Sleep – Why Can’t You Sleep?
Wishing you could sleep is frustrating. Tossing and turning only gets worse the more stressed you feel from not being able to fall asleep.
From research on brain patterns during sleep, scientists have begun to understand and develop treatments for sleep disorders. Sleep disorders affect the quality and duration of sleep. Change of sleep schedule, stress, environment and illness can all affect the sleep cycle. Medical and psychological conditions such as depression shorten the duration of REM.
You can increase REM sleep naturally by doing the following just before going to bed:
- eating foods that contain amino acid tryptophan such as turkey, milk, bananas and cheese
- having a warm bath
- not doing strenuous activities
- meditating or relaxing
Did you know that the frequency of REM sleep is highest during early childhood years? It drops during adolescence and young adulthood and decreases in old age. Total sleep time becomes shorter during childhood and increases in adolescence. Older people get less total sleep but a lengthening of REM stage.
Train yourself to sleep by:
- Decreasing your stress
- do more physical exercise in the day
- don’t eat spicy foods after lunch
- do something that makes you feel good in the evening, such as spending time with loved ones, reading, watching tv, or listening to music.
It’s not good to sleep with lights, tv or music on unless it’s the music that helps induce sleep. Good night!
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