Natural Ways to Get Sleep

It is funny that while sleep is a natural state of relaxation in which we spend one third of our daily lives or a third of our total life years, many of us seem to struggle to get it.

Sleep, in contrast to wakefulness, is a condition when our conscious mind switches off leaving the stage to the unconscious mind that often reveals itself in the form of dreams. Healthy sleep in adequate amounts is essential for our brains, minds and bodies.

Popping a sleeping pill has become an easy way out. At the last count there are over a hundred types of sleeping pills available for treating ‘insomnia’, the medical term for lack of sleep, with 3 of every 20 Indians consuming them. Most medications however provide an abnormal drugged form of sleep, create dependence or have adverse effects.

Getting enough of the natural sleep and at the appropriate time therefore continues to be a challenge.

The commonest form of sleep disorder especially in young people is difficulty in falling asleep.

It is sometimes due to excess consumption of caffeine, a cerebral stimulant, especially in the evenings. Saying no to coffee, tea and chocolates especially after dusk helps.

Another form of cerebral stimulation that interferes with sleep is watching thriller movies or heated arguments on television before bedtime. Therefore much though I like watching ‘what the nation wants to know’, I have started tuning in to ‘bhabiji ghar par hai’ to get into the right mood to fall asleep. Working on computers at night can drive sleep away too.

A dark silent cool room without mosquitoes and a comfortable bed often suffice. Additional sleep inducers could be soft instrumental music, bhajans or lullabies, or soothing aromas. Reading a book can be an effective strategy for some.

What do you do if these simple measures are not enough?

The strategy that works best for me is physical exercise. On days that I am able to get a 30-minutes session of tennis, shuttle or brisk walk, I find myself dosing off by 10 even when mud-fest on TV is reaching deafening levels.

Two other simple tricks also work well.

One is to relax all muscles of the body, working up stepwise from the toes to the forehead, making sure that the body is loose and limp. Direct the mind to slowing and relaxing the rhythm of breathing. Then focus the mind on a soothing scene. What works for me is to visualize sheep grazing on the hilly Himalayan meadow while I try to count them. Another sleep inducing mental exercise is to subtract 7 from 100 and count backwards.

Falling asleep requires wiping off excitement, fears and anger, and shutting off the conscious mind to let the body go limp and loose into that dream like state. The more one practices the easier it gets. And saying a silent prayer often improves the quality of the mist that wafts in.