Trouble Sleeping? Insomnia Cures Are Here! by Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW

Place your hands on your stomach and imagine that you are

expanding a colored balloon in your stomach. Exhale an

insomnia/anxiety color (red, black, etc) through your

mouth. Continue this for 5-10-50 times, whatever it

takes. It is impossible to focus on your body/breath

while entertaining thoughts.

4. Take a hot shower or bath before bed, or get up and do

so

if you are unable to fall asleep within 15 minutes.

5. Take some sleep food for the brain. Before going to bed

eat 1 ounce of protein, 1 ounce of cheese and 5 grapes or

the equivalent.

6. Get out of bed if you have not fallen asleep within 15

minutes. The brain is quite easily programmed. I don't

want your brain to associate "bed" with "awake."

7. Once you're out of bed do not watch TV, get on the

computer, listen to stimulating music, turn on a bunch of

lights or do anything else that stimulates your brain

into high gear.

8. Once out of bed do sit quietly, meditate on emptying

the

mind, listen to quiet, soothing music or do some "light"

reading. The research shows that deep meditation is as

restorative as sleep and takes less time than sleeping

for 8 hours.

9. Purchase a Brain Entrainment CD and some ear buds

(they are the most comfortable to sleep on). Make sure

the CD is designed for sleep. I won't go into all the

scientific details here. Just know that the brain needs

to be in delta wave state 60 minutes for you to wake up

feeling fresh. My favorite is "Sleeping Through

The Rain" by a company you can find at

www.hemi-sync.com. Don't try this on just a boom box.

The ear buds are very important to make this work.

10. Make sure your bedroom is dark. Lights out!

11. Exercise regularly. Exercise does a fantastic job of

regulating sleep cycles. The only catch here is do not

exercise within two hours of bedtime, as this can

activate mind and body systems that will keep you awake.

12. Drink Chamomile Tea an hour before bedtime and take

Valerian root with it. If you open up your first bottle

of Valerian root and it smells like rotten socks, don't

throw it away, it's supposed to smell like that! Can

you believe it!? ;-)

13. If worse comes to worst, consult a doctor. There are

many effective medications used for sleep which can

be prescribed by your doctor. Some of these include

Ambien, Temazepam, Sonata, Remeron, Benadryl (non-

prescription), Melatonin (Don't take this if you have

Seasonal Affective Disorder) Trazadone and others.

14. Stay away from alcohol as a sleep aid. Many will argue

that alcohol gets them to sleep, but brain wave studies

show that once asleep, an individual does not reach the

restorative level of sleep that results in feeling well

rested in the morning.

Too many sleepless nights can lead to what feels like a

psychotic break, so don't push yourself over the edge.

Good self care is so important. After just 2 nights without

sleep, intervention is necessary! Please take care of

yourself. A great night's sleep after not sleeping well

for a long time can be an absolutely wonderful gift to give

yourself.

I welcome you to more restful nights!

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BIO:

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Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW is an author, university
faculty member, success coach and veteran psychotherapist
whose passion is guiding others to their own success in
life. For weekly doses of the webs HOTTEST success tips, sign
up for Dave’s powerful “Feeling Great!” ezine at
http://www.Overcoming-Depression.com
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