With our busy lifestyles today getting the Zs our bodies need can be a challenge.

Add stress, health issues, anxiety and now we may be facing the ceiling eyes wide open with insomnia. Insomnia sucks. It also sucks the healthy life out of us.

And unfortunately studies show that “I’ll catch up on the weekend” also doesn’t work. Sleep deprivation can cause continued elevations of cortisol and lack of attention span even after a solid weekend of “catch up” slumber, which can create more stress, health issues and anxiety—a vicious cycle!

So what to do?

First, check with our naturopath and/or physician. Our bodies are unique and complicated so we want to make sure there isn’t something bigger amiss than being pissed that we’re BFFs with the moon.

But if it’s general life worries that have us staring at the ceiling fan in the wee hours, perhaps one or more of the natural solutions after the graphic can help:

Possible Solutions Pleazzze!

1. Write worry out. Jotting down our troubles and some possible solutions at least an hour before bedtime allows us to remind ourselves at Z time that we’ve already been there done that (for now) and can review in the morning when we’re bright eyed and bushy tailed.
2. Daydream. Only at night. Pleasurable visual self story telling can be a great distraction from our troubles. Just be careful not to get too riled up, unless you’re going for the ‘happy ending’ which releases feel good hormones that for many are a great knock-out night time tool, itself! *wink*
3. Get grateful. When we focus on the positive it’s impossible to focus on the negative at the same time. We all have something good going on in our lives, or at least something we can look forward to. By writing it down, we process it more deeply. Less negative mojo is better for nodding off.
4. Meditate. Repeat the mantra (mentally if we’ve got company), “I let go of every worry and issue weighing my body down.” Breathe. (How to achieve well-being through meditation.)

These tools might not make our eyelids heavy much sooner, but we’ll likely enjoy a more solid and peaceful sleep.

Sweet dreams!

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Editor: Bryonie Wise

Graphic via MindBodyGreen