When it comes to sleep, it very much depends on my mood of the day. If it’s generally good all day, then it takes very little for me to doze off as soon as my head hits the pillow. But if I’ve had a lousy day, my mind tends to start racing with too many thoughts, which makes it very difficult for me to sleep.
Over the years, I’ve come up with some whacky remedies to try to get me to sleep. One time, I consumed one too many anti-histamines in hopes that it would knock me out. Oh it did all right, but man I felt even worse the next day. I was extremely lethargic and was a huge cranky-pants. Big lesson learned.
In time, I came up with a recipe that would help me sleep. These are the things I’d do to ensure a good night’s rest.
A glass of wine before bed
Now I’m not asking you to drink a glass every night before bed. I trust (and expect) that you’ll drink responsibly. A glass of milk before bed may help but I find that a glass of wine knocks me out like a light. Then again, I AM a cheap drunk so it doesn’t take much at all to knock me right out 😛
Spray lavender water onto your pillow
I adore the scent of lavender before bed. It’s calming and relaxes my muscles and mind. I bought the Bath & Body Works Sleep Pillow Mist years ago, but I find that a lavender facial mist does the same job as well. Deeply inhale and slowly exhale. Repeat till you fall asleep.
Apply lavender essential oil on pulse points
If lavender water isn’t available for pillow-spraying, another method of relaxing is applying lavender essential oil on your pulse points an hour before bed. It’s a gentle scent that I find very soothing to the senses. A favourite of mine comes in the form of a roller ball – Tisserand’s Sleep Remedy Roller Ball. It’s easy to use and portable too.
Wear an Eye Mask
There are two eye masks you can use – the ones that you use on the plane, and the ones with grains in them. I like the latter because the grains weigh on the eyes, creating a slight pressure that somehow relaxes me (similar to the effect of a facial massage). The ones that you use on the plane are great for blocking out the light (in case your partner is still up and needs the lights on).
Switch off social media and the Internetz an hour before bed
The problem with checking Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Whatsapp, instant messages, emails, etc right before bed is that the conversations still leave you buzzing. I find it difficult to drift to sleep when I’m constantly on the phone. What I do is turn the phone to silent, switch all notifications off and put the phone away from me (not on the bed side table) about an hour before bed. Even if I’m reading on the iPad, I switch all notifications off and mute all sounds.
Read a book before bed
This has worked for me even since I can remember starting to read. Just a few chapters before bed and I’m ready to conquer dreamland. Okay, I’ll admit that sometimes it doesn’t really work when the book’s getting to the exciting parts and I keep saying to myself, just one more chapter to go and I’ll go to sleep. What do you know? Hello 5am 😛
Listen to soothing music or slow audiobooks/podcasts on topics you don’t give two figs about
Every night before bed, I tune my bedside radio to ABC Jazz, switch the Sleep Mode on, and then fall asleep to the music. This works a treat for me.
But if that doesn’t work, then I tune in to podcasts and audiobooks that I find, erm, rather dull to listen to. There are heaps of free podcasts on the Internet on topics that I’m not keen on but at the very least they are useful to me for one thing – I get so bored listening to them that I fall asleep almost right away. My last resort is this: I know that this is rather awful to say, given that I am a Christian and all, but James Earl Jones’ reading of the Bible knocks me right out. His very deep yet soothing voice will do that to you 😉
Zzz…
These methods have worked very well for me over the years. If you are having trouble sleeping, do try them out and see if they work for you as well.
However, if you’re suffering from severe insomnia, I highly recommend that you see your doctor about this, just in case there are any underlying issues as to why you aren’t sleeping at all.
Good luck!
What about you? What helps you go to sleep? Do you suffer from insomnia? Has anything helped you out so far?
I found this post to be really helpful. For myself, I’ve discovered that the more I settle down after dinner into quiet activities, the easier sleep comes. Not good for my social life, but good for sleep!
