue (refer #3 above), insomnia affects mental functions including our ability to learn, remember, and concentrate (#1). Excessive daytime sleepiness and decreased alertness from insomnia result in hundreds of thousands of automobile accidents each year. Inability to sleep regularly also affects mood and can lead to depression, irritability and other emotional problems.( #2).
To scare you further, a recent research study conducted found a connection between insomnia and diabetes. (Oh Gosh, its scary!!!)
So then what do I do about it?
Fret not, my friend! Why do you think I have written this review!
Let me share all the gyan that I could borrow.
1) Dont sleep during the day – You have probably heard it before. I know its difficult just after the lunch and during office hrs but please try to keep awake!!
2) Avoid Coffee, Alcohol and Tobacco – All your kaapi, old monks, and bidis down the drain, NOW!!. More than four caffeine drinks per day interferes with sleep. Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but it disrupts the second half of your night’s sleep. Nicotine is a stimulant. Hahaha, have I successfully killed all the joys in your life.
3) Exercise - Exercise stimulates the body by raising the heart rate and metabolism (as if you didnt know!). Exercise late in the day interferes with sleep, but exercise earlier in the day helps you sleep well at night So, get up all you lazy bums, enough of excuses!!
4) Check your Iron level – Anemic patients have problem sleeping tight. Dr Sudipto! Please correct me if I am wrong!
5) Keep a regular schedule even on weekends. This will fine tune your body cycle helping you sleep at the right time.
6) No heavy food to be taken just before you sleep. Instead try tryptophan containing foods like milk, tofu, cheese, soyabean, oatmeal but in small quantity please! Tryptophan helps body make a substance called serotonin that helps in relaxation.. Wow aint I a nerd ;)
7) Comfortable bed and pillow. A firm bed will give your body the support it needs to really relax. Let me also add, sleeping on your back is the best position for relaxing. If you have to sleep on your side, do it on your right side. Sleeping on the left side causes your lungs, stomach and liver to press against your heart, causing stress on an organ that most of us find quite useful. Avoid sleeping on your stomach. It causes pressure on all your internal organs -- including your lungs, which results in shallow breathing.
8) Hide your clock and avoid illuminated clocks. It only adds to your restlessness. Bright light from the clock will only help your disturbed sleep further.
9) Warm Milk and a warm bath. The age-old and tried technique to soothe thy tired mind and body.
10) Sleep with your head facing South. The body can be seen as a large magnet, with the head as the north pole and the feet as the south pole. Hence sleeping with one’s head in the North is believed to cause a repulsive force with the earth’s magnetic North and thus considered harmful.
11) Counting sheep? The grannies cure for insomnia is to count bouncy little sheep leaping over a fence. No wonder it doesn’t work !! Bouncy sheep are hyperactive and wide awake. They’re the last thing you need to dwell on when you want to go to sleep. So try the variation that I read somewhere. Count sleeping sheep. Imagine a beautiful green meadow and right in a row, every 2-3 feet, lies a peaceful, sleeping sheep. Imagine yourself floating. And that you pass by a sheep every 2-3 seconds. Count the sheep and glide on to the next, and next..zzzzzz :)
Infact even in yoga, the best asana to relax your mind is the "shavasana" where you lie still and imagine each body part and each of your organ relaxing. Try it! It works.
12) Finally don’t lie awake trying to get to sleep any longer than 30 minutes. If it goes that long, get up. Do something quiet and non-stimulating. Read some book. Write some unfinished letter!! When you feel tired again, go back to bed.
If none of the above works, you can M2M to me and I shall sing you a lullaby!!!
As an ending note, I complete the title of this article!!!
"O Bed! O Bed! Delicious bed
That heaven upon earth
to the weary head." - Thomas Hood