Living in a digital era is certainly a blessing as we are gifted with a multitude of sources of learning, progress and entertainment which are at our finger tips. Nevertheless, these numerous facilities come with a hidden price tag.
The over-use of all kinds of electronic gadgets might cause a lot of stress including isolation and depression that could lead to several types of psychiatric problems such as insomnia, schizophrenia, mania and so on.
The most important and the root cause of all kinds of psychiatric problems is the patient’s inability to fall asleep naturally.
W.C. Fields quotes “The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep.” So to get to the secrets of sleeping naturally, I personally would suggest you to exercise discipline in every facet of your lifestyle by following the below tips and guidelines conscientiously:
- Exercise an hour every day. The exercises could be even in the form of playing games. Alternatively, you could brisk walk early morning to breathe in the fresh air. This will invigorate your mind and body. If you are unable to move out of the house, you may even run on a tread mill, with a bit of open ventilation, as the second best option.
- Practice Yoga an hour or half a day. Yoga is a great form of exercise that tunes you into a state of pure consciousness, maximum creativity and bliss. The process of doing yoga is by itself a blissful process. It not only regulates and focusses on one’s breathing pattern but relieves stress through stretching, movement of the muscles, organs and even induces deep relaxation. The deep relaxation through deep breathing generates alpha waves that induce one to fall asleep naturally.
- Nourish your body with healthy food and drink a lot of water. Drink at least 5 liters of water. Drink more water first half of the day and less the rest of the day. As our brain is composed of 78% water content, drinking plenty of water must be made into a habit. Eat lots of fruits and healthy food every two hours in a moderate quantity that would hydrate and nourish your body as suggested by Rujuta Diwekar in Don’t Lose Your Mind But Lose Your Weight.
- Don’t use your computer at least 3 hours before sleep as it disturbs your sleep pattern. Don’t be on the phone or use any electronic gadgets prior to sleeping. Say a big no to technology three hours before sleep.
- Avoid tea or coffee as much as possible or have them much before sunset. If you really need to drink tea or coffee, opt it only once a day.
- Enhance the quality of your life by bonding with your friends and relatives as often as you can. This alone can do miracles to cure your insomnia. The more you socialize the better you feel, and socialization alone can cure you from tossing and turning sleepless all nights. So one of the primary cures to insomnia is socializing a lot.
- Be an optimistic person and bid adieu to your bad memories and hurt feelings. Read the book The Power of Now by Echart Tolle wherein Echart clearly states both the past and the future are just an illusion and true power lies in being and living in the present.
- Have a beautiful and huge vision clearly imprinted in your mind and move slowly one step at a time. Just remind yourself what Rabindrath Tagore says, ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step’.
- Inculcate and create great habits in your life by replacing the bad ones for which I urge you to read The Power Habit by Charles Duhigg. This, one book, alone could help you discipline your life.
- Connect to nature. Love plants and animals a lot. Spend more time watering the garden and sowing flower seeds or vegetable seeds. Then see those seeds grow into a fruitful plant and bloom into flowers. This can enliven your lost spirit and get back to focus in your life. Even if you are in an apartment, try keeping plants on your balcony and watch them grow every day. In case you are an animal lover, keep pets like cats, dogs, rabbits etc. or have a nice aquarium at home. Their spirits will invigorate yours too to a great deal and forget your worries and stress for good.
As every problem has a solution, similarly insomnia too can be cured naturally if you inculcate the power habits through sheer focus and discipline that will systematically change your lifestyle and help live a great healthy life by sleeping naturally.