Sleep well!

If you have trouble sleeping, try relaxing for an hour or so before getting into bed. Read, listen to music, take a warm bath (not a hot bath or shower). Don’t take work to bed with you. Avoid strenuous exercise within a couple of hours of bedtime. Cut out caffeine and cigarettes (both are stimulants).

Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but the sleep will probably be fragmented, light, and unsettled, and you’re likely to wake up suddenly. Or, try to relax each muscle group, progressing slowly from your toes to your head. Get up at the same time every morning, no matter how poorly you’ve slept, and try to get through the day without a nap.

Tip #57 from Wellness Made Easy: 101 Tips for Better Health, from the University of California, Berkely Wellness Letter, 1990.

As printed in the VHL Family Forum  9:2, June 2001.  For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, editor@vhl.org. Further information is available from the VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org.