Don’t assume, that insomnia needs to be cured by a trip to your family doctor for a prescription of sleeping pills. There are better insomnia cures then that. Or at the very least, some approaches that won’t have lots of side effects, and will be much less expensive. Some natural and holistic sleep remedies are worth trying before you reach for the medicine chest. Here are a few to consider.

Your bodies sleep reflex, is very attuned to light and dark. Believe it or not, your body does know that when it gets dark it’s time to sleep. Try dimming the lighting in your house a half hour or hour sooner than normal. That should get your body thinking about sleep.

Don’t do anything wild and crazy just before going to be. Horror movies, super aerobic classes, a friendly game of paint ball, are just going to get your mind and body all revved up for action. Find something soothing and relaxing to do an hour or so before bed.

Despite what many weight loss gurus would suggest, eating some carbohydrate foods just before bed can be a good thing. You do burn calories while you sleep (about 55 per hour), and there’s nothing worse, than being woken up at 3am by a growling stomach. You need enough food to get you through the night.

While a six pack of beers may get you to pass out in or some where near you bed, it’s really not a good permanent solution. The same goes for energy drinks and soda pop. Instead, try a soothing concoction of nice warm milk with a tablespoon of hone mixed in.

Say bye bye to your worries. Those are those nasty little thugs that rob so many people of a good nights sleep. You can’t do anything about them anyway while your sleeping, so just send them away. Visualization techniques, that help you picture your worries all huddled together on an iceberg, as you give them a big push and watch them drift away can be very relaxing.

Your breathing is a fun thing to practice while your lying in bed. So many of us take it for granted, we don’t realize how powerful a sleep inducer it can be. Practice taking long, deep, controlled breaths at a slower and slower pace. It really can help to relax, and slow down your metabolism if you do it enough to get good at it. Its really a form of basic meditation.

A sleep inducing music or sound effects CD, specifically designed to put you to sleep can be very helpful as well. It’s one of my favorite great insomnia cures. Mom really knew what she was doing when she sang those lullabies after all

Are you plagued by tiredness? Do others say you snore? Are you at least slightly overweight? If so, you could have sleep apnea.

If you meet these criteria, have your doctor prescribe a sleep study for you. Don’t wait! Your life could be shortened by sleep apnea, and it’s all unnecessary — there’s treatment. If you have sleep apnea, you hold your breath and then gasp for air many times a night. It results in increased risk of stroke, heart attack, and other cardiovascular disease including aneurysm.

Sleep apnea is caused by the collapse of the airway while breathing in. This condition happens when excess fatty tissue lining the airway causes the airway to lose elasticity. It is a condition generally caused by excess poundage. Snoring usually occurs also.

After the airway closes, the oxygen level in the blood drops. Blood pressure shoots up. The sleeper struggles to breathe and begins to wake up. Returning to consciousness, the sleeper opens the airway, and the breath is completed. The sleeper falls back to sleep. The cycle begins again, perhaps many times per minute. Breath cessation for 10 seconds will bring you a diagnosis of sleep apnea.

Your cardiovascular system will wear out from the constantly spiking blood pressure. Your rest will be ruined because of the constant near-waking.

Oddly enough, you may not even be aware that you hold your breath while sleeping. Only the telltale tiredness will tip you off that you are in fact sleep-deprived.

The sudden rise in blood pressure many times a night is what can kill you, by leading to heart disease or stroke.

So, what can you do about it?

An effective treatment method has been developed over the past few decades. The continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device consists of a face mask, an air hose, and a fan in side a box. The fan supplies pressure through the hose to your airway. It’s not too much pressure–you can easily breathe out — but when you breathe in, it boosts the airway pressure enough to prevent collapse.

One downside is that the mask can be uncomfortable. But a variety of suppliers offer options now, one of which will probably fit your face.

The CPAP might limit your activities, too, because you always have to wear it, even if you are traveling or camping.

Is the fan noise a problem? Users say no; the white noise can actually help them fall asleep.

So, do a quick risk analysis. Is the risk of early death worth the inconvenience of wearing a mask and finding an electric outlet whenever you fall asleep?

The amount of rest that you need each night will depend on many factors such as your age and lifestyle, as well as your current state of health. How many hours sleeping you get each night does have an effect on you long term. People who go for extended periods of time on little rest often end up becoming incredibly tired over time and it can begin to affect their health.

Newborn babies often require anywhere from fourteen to sixteen hours. Sleeping is a large part of a baby’s life. However, these babies, by the time they are six months old, will often begin to adjust to getting less, and all through the night. At this time, they will need approximately ten to fourteen hours each day.

Older children or teenagers often need ten hours. sleeping is not required as much in older children, but they still need quite a bit. As they reach adulthood that number will fall to seven or eight hours a night. This seven to eight hours of sleep is important to an adult, and without it you will feel sluggish each day and it may be hard to function normally.

Many adults have difficulty resting for the recommended amount of time each night. Because of this, many adults are turning to supplements like Melatrol to help them get a good quality sleep that lasts a full eight hours. With today’s busy lifestyles, it is not uncommon for adults to go long period of time sleeping only five or six hours per night, sometimes less. Not only is this unhealthy, it can also be dangerous.

It is important for you to, each night, get the appropriate number of hours. Sleeping each night is important to your health. Depending on your age and lifestyle, you may need more or less each night than other people. However, sleep is still important and if you are having trouble getting the rest you need, you will notice you feel tired even after you wake up.