Fall asleep tonight - You Don't Have to Put up with Insomnia

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Do you have trouble falling asleep?

If you're anything like me you've gotten used to tossing and turning most of the night, or giving in to the sleeplessness and getting up to turn the tv on.  Most of the time you feel tired and both work and play has become a chore because you just don't have the energy that you need.  

On the nights that you do manage to get to sleep, you find yourself waking up due to small noises -- or even for no reason at all -- an hour and a half later. Then you have to try to get back to sleep all over again.  Even normal sleepers wake during the night, but they can get right back to sleep and usually won't even remember having woken up. Insomniacs, though, have both trouble falling asleep in the first place and staying asleep for as long as they need to.

The SleepTrack Program Will Help You Get to Sleep 

Want to check out the program for sleeping that I recommend right now?

Check out the SleepTracks program and get the free e-course series, The 7 Biggest Mistakes Most Insomniacs Make

SleepTracks Review 

Prefer to learn more about SleepTracks first? Check out my review of the program on my other lens.

My fight with the night 

I'm currently 40 years old and have spent most of my adult life fighting sleeplessness. I have a history of chronic lateness to work and, until recently, my friends knew better than to call me before noontime on the weekends because they knew I'd always be in bed sleeping. In fact, if I was awake before 2pm on the weekend, it was a miracle.

The problem with spending most of your weekends in bed trying to catch up with your sleep deficit is that it throws your sleep and your schedule even more out of whack and makes insomnia and the fact that you are out of sync with everyone around you dramatically worse.

I've spent most of my life simply putting up with this -- tired most of the time, late for work, uninterested in exercise or any strenous activites because I was too tired and didn't have the energy. My eyes alternated between feeling dry and scratchy or teary and wet. If I wasn't using eyedrops, I was using a tissue. And please don't mention the dark circles and puffiness!

I tried taking sleeping pills, but they always made me feel worse. I would sleep through the night, but upon waking it would take hours to feel like a normal human being again and the sleep just didn't feel that restful. Putting up with the insomnia was easier than trying to cope with the pills. So that's what I did.

Until I decided to give some of the new brainwave stuff a try.

A Mind that Races 

Insomnia has all sorts of causes and yours may be different from mine, but I'm pretty certain my own experience is quite common. You can't get to sleep at night because your mind is racing. Most of the time I'd find myself lying awake in bed because I couldn't get my brain to just slow itself down - I'd be awake thinking about the events of the day, or what I was going to do tomorrow or all of a sudden I'd get great brainstorms about new ideas and projects to do -- most of which I'd never get around to doing because I was too tired.

One thing that helped was doing some meditation, especially guided meditation designed to help me fall asleep. But it didn't help enough or every night, and I still found myself waking up frequently during the night and then unable to get back to sleep.

Since Guided Meditation did help, at least initially, I figured it was time to investigate this new-fangled thing called "brainwave entrainment". Basically it is audio with a special beat, a pulse, that helps re-sync your brain. It is very effective at helping you get to sleep because as your brain syncs with the pulse, it slows down all the racing thoughts inside your head, allowing you to relax and finally get a good night's sleep.

If you've also investigated some "sleep technology" on your own, you may already be familiar with the type of beats known as binaural beats. That's the most common kind of brainwave training available.

I've used binaural beats audio myself, and just like the guided meditation, it did help me fall asleep. In fact, it worked much better than guided meditation on its own. The problem, however, is that binaural beats only work when you are wearing headphones. That's fine for falling asleep and it's usually okay just to remove the headphones as you feel yourself starting to drift off, but it doesn't help at all with staying asleep. I just can't wear headphones all night. So even with binaural beats, I still found myself waking frequently in the middle of the night and then not being able to get back to sleep.

The SleepTrack Program 

A complete program for Sleep

Enter the SleepTrack program.

The SleepTrack program is also based on brainwave entrainment, but it doesn't use binaural beats. Instead it uses a type of beat called "isochronic tones".

Binaural beats use a different tone in each ear, but isochronic tones use a rhythmic pulse that turns itself off and on. The brain responds powerfully to the off and on rhythm and so isochronic tones are actually much more effective than the binaural beats that are found in most sleep audio products.

I think the best part may be that you don't have to use headphones with icochronic tones. You should still use them for the "falling asleep" part of the program, but everything else you can just listen to on a regular cd player placed next to your bed.

