Drinking coffee and soda is a mainstay in most lives. But the caffeine in those drinks might be keeping you up at night if you consume too much.

Like caffeine nicotine is also a stimulant. Another reason to stop smoking.

You have given up the coffee and the cigarettes now what? Cut back on the booze also.

Maintain a regular schedule of when to go to bed and when to get up. I know that is difficult but it have proven to help.

Use relaxation techniques to help you unwind in the evening. Especially if you have sleeping disorders.

Make the bedroom a place just for sleep and sex, not TV.  Falling asleep while the TV is going isn’t conducive to good sleeping habits.

Is your bed comfortable? If it isn’t it might be a good idea to find one that is.

White noise can block out a lot of annoying sounds that seem to get louder at night. (I use that myself)

Why is a warm bath before bed so relaxing? Because it rises your body temperature and the temperature will lower quickly when you get in bed this will solve one of the sleeping problems.

Complete darkness is not only easy on the eyes it is important to because it helps produce melatonin, a hormone that helps the body’s circadian rhythm. One of many bed tips.

Like all living things, rest, especially sleep, is vital to the survival of mankind.  Sleep like food, air and water is essential to living.

 What is sleep?

Sleep is a restful state where one doesn’t react to stimulus. With humans sleep is broken down into 5 categories:

The beginning of sleep is a transition between being awake and sleep. Slow brain waves are produced at this stage of sleep. This stage lasts about 10 minutes.

Rapid brain waves known as sleep spindles are produced in the second stage of sleep. the heart rate slows and the body temperature falls in this stage that takes about 20 minutes.

Stage three is a transitional period between light and deep sleep. slow brain waves known as Delta waves are produced in this stage.

Delta waves continue in stage four which lasts about 30 minutes.

The deepest sleep is in stage five which is referred to as REM (Rapid Eye Movement). The irony of this stage of sleep is that the brain is active during this stage of sleep. Dreams occur during REM.

It is important to note that the stages of sleep do always go in order. The complete sleep cycle can be repeated 4 or 5 times a night.