How to Overcome the Occasional Night of College Insomnia Insomnia, we have all experienced it at one point or another during student life in college. You have finally gotten all that school work done and now all you want to do is get some well-deserved sleep. After preparing for bed, you get all snuggled up under the blankets and close your eyes. A little while later you glance at the clock to see the time and three hours have passed. What is going on with your body and why isn’t sleep coming like it should? Do not fret, all you need to do is follow these simple steps and you can easily prevent future nights of fighting with insomnia. The first thing that must be done to combat insomnia is to set yourself up with a proper sleep routine.
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However, when it comes to getting proper sleep stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine should be avoided at least two hours before bed. It can be very tempting to grab an energy drink or smoke a cigarette to wake yourself up late at night so you can finish that essay you put off till the last minute. However, both caffeine and nicotine will wake the body up and make it harder to sleep for several hours after consuming. “Acute ingestion of caffeine dose dependently prolongs sleep latency, reduces total sleep time and increases sleep fragmentation” (Porkka-Heiskanen). You may feel awake at the time of taking stimulates, but as they were off your body will be drained of energy and sleep may seem to come easy but the quality of said sleep will be about the equivalent of getting no sleep at all. Some people find that exercise before bed tends to help them wind down. This is true to an extent. Light exercise such as stretches and yoga can help to calm the mind and body down, but intensive exercise should be avoided for several hours before your set bedtime. If physical exercise is not your thing, then try breathing exercises to calm yourself down enough to fall asleep. Some people also enjoy reading a book in dim light until they can feel their eyelids getting tired. Not matter what method you wind up choosing, just make sure to find some activity that will ease your body and
However, when it comes to getting proper sleep stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine should be avoided at least two hours before bed. It can be very tempting to grab an energy drink or smoke a cigarette to wake yourself up late at night so you can finish that essay you put off till the last minute. However, both caffeine and nicotine will wake the body up and make it harder to sleep for several hours after consuming. “Acute ingestion of caffeine dose dependently prolongs sleep latency, reduces total sleep time and increases sleep fragmentation” (Porkka-Heiskanen). You may feel awake at the time of taking stimulates, but as they were off your body will be drained of energy and sleep may seem to come easy but the quality of said sleep will be about the equivalent of getting no sleep at all. Some people find that exercise before bed tends to help them wind down. This is true to an extent. Light exercise such as stretches and yoga can help to calm the mind and body down, but intensive exercise should be avoided for several hours before your set bedtime. If physical exercise is not your thing, then try breathing exercises to calm yourself down enough to fall asleep. Some people also enjoy reading a book in dim light until they can feel their eyelids getting tired. Not matter what method you wind up choosing, just make sure to find some activity that will ease your body and