How to sleep better?

• Sleep is a vital part of life and its lack can have severe consequences.
• If one suffers from insomnia or other sleep disorders, the first thing to do is to consult the doctor.

Causes:

• Anxiety: A condition in which individuals feel high tension, apprehension, feeling of helplessness, fear, worry and uncertainty.
• Hormonal changes in women.
• Age: With the ageing of a person the secretion of a hormone melatonin which aids sleep decreases.
• Medical conditions like allergies, arthritis, asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism and parkinson's disease.
• Pain due to medical illness or injury.
• Working in night shifts or long shifts.
• Side effect of certain medications.
• Overuce of caffeine and alcohol.
• Extreme noise, temperature or a change in perxon's surroundings.

Tips to have a good sleep:

• Have a bath in warm water before going to bed as this relaxes the muscles to a great extent.
• Listen to mild music as this surely relieves stress to a great extent.
• Drink a glass of milk before bed time as it soothes the nervous system.
• Avoid Caffeine, Alcohol and Tobacco.
• Sleep in a well ventilated room.
• Sleep on a good firm bed.
• Sleep on your back.
• Keep regular bed time hours.
• Perform some physical excercises during the day. Pranayama, Surya Namaskar, yogasanas and brisk walking are very effective in my experience.
• Go to bed early in the night and get up early in the morning.
• Avoid naps in the afternoon.
• Avoid illuminations in the bed room.
• Pray the almighty both before going to bed and after getting up for a few seconds. This provides a great relief, stress, tension and worries. Just do your duty and do not worry about the results and leave it to the Lord. When we do not worry about results, there will be no reason for worry, stress, anxiety, anger, hatred, likes, dislikes or sorrows. As a result the mind and the body both will rest in peace.
• Practice meditation daily.