30 Days to Better Sleep: Restrict Your Time in Bed, Consolidate Your Sleep

Our beds can be a place of almost heavenly repose, where we retire at the end of a full day and restore our bodies and minds with sleep. This may not always be the case, however. When the bed becomes a place of turmoil and struggle, the night filled with wakeful anguish, it is not what it could be. If you struggle with insomnia, limiting the amount of time spent in bed may actually help you to sleep better. Insomnia is characterized by difficulty falling or staying asleep. People with it will often spends hours lying awake in bed at night. Although some light sleep may occur, the desire for sound sleep is diminished by this extended time in bed. It is not uncommon for insomniacs to go to bed early or sleep in as they attempt to maximize the amount of sleep that they get. Unfortunately, this works against the natural systems that contribute to the ability to sleep. There are two processes that work in combination to promote sleep. The first is the natural timing of sleep called the circadian rhythm. If you try to sleep at the wrong time, as may occur after jet lag, your struggle will increase. The other contribution is homeostatic sleep drive. This is the desire for sleep that builds the longer a person stays awake. This occurs due to the build up of a chemical within the brain called adenosine. By spending more time in bed, especially in light sleep, the sleep drive is diminished. In order to consolidate your sleep, you should track your sleep patterns with a sleep log. Ov...
Source: About Sleep Disorders - Category: Sleep Medicine Source Type: news