But SleepTracks is more than just a set of audio CDs and files -- it's a complete sleep training program.

As you well know, most doctors suggest that getting a good night's sleep is a matter of developing good sleeping habits. Now, I've tried all of the suggested sleep habits and I'm sure you have to. They just didn't work for me on their own, but combining a sleep training regimen with a full complement of specially designed audio brainwave training has proved an entirely different matter.

I Can Now Sleep! Through the Whole Night! And I'm not tired all the time. I feel like I have my life back.

You can get your life back too. Just check out the SleepTracks program. If it worked for me, I think it would work for you too.

Click here to check out the SleepTracks program and get the free e-course series, The 7 Biggest Mistakes Most Insomniacs Make.

Natural Sleep Remedies 

Some common natural remedies that are recommended for helping you get to sleep are Melatonin, St. John's Wort, Valerian Root and L-Tryptophan.

I have personally tried both Melatonin and St. John's Wort and they both make me nauseous. But every person's body chemistry is different so they may work for you. I didn't get around to trying Tryptophan because I wanted to find a remedy that didn't require me to ingest anything because I've always had a tough time swallowing tablets, even the coated ones.

Source Naturals L-Tryptophan, 500 mg, Capsules, 120 capsules

Contains L-Tryptophan

Amazon Price: $32.80 (as of 07/20/2008)

SOMESTA (One Month Supply) - Sleep Aid

A blend of Melatonin, Tryptophan and Valerian Root, as well as Magnesium

Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 07/20/2008)

Sleep MD-Iovate Natural Sleep Formula, 60ct (2 Pack)

Valerian Root and Melatonin.

Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 07/20/2008)

Black-Out Eyes Masks 

Sleep Doctors suggest that it is best to sleep an environment that is pitch black because light disrupts your sleep. It's best to remove sources of light from your bedroom, but sometimes you can't always accomplish that. For instance, if I shut my blinds at night during the summer, I can't sleep because it is too hot. Damned if you do, etc!

But wearing an eye mask solved all my problems. Now I can sleep in full darkness without worrying about reconfiguring my entire bedroom!

Sleeping with a mask over your eyes often feels strange the first couple of nights, but you'll get used to it very quickly and wonder why you ever did without one. I highly recommend the first mask in this list. Since it is so cheap, I would try that one first and if it doesn't feel right on your face, check out the second one from Dream Essentials. It also gets great reviews, but it's quite a bit pricier.

Sweet Dreams Contoured Sleep Mask with Earplugs and Travel Pouch - Black

Probably the best mask on Ebay and the one I use. And it's only $6.95.

Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 07/20/2008)

Escape Travel Sleep Mask with Earplugs and Carry Pouch - Night

Another great sleep mask, but a bit pricer at $24.95.

Amazon Price: $24.95 (as of 07/20/2008)

Tempur-Pedic Eye Mask

Have money to burn? Tempur-Pedic can help you with that :)
This mask costs $35, but if my pillows are anything to go by, it's probably very comfy.

Amazon Price: $35.00 (as of 07/20/2008)

The perfect pillow 

The perfect pillow for you comes down to both your personal preference and your preferred sleeping position. My best advice is to not skimp on a pillow. I used to buy the cheapo pillows ($5-7 bucks!), but one day I went shopping with my mother and she made me get an expensive one. And guess what? It made a huge difference!

Pillow Set ! Mediflow Waterbase Fiber Pillow with Luxury Quilted Pillow Cover

The newest trend in pillows -- water pillows! They require a bit of work and are quite heavy, but they maintain their shape well and they don't heat up as much as latex pillows. If you have a terrible time finding the right pillow, you might want to try one of these.

Amazon Price: $55.95 (as of 07/20/2008)

Serta 2.5-Pound Memory Foam Contour Pillow

Amazon Price: $29.99 (as of 07/20/2008)

Comfort U Pillow - For Total Body Support

The very idea of sleeping with this type of body pillow gives me claustrophobia, but my sister has one and she swears by it.

Amazon Price: $124.90 (as of 07/20/2008)

White Noise Generator 

Okay, personally I cannot stand white noise generators. I find the sound really distracting and annoying, so I prefer music and audio beats designed for brainwave entrainment and SleepTracks is ultimately what worked for me.

But, again, everyone is different and has different preferences. So check out some of the Amazon reviews for these products and decide if it works for you. You can always return it if it doesn't.