EMF radiation tricks the pineal gland into believing that it is everlasting daylight. The pineal gland only produces Melatonin when it is dark. EMF protection is essential to overcome the effects of EMF exposure so that we get enough Melatonin to get a good night’s sleep.

Keep your bedroom as free as possible from all sources of EMF radiation. If you do have a computer in your bedroom switch it off at night. Put your cell phone onto airplane mode which will still enable you to have your wake-up alarm call.

Be aware that electric clocks and electric blankets also radiate high levels of EMF radiation.

Don’t forget to switch your Wi-Fi router off at night. This is very important because not only will it stop you sleeping the EMF levels from it are a danger to your health and well-being. The kids wanting it on is no excuse, this is the time to instigate ground rules! It is for their own good.

Keeping EMF radiation to a minimum and also using EMF protection when necessary are a must to sleep properly.

In the same way as EMF stops the production of Melatonin because we think that it is light when it is in fact night, actual light does the same thing. Having a dark bedroom is a must. This may mean heavy or black-out curtains, or eye shades.

The full moon stopping peoples sleep is not a myth. With the extra light of a full moon we are not making the Melatonin we need to sleep.

Keeping it dark is a rule for sleeping well.

Temperature

We all know that it is harder to get to sleep in mid-summer when it is hot. It is also hard in winter when we are shivering, although it seems some how easier to get warm with quilts, hot bottles and electric blankets, which incidentally radiate high levels of EMF so are a mixed blessing.

Our bodies need a cool room to fall asleep and stay asleep. So too hot and it is harder to get to sleep and stay asleep. And being too cold presents the same problem and means broken, poor quality sleep and a restless night.

A comfortable temperature is definitely needed to sleep soundly.

Mind

We all have times when our mind just won’t ‘switch off’. Thoughts go around and round and even though our body is fatigued and too tired to even move, our brains are still active with mostly irrelevant, pointless thoughts.

There are many things that can cause this but what is underlying is stimulation. Excessive worry is a stimulation of the brain but as we all know the thoughts that we have at night when we are tired don’t come up with any valid solutions. To let the worries ‘rest’ at night write them down in a note book. Close the book and make yourself the promise that you will deal with your problems in the morning when you are refreshed – and thinking clearly. It is surprising how may problems have vanished by then or resolved themselves.

Stimulation from all our electronic toys and devises, cell phones, pads, computers, TVs stop us sleeping. The rule of thumb is to turn them off an hour before bed time. And it is a definite no, no checking your cell phone during the night. Put it on airplane mode and forget it.

A little gentle exercise or short walk before bed also calms the mind and gets you, and it, into a peaceful ‘frame of mind’ for a good night’s sleep.

Compulsive thinking stops you sleeping so take steps to silence your mind.

Body clock. 

Since ancient times 24 hour rhythms have been observed in plants, animals and humans, but only recently have we learned how these rhythms are generated or regulated, and what happens to our health when these rhythms are disrupted.

We became aware of our internal body clock when we started to fly across multiple time zones. We all know about ‘jet lag’ and the difficulty of adjusting to bed-times in a different time zone. That we are in fact governed to our biology.

Our Biological clocks drive or alter our sleep patterns, alertness, mood, physical strength, blood pressure and every other aspect of our physiology and behaviour.

Sleep and circadian rhythm disruption (SCRD) a sleep disorder caused by a disfunction of the biological clock system, is as serious as some of the most challenging diseases of our time, including neuropsychiatric illness and disorders of the eye. It can affect and is common from teenagers to shift workers.

We also now appreciate that SCRD is far more than feeling sleepy at an inappropriate time. It promotes multiple illnesses ranging across abnormal metabolism, heart disease, reduced immunity, increased stress and abnormal cognition and mood states. The consequences of working against our body clock and the emerging relationship between SCRD and mental illness is becoming clear.  SCRD also  causes abnormal metabolism, heart disease, reduced immunity, increased stress and abnormal cognition and mood states.

Whether our body clock is just disrupted by circumstances like travel, partying or working nights or is misfunctioning because of SCRD it is controlling our sleep patterns.

 It is very important to work WITH our body clock if we want to get a good night’s sleep. Routine, regular bed times, and trying to avoid night work or shift work, if at all possible. Being aware that our bodies are finely tuned energetic machines that need essentials, and a little comfort to run smoothly will ensure that you get a good night’s sleep.

There are of course other things take stop us from sleeping you can read about these in ebook ‘sleep like a baby’.