10 Sleep Mistakes & Their Solutions!!
A lot of people nowadays complain about not being able to sleep, blaming it on their stressful work place and having too much on their minds. But what people are not aware of, us that their habitual actions create the conditions for them to have trouble sleeping day in and day out.
Personally, I don’t like to sleep and also I can’t sleep, and this has been going on for many years now. I have recently been receiving treatment for it from a very good Chinese doctor, Dr Jiang. He told me that many years ago, a lot of bad chi entered me because of the way I washed and dried my hair. This bad chi has stopped me from falling asleep easily, and it also gave me a false sense of energy so I kept working until I got even more tired and sick.
Recently, the doctor began acupuncture treatment on me and it was very painful when he first started but he said that it was a good sign, because it meant the treatment was working. Anyway, the doctor has been treating me to release the bad chi. Today he put 10 needles in me and when he pulled them out, I started shivering on cue. It was uncontrollable and lasted for about 30 seconds. The doctor never told me about it or told me to expect it, it just happened. After that, he explained that it was the bad chi coming out of my body. I am now about 60 percent healed, and have another 40 percent to go which the doctor says will be tough because the bad chi has gone quite deep in me. Luckily it did not go to my bones but it is still very deep.
For about two weeks now, since treatment started, I have also been very exhausted and falling asleep. It is not the kind of exhaustion I can overcome or fight. I have been very tired, and recently it has not taken much for me to collapse and fall asleep. I told my doctor about this today, and he said it is a good sign also. He said it means the bad chi is going from my body, so I can sleep again and whenever I sleep, I generate more good chi. He has also been treating my solar plexus to help me to generate more good chi. It means that I can sleep very deeply now, which I never used to be able to. Yesterday I slept from 9pm and woke up at 4am, and it was a very deep sleep and nobody could wake me up.
So I have been benefitting from Chinese medical treatment for my inability to sleep, and I can recommend this method of treatment for you if you have a qualified, good Chinese doctor near you. For many other people though, they cannot sleep because of how they sleep.
Below is a research article that I found on the ten most common mistakes that people make when it comes to sleeping and their solutions… do take a look at them. I hope it helps.
Tsem Rinpoche
Although we may not like to admit it, many of the sleep problems we experience are the result of bad habits and behaviors. We stay up late or sleep in late. We eat foods that disagree with us or enjoy a drink late at night, oblivious to their disruptive impact on our sleep rhythms.
Over time, we teach our bodies not to sleep. For relief, we often turn to sleeping pills, which mask, rather than solve, the problem and can lead to addiction. Ultimately for real success, with insomnia as with any chronic problem, one must look for the underlying imbalances and root causes and address those.
Mistake #1: Not keeping a consistent sleep schedule
We often think we can compensate for lost sleep by going to bed extra early another night, but the body clock’s ability to regulate healthy sleep patterns depends on consistency. We stay up late on weekends, expecting to catch up on sleep later or use the weekend to make up for lost sleep during the week. Both practices disrupt bodily rhythms, and late-night weekends in particular can cause insomnia during the workweek.
Solution: Create a routine and stick to it
Getting up and going to bed around the same time, even on weekends, is the most important thing you can do to establish good sleep habits. Our bodies thrive on regularity and a consistent sleep schedule is the best reinforcement for the body’s internal clock. Waking and sleeping at set times reinforces a consistent sleep rhythm and reminds the brain when to release sleep and wake hormones, and more importantly, when not to.
Mistake #2: Using long naps to counter sleep loss
Long naps during the day—especially after 4 p.m. or even brief nods in the evening while watching TV—can damage a good sleep rhythm and keep you from enjoying a full sleep at night.
Solution: Nap for no more than thirty minutes
If naps are absolutely necessary, make sure you only nap once a day and keep it under a half hour and before 4 p.m. In general, short naps may not hurt sleep; in fact, a short siesta for half an hour after lunch or a twenty-minute power nap before 4 p.m. works well for many people.
Mistake #3: Not preparing for sleep
Expecting the body to go from full speed to a standstill without slowing down first is unrealistic. Our bodies need time to produce enough sleep neurotransmitters to send feedback signals to the brain’s sleep center, which will result in the release of sleep hormones to allow you to doze off.
