Do you want to sleep better? Sleep disorders are becoming epidemic. I am sure that many of you have either experienced or know someone close to you that has experienced difficulty with sleeping. Many things can be a factor. Simple things like traveling, shift work, parents with young children or even just worrying! All kinds of things can throw off our circadian rhythm. Like most things in nature, our bodies operate on certain rhythms and cycles. Within you there is an entire system designed to regulate your internal clock, which in turn, controls these rhythms and cycles. This system is called the autonomic nervous system. Research shows that once this cycle is disrupted, disease often follows.
Within a 24-hour period, there are 12 hours where our body should be resting and repairing. This is known as the parasympathetic cycle. The other 12 hours of the day, our body should be using resources to get things done. This is known as the sympathetic cycle. In our busy world, it is easy for the body’s natural rhythms to get out of sync. Resetting your internal clock is an essential part of any healing process.
Here are a few simple things you can do to help reset your body’s clock and really jump-start the healing process:
- Sleep: get in bed between 9pm and 11pm each night. This is the starting point for getting your body’s clock back on track.
- Food: eat regular meals each day. Your body needs a balanced diet at regular intervals.
- Water: sip water throughout the day. Our autonomic nervous system chemicals move through water in our body.
- Exercise: move your body! We need a balance of movement and rest.
- Sunshine: get daily sunshine. This allows chemicals in the autonomic nervous system to be released.
- Dim the lights in the evening: Turn off bright over head light and keep the lights lower and let your body think it’s night time. When the sun comes down, so should the lights in your house. Artificial light can confuse the body in thinking it’s still day time.
The human body is marvelous and complex! Sometimes we forget that caring for it really comes down to some pretty basic steps applied on a daily basis. As the saying goes, “There is no substitute for good health!”
If you try all these tips and still have sleep problems, get help. There are many options that could help like acupuncture, nutrition and herbs.
You are right about these basic steps, eating right, sleeping on time and keeping body hydrated. Also, there is one major sleep disruptor i.e stress, some thing that can be avoided or reduced by planning and executing your daily routine, achieving all the work related objectives, spending time with the loved ones and meditating regularly for atleast 15-30 minutes..