Guidelines for better sleep

The best way to tackle insomnia is by natural means, here summarized as 10 simple rules.

Clear your mind of all the anxieties and thoughts of the day. Avoid feeling of anger or resentment, which can be more potent than anxiety to maintaining wakefulness.

Don’t read an exciting book or watch a thrilling film before bedtime. Excitement is another obstacle to sleep.


Tell yourself frequently during the day, and again last thing at night, that you will relax in mind and body, go to sleep quickly, and sleep right trough the morning.

Make the bedroom a pleasant place, softly-lit, quiet, and comfortable.


Follow the natural human sleep pattern by retiring early and waking early.

Unwind physically. Progressively relax your body, tensing and then releasing each group of muscles from the toes to the head. Alternatively, meditate for at least fifteen minutes before retiring.

Avoid nicotine and caffeine for at least an hour before bedtime – they both harm sleep. In small amounts alcohol, which is a depressant, can help you get to sleep, but it is better not to rely on it.

Try hot milk and honey or a malted milk drink as a soothing bedtime beverage.

Repeat a shooting formula – such as “I am drifting off to sleep” – before sleep and if you wake during the night. Alternatively, repeat a peaceful visual exercise, such as visualizing trees waving in the breeze. You ca even use the old trick of counting sheep. If these exercises produce no immediate effect, persevere with them. After several nights the unconscious will begin to get the message.

Don’t worry about the amount you are sleeping – in the end, our bodies make sure we get all the sleep we need. Worrying or annoyance because you can’t sleep is a guarantee of wakefulness.

Taken from Fontana, D (1997), “Teach yourself to dream.”