So Tired and Sleepy that I Can't Sleep - Catch 22. My Tips for Healthy Sleep.

I feel exhausted today. I had to work at night - no night sleep at all  - which is an extremely thing to do. It does not happen often, maybe once or twice per year, or even less, and every time I feel  ruined afterwards. Now I just need to survive till 10 pm, feed the dog and go to sleep.

One possible problem with that is the difficulty with falling asleep when tired like this. I am not sure about you, but I tend to stay awake for hours in such cases; my nerves would not let me relax and switch off. The longer I try to fall asleep, the more fretful and upset I become. So, the situation aggravates further and I can well enough ruin my sleep routine and finally this might mean the need to take medication which is not desirable at all.

Of course, as this problem is not new to me, I have developed some solutions that work for me. They are very simple and I am sure everyone knows them but I need to kill some time before going to bed, so why not talk?

I stop using all gadgets at least 1 hour before going to sleep.

I consciously "slow down" all my activities at home. I don't do anything physical, nothing like moving a piece of furniture or doing some push-ups because I suddenly decided that was a good idea. No. It is not good.

I might do some relaxing yoga if I feel like it. This Yin Sequence by Yogi Nora is perfect; I virtually fall asleep while still in the pose. The good thing about this video is that it is perfect even for beginners; you can use pillows as props and you will feel comfortable and relaxed and will be stretching even is you are very inflexible (like me).


I might have a lukewarm bath with essential oils. The trick is to make sure the water temperature is neither too high or too low. Both are detrimental to good sleep. As for the oils, I routinely use a blend called "Peace" by Eden's Garden for this - it contains my favourite relaxing and calming oils such as Chamomile, Geranium, Jasmine, Lavender, Lavandin, Petitgrain, Tagetes and Vetiver. It has been renamed recently and now it is called "Quiet Time" but the composition is the same. Of course other oils can be used, depending on taste and availability.

Sometimes I drink a glass of warm milk with honey and a bit of nutmeg. This is a classic recipe to aid sleep.

Alternatively, I might have some herbal tea made from peppermint and thyme or other herbs with relaxing properties,

A good book before sleep is a good aid, too, It is better to read something I already know, so that there are no surprises, suspense and anxiety. For me, some poems work well.

There are some wonderful sounds that can aid sleep. I have ocean sounds on my mobile phone; I turn that MP3 on and put the phone a bit away from my bed, so that it is not too close but I can still hear it well. I know it is not desirable to keep the phone next to me when sleeping, but honestly I do not want to invest in the sleep machine, at least not now. I do not do that often, anyway.

I do feet massage with essential oils, it is a great way to ease the tension and relax; it is great for overall health, too.

These are just some very basic tips that work for me. I am sure I do other things as well but cannot think of them right now as I am so tired. However, even thinking of all these aids now makes me drowsy so writing this was a good idea. And what do you do to improve your sleep? I am sure there must be many other great ways to induce sleep and make it calmer and healthier.