NEW LESSON: WINTER 2008

A good night’s sleep is essential to your well-being.

Are you one of the many diet survivors who turn to food in the evening in order to get more energy?  Many people find that they eat when they are tired in order to try and stay awake for a longer period of time.  However, as you become more in tune with your body, noticing that you are tired gives you important information.  You are learning to respond to your internal cues by making good matches, and the best match for sleepiness is resting rather than eating.

Getting a good night’s sleep is essential for your health and well-being.  Sleep is the way you energize your body and your brain, and trying to get by without enough sleep is a disservice to yourself.  A full night of rest will boost your energy, focus, creativity, alertness, productivity and immune system.

If you are tired in the evening but feel you can’t go to bed yet, acknowledge that you are tired.  If you are, in fact, hungry as well, you will need to eat so that you do not wake up feeling uncomfortable during the night.  If it is close to your bedtime, make sure that you consider how the food you choose will feel in your stomach.  Some people find that heavier foods feel uncomfortable in their bodies at bedtime, and therefore pick a lighter item.  Always think about how a food will feel in your stomach at the moment as well as 20 or 30 minutes later.  The more you practice this awareness, the easier it will become to figure out what types of food meet your hunger needs when you are close to going to bed.

If, on the other hand, you are tired but not hungry, see if you can get yourself through your exhaustion without reaching for food.  Remind yourself that what you are experiencing is tiredness, and plan to meet this need by relaxing or going to bed as soon as possible.  If this happens occasionally, there is no reason for concern.  However, if you find that most evenings you are depending on food to keep you going, then it is important to take a deeper look at your sleep habits.

Honor your body’s needs.  Just as you are paying attention to internal cues related to eating, pay attention to your energy level as well. Don’t let yourself become chronically tired.  Give yourself the optimal chance for feeling energetic when you are awake by ensuring that you provide yourself with a good night’s sleep. 

Activity:  Good night, sleep tight

For the next week, pay attention to your feelings of tiredness in the evening, and see how you respond to yourself.  For example:

Do you notice when your energy is beginning to fade?
Do you adjust your activities accordingly?
Do you only notice tiredness when it reaches exhaustion?
Do you find yourself falling asleep on the couch night after night?
Do you find yourself eating in the service of staying up longer?
Do you wish you could go to bed earlier, but feel you can’t?

From the list below, pick at least one suggestion that supports your commitment to getting the good night’s sleep you deserve:

- Turn down your bed early in the evening, so it is ready for you to relax in later at night.

- If you need new sheets, treat yourself to the time to look for a set that you love.  Do you want flannel?  Cotton?  What type of print or color?

- If you enjoy reading at night to relax, make sure you keep a book or magazine beside your bed.

- Sometimes the stress of the day can keep you awake at night even when you’re tired.  Some people find a nature sound machine can be a useful product to relax them into dreamland.  These sleep machines are equipped with soothing sounds of nature such as the ocean, rain, or babbling brook.  They can be set on a timer, or they can remain on quietly all night.

Last night I dreamed I had insomnia.  I woke up exhausted, yet too well rested to go back to sleep.
-Bob Ingman