Get plenty of sleep or your happiness rating will suffer. Most people need a good six to eight hours sleep a night to feel in the best of moods. Have a regular bedtime and keep the bedroom for sleep and lovemaking only (so – no reminders of work!). Avoid alcohol and chocolate late at night – both contain enough caffeine to disturb your sleep. Also, avoid watching TV or reading the paper before bed – both can overstimulate. Instead have a relaxing bath with a few drops of lavender essential oil and do some stretching exercises. If street lights keep you awake, invest in a pair of heavy drapes or solid wooden shutters to keep out the glow.
Finally, before you turn in, consciously empty your mind of worries. Imagine your problems are a big white balloon, watch it ascend and then cut the string and let all your worries float away.
Try yoga: Yoga can help address sleep problems because it calms the nervous system. If you’re unable to sleep, try this pose: Sit cross-legged on the floor in front of a chair, bend forward from the hips and place your crossed arms on a folded blanket on the seat of the chair. Rest your head on your crossed arms. Stay in this position 10 minutes or longer, taking slow, deep breaths through your nose. Meditating in the yoga Corpse pose – lying flat on your back with arms and legs splayed to either side – may also relax you.
Herbs can help: Sip a soothing herbal tea. Choose from lime flower, passionflower, valerian, lemon balm, fennel, rosehips, hops or chamomile. Try tablets containing extracts of valerian, hops and lemon balm, available from health food shops, which can help to improve the quality of your sleep. Take St John’s wort (from health food shops) if insomnia is linked with mild to moderate depression – but avoid bright sunlight because this herb might increase your sensitivity to sunlight.
Use visualisation: If you’ve got a lot on your mind, your thoughts may be keeping you awake. And if you’re worrying about something in particular, your body will produce more of the stress hormone adrenaline, which makes you alert and also blocks the action of the growth hormone, meaning you wake up unrefreshed. Block these thoughts with something neutral. For instance, think of a pleasant and restful scene, or picture yourself going down a staircase or lift. The lower you go, the deeper you fall into relaxation and sleep. Try repeating a meaningless word, such as ‘anything’, over and over in your head. If you still can’t drop off, get up, go into another room and do something relaxing, such as light reading, until you feel sleepy.
Don’t go to bed angry: Feeling cross or resentful is far more likely to keep you awake than anxiety. Either address the problem beforehand or work out a strategy for dealing with it – then put it firmly to one side until morning.
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