Sleep Aids that Don’t Come in a Bottle

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Have you ever been too tired to sleep?  Seems like an impossibility, until you’re right smack in the middle of the possible.  Maybe even worse is the feeling of not being able to turn your brain off long enough to drift off. I get bit by that one at least several times a month – when there are so many different things buzzing around my mind that I can nearly hear the buzz.  As a last resort, I have taken Benadryl before to halt the buzz and bring on the zzzzs, but I HATE having to fight through the mental fog it brings on the next day.  All the coffee in the world can’t totally make that fog lift.

From what I’ve heard, that’s a common problem for legitimate sleep aids as well.  Through research – as well as personal experience – I’ve found that there are plenty of natural ways to fall asleep. Sleep inducers that you control, all by yourself, are much better than having to rely on other methods.  For one thing, you’ll never “run out” and for another… no side effects!

Here are a few of the best ways to fall asleep naturally:

1. Count backward from 500.  People who use this technique swear they never make it to the 200s.
2. My favorite:  Focus all your attention and thoughts on relaxing each muscle of your body – starting with each of your toes, then working all the way up.  I’ve never, ever made it past my knees.
3. Imagine that you’re in one of your all time favorite places, someplace relaxing, peaceful and calm.  Concentrate on feeling how you feel when there.  Mine would probably be lying on the warm white sand on Pensacola Beach, listening to the waves pounding the shore and the birds calling to the fish…using shells I’d found earlier in the day to draw pictures in the sand. Okay, it’s like a trillion degrees below zero where we live now and I just depressed myself.  Moving on!…
4. Breathe deeply, concentrating on each breath.  Inhale and exhale deeply and slowly, try to mimic the sound and feel of “sleep breathing.”  Before long you won’t be faking it.
5. Put a little lavender under your pillow.  Or you could use Downy’s Lavender and Vanilla fabric softener for your sheets and sleepwear – I use it religiously and it does have a relaxing effect on the senses.
6. Falling asleep can be as easy as ABC. Choose a “category” subject (such as food, things you want to learn more about, actresses, actors, movies, animals…), then alphabetically list as many people, places, or things that fall under that category. Example: If you choose “food,” you’d start at A and list as many foods that begin with A that you can think of (apples, avocados, artichokes, asparagus), then move on to B (bananas, beets, beef).  When you do this trick, you probably won’t get very far in the alphabet – you may get hungry (especially around cookies, cupcakes, cake, cheesecake..), but that’s a chance you have to take!  Like the trick of focusing on relaxing your body parts, the whole idea is to simply focus on something other than falling asleep.

Here’s one I’m going to “list” separately because, quite frankly, it never works for me! The thing is, a lot of people say it’s their “go to” natural sleep inducer so I thought I’d list it. Maybe I’m the odd duck (wouldn’t be the first time), so this tip may actually work for you better than it does me:  Re-live or re-trace your day. Begin with getting out of bed in the morning, then on to breakfast, coffee, getting dressed, etc.  While, like a few of the examples above, this does require you to focus on something other than sleep – I inevitably run into the same type of issues: “Oh, man, I should have done this…” and “I’ll remember to do this tomorrow…” and “Why did I eat two cookies? Why not stop at one?”  You get the picture.  I don’t just re-trace my steps, I over examine them.

Why? Because I’m a pill.

However, give it a try – it may work for you.  Unless you’re a pill, too. 🙂

When all else fails, go to the couch and turn on the greatest sleep inducer of all – the weather channel.  Not that they’re boring…. they’re just so peaceful.  Come to think of it, the golf channel also tells a great bedtime story….