Solution: Take the time to shift slowly into sleep
Create an electronic sundown. By 10 p.m., stop sitting in front of a computer screen (or TV screen) and switch off all electronic devices. They’re too stimulating to the brain and will cause you to stay awake longer. Also, prepare for bed. Dim the lights an hour or more before going to bed, take a warm bath, listen to calming music or soothing sounds, do some restorative yoga or relaxation exercises. Getting your mind and body ready for sleep is essential. Remove any distractions (mentally and physically) that will prevent you from sleeping.
Mistake #4: Not giving your body the right sleep signals
Our bodies depend on signals to tell them when to fall asleep and when to wake up, the two most fundamental ones being darkness and light. But we live and work in artificially lit environments and often miss out on the strongest regulatory signal of all: natural sunlight. When we do go to sleep, our bodies need complete darkness for production of the important sleep hormone, melatonin. Often our bedrooms are not pitch dark, thereby interfering with this key process.
Solution: At night, keep the room as dark as possible
Find the culprits in your bedroom: the alarm clock readout that glows in bright red, the charging indicator on your cell phone or PDA, the monitor on your computer, the battery indicator on the cordless phone or answering machine, the DVD clock and timer. Even the tiniest bit of light in the room can disrupt your pineal gland’s production of sleep hormones and therefore disturb your sleep rhythms. Conceal or move the clock, cover all the lights of any electronic device, and use dark shades or drapes on the windows if they are exposed to light. If all of that’s not possible, wear an eye mask. If you get up in the middle of the night, try keeping the light off when you go to the bathroom. Use a flashlight or night light.
Mistake #5: Having a bedtime snack of refined grains or sugars
These are metabolic disruptors that raise blood sugar and overstress the organs involved in hormone regulation throughout the body. This hormone roller coaster can affect sleep cycles by waking you up at odd times during sleep as the hormone levels fluctuate.
Solution: If you have to eat, have a high-protein snack
It’s better not to have anything before bed, but at least a high-protein snack will not only prevent the hormone roller coaster, but also may provide L-tryptophan, an amino acid needed to produce melatonin.
Mistake #6: Using sleeping pills to fall and stay asleep
Sleeping pills mask sleep problems and do not resolve the underlying cause of insomnia. Many sleep studies have concluded that sleeping pills, whether prescription or over-the-counter, do more harm than good over the long-term. They can be highly addictive, and studies have found them to be potentially dangerous. For short-term use, there may be a need for sleeping pills, but over time, they can actually make insomnia worse, not better. If you’ve been taking them for a long time, ask a doctor to help you design a regimen to wean yourself off them.
Solution: Learn relaxation techniques
Aside from physical problems, stress may be the number one cause of sleep disorders. Temporary stress can lead to chronic insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Many people tell me they can’t switch off their racing minds and therefore can’t sleep. Do some breathing exercises, restorative yoga, or meditation. These will calm the mind and reduce the fears and worries that trigger the stress.
Mistake #7: Using alcohol to fall asleep
Because of alcohol’s sedating effect, many people with insomnia drink it to promote sleep. Alcohol does have an initial sleep-inducing effect, but as the body breaks it down, it usually impairs sleep during the second half of the night, leading to a reduction in overall sleep time. Habitual alcohol consumption just before bedtime can reduce its sleep-inducing effect, while its disruptive effects continue or even increase.
Solution: Take nutrients that calm the body and mind, getting you ready for sleep
Don’t drink alcohol to help you sleep. Look for a calming formula that has some of the following: amino acids, L theanine, taurine, 5 HTP and GABA, and herbs like lemon balm, passion flower, chamomile, and valerian root. Taking calcium and magnesium at night is also helpful. For some people, especially those over fifty, melatonin can be helpful, too. This is because the body produces less melatonin with advancing age and may explain why elderly people often have difficulty sleeping and respond well to melatonin.
