How to sleep like a baby

Those days have long gone when you held a book or a magazine while in bed. In today's hi-tech world, you curl up in bed with a smart phone or a tablet. You check your mobile for text messages. You check your inbox for e-mails every now and then. Artificial lighting in the bedroom, late night TV shows, late night parties — all mess up your sleep cycle. You need to sleep for 6-8 hours at night for good health. Lack of sleep can affect your immunity, hormone levels, mood, work productivity and weight.

Gadget blues
All your electronic gadgets emit blue light from the screen, which makes it difficult for you to fall asleep or stay asleep. This is because blue light reduces the levels of the sleep hormone, melatonin, which controls your sleep-wake cycle or circadian rhythm — a biological mechanism for restful sleep.
After a hectic day, your brain needs time to unwind. Yet you have this urge to check your e-mail, check Facebook posts or watch a movie before going to bed. Gadgetry affects cognitive stimulation. The moment you see images, hear sounds, communicate, the electrical activity in your brain increases and you begin to lose sleep.
Any reaction — good, bad or exciting — to what you see on your screen can trigger your body's sympathetic nervous system. Your body releases stress hormones, including an adrenaline rush that raises blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate. And this makes it difficult for you to sleep.
Even when you are asleep, chimes and tweets of late-night texts, notifications of e-mails, text messages, alarm clock, calendar reminders, birthday reminders, etc. can wake you up in the middle of the night. Once you are up, you tend to check your messages and then it becomes difficult to go back to sleep.

Common sleep obstacles
- Unhealthy food choices
- Skipping meals
- Stress
- Inconsistent sleep time. Burning the midnight oil, working overtime. Turning into weekend warriors trying to recover sleep during weekends by oversleeping.
- Mental and physical fatigue, anxiety, depression
- Alcohol abuse
- Snoring
- Sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, insomnia, restless-leg syndrome
- Pain – dental, migraine, headache, stomach ache, joint pain, etc.

Easy fixes for deep sleep
- Keep away from all your electronic gadgets at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. Dim the blue light from e-readers, smart phones and tablets
- Shift your work desk or television from your bedroom to some other room.
- A cooler room is definitely cozier and makes you sleep well
- Place your digital clock with bright light away from you
- Nap sparingly for 15-30 minutes
- Unwind and relax by listening to light soothing music or reading a book
- Try to go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same hour
- A warm shower and a warm glass of milk before going to bed can help
- Avoid caffeine, strenuous exercise before sleeping
- Skip spicy and oily food for dinner
- Exercise regularly, eat nutritious food, quit smoking

Medical solutions
Over-the-counter sleeping pills are available but not a recommended solution. In extreme cases, these can be popped after consulting a medical practitioner. These can be effective for an occasional night, but not in the long-term. These are sedatives that mostly contain anti-histamines, which if taken often, can lead you to developing a tolerance to them. Sleeping pills can give you a hangover and leave you feeling groggy the following morning. Alcohol and sleeping pills together are a bad combination. Talk to your doctor if you are on other drugs and you need sleeping pills.
Cognitive behavioural therapy, relaxation therapy, chamomile tea, herbal tea, synthetic melatonin, yoga, meditation, sweating it out, aromatherapy, etc. are other options for getting a good night's sleep.