Title: TROUBLE SLEEPING? INSOMNIA CURES ARE HERE! Author: Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW Email: mailto:editor@overcoming-depression.com copyright: by Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW Web Address: http://www.Overcoming-Depression.com Word Count: 946 Category: Health

TROUBLE SLEEPING? INSOMNIA CURES ARE HERE!

I yawn, stretch my arms behind my head and stare at ceiling. I've been in bed for a few minutes. Ahhh, peaceful quiet all around. The room is dark. The kids are asleep. It's an expansive moment for my mind. My mind seems to fill entire room.

Okay, it's been 20 minutes now. The novel meditative moment has passed. Now my mind seems to be filling up like a bowl that's been left outside in a torrential downpour. I can't seem to slow down or empty out my mind. So many things to think about, not least of which is why in tarnation can't I fall asleep?

I am tired, but cannot sleep. I begin to feel agitated and become physically restless. I turn this way... I turn that way. I cross and uncross my legs. I lay on my stomach, side and back. Each passing moment lends itself to increased anger and frustration. Now my mind has jumped ahead to tomorrow, lining up all those things I have to accomplish knowing that I'll only do so by dragging this haggard, exhausted and fatigued body around for entire day. This process goes deeply into night.

Any of that sound familiar?

Recent estimates indicate that approximately 25 million Americans suffer from chronic insomnia. Some reasons for insomnia include:

1. Restless Leg Syndrome 2. Circadian Rhythm Disorders 3. Depression 4. Alcohol and other drug abuse 5. Life changes and/or accumulation of life stressors 6. Anxiety 7. Sleep Apnea

You should consult with your physician in order to determine exact cause of your sleep problems. He/she may order a sleep study, give you a depression screen, check social stressors, order a blood panel to check for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, suggest you stop drinking, give an anxiety scale or any number of interventions to identify a cause and get you focused on appropriate solutions.

In meantime here are a few "Do's and Don'ts" on how to reclaim your beauty sleep.

1. When you lay down to sleep, deepen and lengthen your breathing patterns -- shoot for five second inhales and five second exhales. You'll be taking 6 breathes per minute. This takes some practice but works nicely.

2. Take a deep breath and hold it. While holding your breathe, tense up muscles throughout your entire body and hold both for 30 seconds. Exhale completely and relax. Take several relaxed breathes and repeat three times.

The old way of classifying carbohydrates:

Complex Carbohydrates provide fiber, vitamins, minerals and energy. Some foods that contain complex carbohydrates are whole grain bread, legumes like peas and beans, pasta, rice, and starchy vegetables.

Simple Carbohydrates are broken down quickly to provide energy. Simple carbohydrates are found naturally in milk, fruits and vegetables. Simple carbs are also found in processed foods like syrup, soda, and refined sugar found in many processed baked goods.

In this way of classifying carbs, it is recommended that we limit our intake of simple carbs and get most of our carbohydrates from complex carbs.

The new way of classifying carbohydrates: The Glycemic Index (GI) measures how quickly blood sugar rises after ingesting a food with carbohydrates. Eating a diet full of foods that have been rated with a high GI may contribute to an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Highly processed or highly refined carbohydrates have been found to have a high GI - foods like white bread, white rice, white pasta, french fries and refined breakfast cereals.

Whole foods will have a lower GI - legumes, whole fruit, and whole grains like wheat, oats, barley, and brown rice.