Exactly what I thought, Victoria. It really helps to promote sleep. Less buzzing around the mind 🙂
I think I am the biggest insomniac that I know. But it is partly my silly brain’s fault for being overactive!!! Anyway, Photoshop tutorials knock me out…or praying!!! (bad Christian girl!!)
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Ling: Erm, err…me too! (about the praying part) 😛
I have to make sure of a couple of things. I can’t be too warm or too cold. Now that its raining here everyday and I still sleep in an air conditioned room (long story) I turn the air cond to a reasonable temp, wear comfy pjs and snuggle in bed. Also, I apply lavender body oil before bed and do my 2 drops of lavender on a piece of tissue next to my head to help me relax. I then read for a bit and before you know it, out like a light 🙂 Doesn’t always work, but lately, its doing its trick. zzzzz
Paris B: Oooh I know what you mean, although I can sleep when it’s cold but it becomes a lot more difficult when it’s hot. In the hot summer months we used to have two fans in the room and that still wasn’t enough to cool it down enough to sleep. Unfortunately, when it comes to the weather, none of the above would work for me if it’s hot >.<
Hi Tine! I’m not used to lavender scent as it does not really helping me. Probably not working for me :)But I also love the idea of reading books, listening to soothing and soft music and switching off all the social media which really help in getting me to sleep. =)
Michelle: The music part really helps, at least, it does for me. The social media thing was something I discovered quite recently. It’s just like tuning off a lot of talking before sleeping 🙂
sometimes when i can’t fall asleep, I drink a glass of red wine too, it really helps. Or I do some reading 🙂
Yay to a glass of wine before bed! 😀
I often have trouble falling asleep (which is why a power-nap in the middle of a busy day is counter-effective – I’ll probably spend more time trying to sleep than being asleep!) ~ and it’s especially because I tend to work late into the night and go to sleep right after that. Usually, I’m dead tired, but my mind feels like it’s still trying to unknot something! What works for me is lying supine on the bed and commanding every part of my body to relax – from head to toe. Command and then purposely relax and imagine that body part sinking deep into the mattress….then move on to the next body part 😛 Something like that. Hahaha.
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Grace: Power naps help me a great deal. They can never be more than 30 mins, if not then it becomes ineffective 😛
Oh I absolutely love the feeling of really relaxing and feeling the back sink into the mattress … I can almost hear my bones heave a sigh of relief ….. siiiigggghhh….
I used to have sleepless nights in the past, sometimes I don’t even sleep for two or three days in a row. I got so lethargic and had to take medication to help me to sleep.
For my health’s sake, now I spray witch hazel mixed with lavender and geranium essential oils on my pillow, and I use a small pillow to cover my eyes if I sleep face up, or my ears if I sleep on the side 🙂 now I’m able to have good quality sleep almost every night!
Sorry to hear you had trouble sleeping but very good to know that you’re sleeping much better now 🙂
I use my stinky ol’ childhood bolster to cover my eyes and ears to sleep too, just like you!
I couldn’t sleep til 3 the other night, and I had a tube of Crabtree and Evelyn Lavender Hand Therapy right next to me that I didn’t touch! If only I’d read this post earlier! Hahaha I love the audio Bible thing- Mum put a NKJV audio Bible on my iPod when I lent it to her and it was exactly the same! Switches you off like a light switch. :p
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Hahahahaha OMG how bad are we to use the Bible to put us to sleep?? 😛 😛 😛
Hehe… I see 2 cuties under your pillow… ^.^
Hehehe those our our monkeys, one for the hubs, one for me 😀
Oooh I really want to try out a weighted eye mask. Sounds amazing!
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It feels really good, especially the ones that you can warm up by popping it in the microwave oven 🙂
Sleeping beauty! I love this so much, the pictures look so peaceful and your bedroom feels so warm and welcoming 🙂 I have a lavender-scented ‘eye pillow’ (!) and I too find the weight of it comforting – and the smell of lavender, ahhh! xxx
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Hahahaha! I changed the lightbulbs in the room to only warm lights. It’s not so harsh and makes it a lot easier for me to wind down before bed.
Those weighted eye pillows are fantastic, right? So comfortable!