Basic Pursuits

O sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down
And steep my sense in forgetfulness?
~William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I

Don't worry, Will. Nature's soft nurse will not be frighted if you follow a few simple suggestions.

New York Times' Well section put up a good post on sleep. It pointed out that simple tried and true sleep techniques work better than pills to secure a good night of zzzs.

These include

• Using your bed for sleep and sex and nothing more. This is called stimulus control. Your rack should stimulate the response of sleep. What's is going to stimulate if you are there with a computer working on a presentation deadline in the middle of the night or trading currencies in Hong Kong?
• Don't go to bed hungry.
• Don't get into bed until you are sleepy.
• Get up at the same time every day.
• Don't nap.
• Can't sleep. Get of bed after 15 mins. and do something relaxing.
• Black out your bedroom, adding light-proof blinds if you need to.
• Control alcohol and caffeine.
• Don't watch the time. Turn the clock around.

Two things that the article doesn't mention have have kept me awake or sleeping poorly.

• Going to bed stuffed with food. I try to eat at least four hours before going to bed. This is also a good tip for controlling weight.
• Exercising too close to bedtime. For me and most people, a good workout leaves me too jacked up to sleep right away. It's one of the reasons I exercise in the morning.

Alcohol also can have a big effect on my sleeping. Sometimes just two glasses of wine can jolt me awake in the middle of the night and keep me awake.

To wind down in bed, I use a progressive relaxation technique. I inhale into every part of my body beginning with the tips of my toes with the aim of relaxing each part. (I rarely ever get past my knees.) For falling asleep, I find the more detailed my progression, the more effective it is. In other words, breathe into the toes, the metatarsals, the ankles, calf muscles, etc. rather than feet, legs, hips, etc.

My other weapon for conquering insomnia is C-span. Yep, C-span. I have a cable connection and get numerous C-span channels. When I can't sleep, I find one about something I can be mildly interested in. This is most often the C-span History Channel. Sometimes the lecturer there is an author touting a book and can be a good story teller. I turn on the sound only, and listen to the sound of the lecturer's voice until it sends me into dreamland.

Another reason I pick C-span is the lack of commercials. Commercials can be jarring and are almost always louder than the regular programming.

This is a good technique for folks who tend to fall asleep in class.

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