Mistake #8: Watching television to fall asleep
Because we have no trouble at all falling asleep in the living room in front of the TV, many of us watch TV in bed to help us fall asleep. But when we do that, we invariably wake up later on. This sets up a cycle or conditioning that reinforces poor sleep at night. I have had many patients over the years develop insomnia due to this type of conditioning.
Solution: Get the TV out of the bedroom
Don’t watch TV in bed. The bed should be associated with sleep.
Mistake #9: Staying in bed hoping to fall asleep
If you can’t fall asleep within thirty to forty-five minutes, chances are you won’t for at least another hour, and perhaps even longer. You may have missed the open “sleep gate,” or missed catching the sleep wave. A sleep gate is the open window of time your body will allow you to fall asleep. Researchers have found that our brain goes through several sleep cycles each night where all sleep phases are repeated. These cycles last from ninety minutes to two hours, and at the beginning of each cycle, the body’s sleep gate opens. You won’t be able to fall asleep when your sleep gate is closed.
Solution: Catch the sleep wave
If you find you can’t fall asleep within forty-five minutes, get up and get out of the bedroom. Read a book, do a restorative yoga pose, or do some other calming activity for another one and a half to two hours before trying to sleep again. Staying in bed only causes stress over not sleeping.
Sleep is like surfing; you need to catch that sleep wave. Have you ever been exhausted and yet you avoid going to sleep and then a few hours later when you’re ready for bed, you’re suddenly wide awake? You missed the wave.
Mistake #10: Making sleep a performance issue
Often just thinking about sleep affects your ability to fall asleep. What happens frequently is that the way you cope with the insomnia becomes as much of a problem as the insomnia itself. It often becomes a vicious cycle of worrying about not being able to sleep, which leads to worsening sleep problems. Like so many things in life, sleep is about letting go, going with the flow. It needs to become a natural rhythm like breathing, something that comes automatically that you don’t think about.
Solution: Let go and go with the flow
Use the time to practice breathing exercises or meditation and to become aware of how what you eat, what medications you take, what behaviors or certain activities can affect your sleep cycle. Increase your awareness by paying attention to your body and becoming conscious of how you react to different foods and situations. Use this time productively, instead of getting upset that you can’t fall asleep.
One final point:
For chronic insomniacs, especially if you’re a heavy snorer, make sure sleep apnea is not the cause. This is a serious condition that affects at least 12 million Americans, many of whom have not been diagnosed. Usually they are heavy snorers. What happens is that the tissues at the back of the throat relax, and in so doing, block the airways. The brain senses oxygen deprivation, and sends wakeup signals. There is a release of adrenaline and cortisol, the stress hormone. Not only does this interfere with sleep, it can increase blood pressure, raising your risk of heart problems and stroke. It can also interfere with insulin sensitivity, and increases your risk of diabetes.
Source: http://www.drfranklipman.com/sleep-tips-top-10-sleep-mistakes-and-their-solutions/
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Getting quality sleep is one of the best things that we can do to maintaining a good lifestyle throughout our entire lifetime. People often give up good sleep due to busy lifestyle.
In fact we need sleep to survive, just like we need food and water, in fact there are many biological processes happen during sleep. Lack of sleep can result in decreased immune system function, decreased body temperature as well as a decreased release of growth hormone.
Thank you very much for your valuable sharing and all these 10 pointers are good guidelines for those who have trouble sleeping.
According to National Sleep Foundation that longer term, too little sleep may contribute to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and stroke. These ten points are good to help you if you can’t sleep. Good practice of sleep including getting to bed on time will keep you more healthy. I do not have any problem of sleep eventhough sometime i had work stress, i always tell myself let go the problems first and have a quality sleep in order for me to have a fresh mind tomorrow morning to think how to solve it.
Many of us has no problem of falling asleep, but how many of us can have good quality sleep?
& Why do we “sleep”?
– some people tend to sleep longer hours not because they are feeling due to after a long duration of activities but simply due to laziness.
– some people could sleep just for 5 to 6 hours daily & they feel energetic & productive during daily activities.
The body & the mind can never separate in the sense of both of them are interdependence. Hence, the root cause of people having issues of sleep, can be various.
