Hi, everyone!

Sleeping is as vital as listening to music. I bet you can't spend a day without listening to music, can't you?
Anyway... I don't know why I start suffering from insomnia when I'm on vacation. I guess the exhaustion from work helps me fall asleep, so I also try to work out and do several activities while on holidays. Nothing works.

What's your best recipe for insomnia?

Sweet dreams, everyone!

My best recipe is to read before I go sleep and I'm listening to meditation music for the night. (Your right I can't spend a day without listening music). Now I wish you a good night and I hope you can enjoy your vacation.

Thank you for your good wishes, Nicole!

Well, I've tried listening to music but it doesn't help. Even when it's the most relaxing music, I end up singing or distracted by the tune. I'm the silliest person, even for sleeping!

Reading seems a good alternative... I avoid surfing the web as it awakes me even more. And I think reading might be effective depending on what you read. I guess Stephen King's not a good alternative, though!

Thanks for the suggestion!!

I agree with you Stephen King's not the best alternative but I hope you slept well this night. Another suggestion is to make yoga before sleeping to slow down. So I wish you a nice da and enjoy your free time. ( until three day's I will have holiday, too )

Nicole's Holiday!!!!!

Truthfully, I've never practised yoga. But I've heard it's an excellent practice to relax your body, which is what usually doesn't help you sleep. Ignorant me!!!

I think you should try yoga before you get to bed.

If so, I guess I'll try to get some yoga classes before starting practising it. Yoga sounds really useful, not only for sleeping effectively. So my next homework is YOGA!!!

Drinking herbal water or milk helps, too. It helps me a lot.
Reading also helps, I agree with Nicole, it depends on what you read.
Doing yoga or a lot of exercise before sleeping makes your body need some relaxation, and sleeping is the best way to get it.

Don't watch TV or surf the web. It awakens your brain so you won't sleep well.

You're right. Even when I surf the web, watch TV or listen to music, I can remember my dreams or nightmares the day after, which means I haven't rested enough and my dream lapse was interrupted!

Anita wrote:You're right. Even when I surf the web, watch TV or listen to music, I can remember my dreams or nightmares the day after, which means I haven't rested enough and my dream lapse was interrupted!

I've a history of insomnia and I'm well educated in dreams so this thread caught my attention. Don't feel bad about not remembering your dreams. Most people don't remember them or they only remember little pieces. When I was training myself to lucid dream (where you are aware that you're dreaming and can control your dreams), one of the first training exercises was to teach myself to remember my dreams. It takes some time and dedication, but within a couple of weeks, I found myself being able to recall at least 3 dreams every day. The purpose of this exercise is to actually know that you would even remember a lucid dream. Point being, some people need to train themselves to remember any kind of dream.

As for the insomnia, it depends on the source of the problem-insomnia is always a secondary condition.

Most doctors will tell you to stop taking in caffeine and to increase your level of exercise. Since physical exertion had nothing to do with my insomnia, these suggestions didn't work for me. Neither did sleep aids. Feel free to try them, but they've never worked for me. If it's not a physical source, it's mental; perhaps anxiety or stress. Try talking with someone about any anxieties you have and clear your mind. Don't watch TV or use electronics before sleeping as they are far too stimulating. Don't go to bed until you're tired, and if you find yourself waking up at night, get up and do something until you feel tired again. Do not try to force yourself to sleep. You might also ensure the room is cool and dark and you are comfortable.

Hopefully you sleep soon. Insomnia and I know each other far too well.

T'ani Rein wrote:Try talking with someone about any anxieties you have and clear your mind. Don't watch TV or use electronics before sleeping as they are far too stimulating. Don't go to bed until you're tired, and if you find yourself waking up at night, get up and do something until you feel tired again. Do not try to force yourself to sleep. You might also ensure the room is cool and dark and you are comfortable.

I I totally agree with you!
You'' see that just about 10% of the patients dealing with insomnia have got physical issues, but most of them are to do with mental issues or your state of mind. Just to say, the more things you've got to do, the less you'll sleep: the more problems that trouble you, the more anxiety you'll have, of course. And insomnia is just one of the different types of disorders you'll experience, along with irregular eating, mood change and body exhaustion.

So I couldn't agree more with T'ani's suggestions, which make total sense when coping with insomnia in a natural and sensible way!

So, T'ani, isn't it only possible but actually healthy to remember your dreams? I though it only happened when your REM phase was interrupted!

Remembering dreams doesn't have any health benefits unless you believe in dream interpretation. Most dreams are simply random pieces of information that your brain has gathered throughout the day and is storing in the hypocampus, the memory center of the brain. Dreams are also your brain's way of sorting through problems you are having without logical restraint, as the parts of your brain that deal in logic shut off during sleep. This is why even wildly irrational dreams feel real; no logic is there to tell you something is unusual. Certain things such as death, monsters and houses do have symbolic importance in dream interpretations, but if you have a dream and don't remember it, it still happened and the corresponding information is, therefore, present in your subconscious so technically you're aware of what you dreamt. You just don't realize it.... yea, that was a long winded version of, it doesn't matter whether or not you remember your dreams lol.

Well, I'm not fond of dream interpretation. I have always thought of dreams as chunks of mental associations of memories, fears, hopes and imagination, and our hard disk is taking all these pieces in. But I don't think they've got a meaning for the future, just as some people claim. I'm a bit tough about those believes.

Thanks for your post, T'ani! It's good to know what dreams are to our brain. This is especially important for those who do not sleep because they are busy. It is important to sleep, regardless of not remembering these dreams! It's a time our body and our brain deserve!

Dreams are also your brain's way of sorting
through problems you are having without logical restraint, as the parts
of your brain that deal in logic shut off during sleep.

So true! I scientific research carried out lately, mice could find the maze exit much more easily after sleeping. It's easy to tell you can also study a lot better after having slept, and when you think things over, that's why we'd say in Spanish "Déjame pensarlo con la almohada," as if the pillow were going to give you the answer.
That's why cramming up in exams time is senseless, because you won't let your brain process all the information that, as T'ani has mentioned, is stored in the hypocampus - your short-term memory data.

I came across [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], which reviews a book based on research on insomniacs habits and how to deal with it. It's worth reading it despite its length - and thank heaven it's an edited extract.