Healthy Sleep Forever

Do you just roll in bed night after night trying to fall asleep? Do you easily wake up in the night and not go back to sleep? Then these proven rules of healthy sleep are for you.

The S&S bedroom rule

The bed is only for two s-things – sex and sleep. Any other activities are undesirable. Extremely inadvisable ones are planning, dealing with problems, arguments and fights with the partner, watching thrilling things on TV, working on the laptop and using the cell phone.

Objection: What about reading? Many people like to read in bed.
Answer: It's the same as if a person suffering from allergies complains that other people can eat nuts and he can't. If someone sleeps well, let them spread bills and eviction notices all over the bed. You, you take your book and sit in your favorite armchair, cozy under a blanket.
The human brain is based on creating nerve connections: a pear > a sweet taste, a fly in your face > wave it away etc. You need to create a firm nerve connection in your head – bed > sleep, which can only happen if the bed is where you (besides sex) sleep only. If you succeed, your brain will automatically start the process of falling asleep with after you've gone to bed.

Warm feet

It's hard to fall asleep with your feet cold. If you suffer from cold feet, make sure you warm them up before going to bed.

Objection: But wearing socks doesn't help me, my feet are cold nonetheless.
Answer: Solution 1: Bring a bucket full of hot water and a towel. Sit on the bed, put your feet in the bucket and let them warm up. Then dry them up with the towel, tuck yourself up under the blanket. Put the bucket aside, you can pour the water out in the morning.
Solution 2: Fill a plastic bottle with very hot water and make sure you tighten the cap firmly. Put on socks (without them it's too hot), go to bed and put the bottle to your feet. You will find it kicked away somewhere in the morning.

Clock facing the wall

If there is a clock in your bedroom that does not serve as an alarm clock, banish it from the room completely. If it's an alarm clock, turn it so it faces the wall, if it's a cell phone, turn it face down. While falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night, never check what time it is. Knowing the time does not have a positive effect at all. After a period of sleep that was too short it is better not to know how long you have been sleeping. You will feel better because there will be none of the automatic mechanisms telling you things like 'if you've only slept for three hours, you won't be able to do anything all day and you'll be nervous'. If you don't know what time it is, you can always think that you've slept longer than you really have.

Objection: But I have to know what time it is.
Answer: No, you don't. You only HAVE to do very few things – breathe (which is natural) and treat yourself and those close to you decently. Everything else is just you wanting. Checking the time is your voluntary decision. If you are afraid to make this change, just give it a trial run – use the SEVEN-TIME rule. You can make it through seven nights with the clock facing the wall and after these seven days (not sooner) you can re-evaluate whether you want to continue doing it or not.

To be continued... at www.psychance.com/sleep-insomnia-rules.php