Having enough rest is very important. many problems will accrue as mentioned above when we don’t get enough rest. The feeling is not nice at all. I used to have sleeping problem many years ago I think due my work schedule and life style. I think mostly due to my own personality.
After I met the dharma. With the blessings of the three jewels, my sleeping problem solved. No more medication needed any more. I think having that letting go and go with the flow way in our daily life is very important.
Thanks for sharing the article, I hope it helps many out there who has sleeping problems.
These 10 pointers are good guidelines for those who have trouble sleeping. There could be more mistakes and solutions than these 10, I think. There are some people who can sleep almost anytime, some people can sleep almost anywhere, and some almost in any positions. I guess having no problem sleeping or having problem sleeping is up to the individual. As for me, in general, I do not have problem sleeping.
Sleeping is essential for everybody, it’s just that some people sleep less, some sleep more. This 8ndeed is a very good article to help people who has sleeping problem. I read an article before which was about the sleeping cycle. If we really don’t have time to sleep, or have problem sleeping, try follow the sleeping cycle, which it just required a one an an a half hour sleep, then it’ll keep us awake for the next 5 hours.
We should always have enough rest for our precious body. I realized that not having enough sleep can also cause discomfort to our body in many ways. I usually go for some massage to help release muscle tension. And I find it a big relieve because my body can have a good rest after the massage. Besides the mistakes above, this is one of the recommended ways that will be able to help our tired body.
Above all, the worst thing to happen to us would probably taking sleeping pills to help us to sleep. It is probably due to the fact that the person is having some unresolved problem(s) which develops into mental stress. It says a lot about the need of people to find mental peacefulness in this modern day of life.
I personally do not have sleeping problems but once in a while maybe yes due to my body is unwell. Napping, taking coffee or watching tv does not affect my sleep too. I guess this is more to individual bodies.
I used to attach with mistake #8 when I was working in shifts. Unknowingly such habit affected my health terribly. Fortunately, my health recovered and recalling back, realizing was come from working stress. It affected my lifestyle, health and my performance too. I used another solution is not removing the television but to control my mind not induce into such habit, eat well and meditate more.
Thank you very much Rinpoche for sharing this article on sleeping mistakes. Very good advice. And i guess not many people realized these mistakes. I will try to keep these in mind and share it on social media with others. _/\_
Most times, people work very hard to just finish what they have to do. And, everyone has 24 hours. When there are datelines to be met, there are datelines to be met. So, very hardworking drive themselves beyond the “normal’ routines and times. So, then it becomes a vicious cycle. To switch back to ‘normal’ mode, it will take time.
This is another reason why those who work shifts, especially those on the graveyard shift, get a week off to switch their mode back to ‘normal’.
Thank you, Rinpoche for sharing. This is as relevant now as when the article was first posted in 2011.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thanks for sharing these solutions for better sleep. I’ve been encountered great difficulties to falls asleep 2 years already. Recently I practice to sleep on a routine & it works. I believe a healthy life style is very important to everyone.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing all these mistakes that all of us have. Many of us, even for the younger kids, do experience the inability to sleep. Hence we think that it is because of insomnia that is why we cannot sleep. But these are actually the real reason that causes us to not be able to sleep. Next time when I hear someone having sleep problems, I know that I can recommend them to read this.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article here. It is helpful in the sense that it tells us what could possibly be our sleep mistakes and provide us with solutions.
It is all about natural remedies, listening to our body and trying to live our lives according to the natural cycle – for example, not to have late nights during certain days of the week with the plan that we can make up for it at some other days.
I am happy to read that Rinpoche has solved at least 60% of your sleeping problem and I hope that after about 1 ½ year Rinpoche has made much progress in this aspect and that Rinpoche can fall asleep whenever you want.
Do take good care Rinpoche, because a good health is the precursor for many things in our lives.
Thank you Rinpoche for all this information. Thank you for all your kindness and help.
Thank you Rinpoche for writing this post, I have trouble sleeping too. This post helping.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for this sharing on the problem of insomnia. i am glad that Rinpoche has found a solution to make you have real and adequate sleep in Dr Jiang’s treatment.
