Question of the Day - Tuesday, September 6

[cassiopea]

Greeeeeettings! And happy first Tuesday of September! I hope everyone is having a good week so far

How do you make yourself sleep when you can’t seem to get to sleep?





I usually use a sleep aid - little godsends I swear - but if it was a night where I wasn't using one, I would usually do some breathing exercises to help shut down my brain and pet a cat who is snuggling beside me. Chamomile tea during the winter is also helpful too, or dropping some lavender essential oil on my pillow.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Sometimes I will have a sleep tea to help relax. I often fall asleep reading or watching something low-key. Sometimes just daydreaming about pleasant things or telling myself a pleasant story works too.

 

[Jem]

I just toss and turn, look at the clock every 5 minutes and worry about the fact that I'm not sleeping....it's not very effective.

 

[Margot Lane]

With me it depends on the moon: waning I’m fine, waxing, forget about it.

 

[game misconduct]

i never have issues falling asleep staying asleep for more than 4 hours straight is somthing different

 

[susanm9006]

If I am careful about my insomnia triggers - caffeine and chocolate - I usually don’t have trouble getting to sleep. When it does happen I will usually try to think about or remember my dreams from the previous night. Those are usually so tangled and fuzzy that they send me off to sleep.

 

[strider rose]

dim the lights , tv on lowest level , turn back the blankets and hunker down with my c pap mask

 

[neely]

My family is known for sleeping through anything, lol. However, if I wake up during the night and have trouble going back to sleep I look no further than where Carleton is sleeping. Just being near him and cuddling helps me fall back to sleep.

 

[Norachan]

I don't think I've ever not been able to sleep. I can sleep anywhere, any time. It's a special gift I have.

 

[Maria Bayote]

I have anxieties, so sleep is always a problem for me.
Each time it happens I do any word puzzles on my phone. Or watch a boring show. Sometimes it is effective, most times it isn't.

 

[Margot Lane]

umm…did I mention that the moon IS waxing?

 

[Bri5]

Timely question. We spent Monday night at a hotel on the beach and I didn't sleep. There was no helping it since I was away from home. I believe I finally fell asleep around 4 am but we were up at 730. At home I would turn on the diffuser with lavender, have sleepy tea, and maybe change the blankets or sit in an epsom salt bath.

 

[Lari]

I have this story I made up that I've done so many times I go back to playing it in my head and usually I'm out before it's done.

 

[Meekie]

I have a cup of decaf tea with sugar. 20 to 30 minutes later, my glucose level crashes and I feel sleepy. It works about 80% of the time.

Other times I relax my body muscle by muscle, starting at my feet and working my way up. I concentrate on each muscle group until I feel the tension drain out. By the time I get to my neck I'm usually pretty relaxed.

Deep breathing also helps. Inhale deeply through the nose, hold it, then exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat three times.

Counting sheep! It sounds archaic, but it sometimes works if you do it right. It's not like the old cartoons where you count them as they jump over a fence or something. Instead, picture a nice green field or some pastoral other scene. Picture a bunch of sheep grazing and milling about, then try and count them. I think this sometimes works because you're getting your brain to think abstractly, which helps you slide into the hypnagogic state that occurs right before you nod off.

Question: does anybody else get a hangover from over the counter sleep aids? I tend to feel groggy the next day if I take them.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

Melatonin. If I didn't have to sleep I never would, so I almost never want to go to bed and the only way to get me to do it is to get so tired that I basically pass out. I also watch rug cleaning videos before bed and that always makes me tired.

 

[Margot Lane]

Pick a category then go through the alphabet A-Z.

 

[Mia6]

I envision myself walking barefoot slowly on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale

 

[mister obama]

I don't think I've ever not been able to sleep. I can sleep anywhere, any time. It's a special gift I have.

do japaneese sleep on the floor or a hard bed?

 

[DreamerRose]

I don't think I've ever not been able to sleep. I can sleep anywhere, any time. It's a special gift I have.

Before I retired, I was exactly like that, especially when I had young children. These days it's different. I take a melatonin capsule with some herbs in it and half of a Benadryl tablet.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I’ve never found anything to reliably send me to sleep when I’m wakeful at night. If I’m worrying about something, forget it. The most common, and annoying, thing is that I’ll be ready to fall asleep around 5.30pm, but once I’ve had dinner I wake up, and stay awake. I’m not free to arrange my schedule as I like, because I’m my mother’s carer. I should try knitting instead of reading in bed, though that might lead to having to wrestle the yarn away from the Yarn Monster.