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hours by choosing a set time to go to bed each night and sticking to it. Keeping this regular routine helps your body fall into good and healthy sleep patterns more easily.

Get physical exercise during the day because it's not only good for your overall health, it also helps you to sleep better. Just be sure to avoid rigorous exercise 2-3 hours before bedtime.

Eat a small bedtime snack. A small, low protein, high carbohydrate bedtime snack, such as juice and a cookie eaten about an hour before bedtime, can help you fall asleep sooner. Studies indicate that foods with large amounts of the amino acid L-tryptophan also help people sleep better. These include warm or hot milk (but not cold milk), eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, turkey and cashews. Just be sure not to overdo it because eating too much before bedtime can make it hard to fall asleep.

Calcium is well known as a promoter of sound sleep. About 1000 mg of calcium, taken towards or during the early evening has been found to be helpful. Because it calms the nerves, about 500 600 mg of magnesium, taken at the same time as the calcium, will also contribute towards good, sound sleep.

Do something relaxing an hour or so before bedtime such as a warm bath, listening to soft music,gentle yoga, stretching or meditation. This can help ease away the tensions of the day and get you relaxed and ready for sleep.

Other self-help tips that may be helpful are writing a list of your worries and then putting it away in a drawer to help you forget the worries, replace negative thoughts with positive ones such as "I will get a good night's sleep tonight", change or resolve the things that are causing you stress during the day, practice relaxation techniques as much as possible during the day and not berating yourself if you are still having a difficult time falling asleep.

Sometimes self-help techniques don't work and then it may be time to turn to a professional. Talk to your doctor about your sleep patterns and be sure to list all the things that you've tried so far and let your doctor know how long the symptoms have been going on. Sometimes there are underlying sleep disorders such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome that can contribute to insomnia so you may end up being referred to a sleep specialist to get a proper diagnosis. Your doctor may prescribe a sleep medication but these are only to be taken on a short term basis and are sometimes helpful in getting people back into a normal sleep cycle.

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth Farrell.
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