I have been a chronic insomniac since I retired 10 years ago.Like Dawnene I tried everything and in the end, my doctor, agreeing that sleep was important for me, put me on a relaxant. I have been taking a relaxant like Xanax nightly for many years already. I have become psychologically dependent on it. The problem now is my doctor cannot get a supply of the Xanax and has to give me an equivalent which is very costly.At the same time, she has latched on to the idea that my insomnia is a physiological problem that can be treated by using a 1 and 1/2 year course of a couple of drugs to change the chemistry of my brain and wean me off a dependency on a relaxant.(She doesn’t believe that I should go to a therapist/psychiatrist in this part of the world).
Unfortunately, she has forgotten that my problem is more deep-seated than that. As she originally diagnosed it, I suffer from anxiety neurosis, which, despite my now coming into Dharma and trying to train and transform my mind, still rears its ugly head. I get panic attacks in an unpredictable manner; like last Wednesday, I was all set to be lead chanter of Menlha, when the attack came and I was such a mess as lead chanter all the way.
I wonder if Dr Jiang can help me? I know in the end, I can only get out of it through mind training and transformation, but I’m still stuck at the ‘concept’, ‘intellectual level’.
I was watching “A Kingly Speech” the other day and became glued to the TV, seeing King George VI, suffering as he stammered through every attempt at making a speech, despite all the various attempts to overcome it and the great need to do so. It was WWII and his public addresses were ‘food’ and ‘medicine’ for the millions of Britons at home and abroad in the battlefields.(Fortunately, he found someone who was able to be there for him every time he had to make those important public addresses). It is like that with me still. Every time, I try to sleep without taking my relaxant or taking a half dose, I will struggle and struggle and then give up because I wasn’t going to get any sleep that night. And I had kept myself busy and my mind off my sleep problem that whole day.
Chinese medicine, specially acupuncture really works for me as well. I also have sleep issues due to anxiety, which improves with the Chinese treatment. I have also been treated recently with a combination of herbs, which was new to me. They work very well too. It is amazing to feel the body sensations during a acupuncture sessions. All of you who have sleep problems, please seek professional help. There is no need to suffer.
So here i am at 4:15 am reading this after having slept on the couch for a few hours. I have horrible sleep habits and a lack of routine (discipline) this also affects my practice. thank you for this article. May I find the strength to become more disciplined!
I’ve suffered from chronic insomnia for over 25 years to the point that it impacts my ability to focus at work or to get daily tasks done. I’ve tried everything, my bedroom is a sleeping “palace” quiet, soft good quality sheets, no lights of any kind, nice fan going to circulate air, no television (I haven’t watched television in 15 years) so alcohol, nothing however, I can’t sleep, even if I meditate, relax, do all the things that are suggested, nothing works. I’m fortunate if I get 3 or 4 hours a night. After all these years, it has taken a huge toll on me and has limited my energy resources. I wish I could find a good Chinese doctor here in New Orleans to help me with this. Thank you for sharing, I hope that it continues to work for you, I know that you, like me, typically sleep for 1 or 2 hours and then wake up.
Oh dear! Except for mistake #2, I am so very guilty of committing all 9 mistakes. In fact as I sit here reading this, the thought of removing my TV from my room is making me lose sleep : )
It is true what Rinpoche writes about here. Sleeping healthily is training and corrections of bad habits. It is my daily plan to sleep early and better, the plan alone gets me all wired. I enjoy a glass of wine before sleep, and then I watch some TV to accompany the wine… Then it is 2 hours later…3 mistakes at one time!!
Looking deeper, managing sleep patterns is like mind training.
If we can train and transform our minds to sleep better, we should look into training and transforming our minds to be better people… By being a better person I will probably sleep better too.
Dear Rinpoche ,
I am really really glad the treatment is working and you get to sleep better. Although you dont like to sleep much but good and adequate sleep is so important to have a next good day ahead. With good sleep it energize us. I wish you recover 100% soon.
Thanks for sharing the info about getting good sleep and at least we know chinese treatment works! : )
Have a good , deep slumber tonight !