Get Rid of Insomnia Once and For All!

Hi, today I am going to try help you get rid of your insomnia.

I'm not speaking to you as a sleep doctor, an expert in this field, or a graduate of any sleep related course. I am simply a past insomnia sufferer, and I know how bad it is. I have lay awake from 11PM to 7AM, then have to wake up at 8PM for another long day, and still find no rest after that. I know some of you have it this bad, and even worse.

Here's how I got rid of my insomnia.

1. Laptops/Phones/Gaming Consoles/etc.

You're probably expecting me to tell you that you have to not use your devices after X o'clock, or stop using them completely. Luckily, this is not the case. However, there are some changes we can make, but they won't affect the hours you spend using the device.

Basically here's the problem with screens: blue light.

The science that explains why blue light keeps you up was begun many years ago in the study of bird migration, and it continued in humans with the discovery of a new photoreceptor in the eye, called Melanopsin. Many are familiar with the "rods and cones" that provide our visual capabilities, but it was only about 15 years ago that retinal ganglion cells containing melanopsin, which are sensitive to a narrow band of blue light in the 460-480nm range, were discovered, and their unique effect on sleep was investigated. The experimental research suggests that an average person reading on a tablet for a couple hours before bed may find that their sleep is delayed by about an hour.

Now you're probably thinking how can I possibly stop this blue light, which comes out of every screen. Well its quite simple really. Software developers have made apps and programs which tackle this issue head on, and the great thing is you don't even have to do anything, they set themselves to your time zone and the blue light progressively fades automatically.

For PC/Mac/Linux: F.lux - You should also check out their collection of research, showing most papers and documents published on this topic around the world.

For iPhone/iPod: F.lux (link above is also available, however jailbreak is needed because of the way iOS is designed). I have not seen any other apps available for iOS, however I could be wrong.

For Android: Personally I have used both EasyEyez and Twilight. Both work pretty much the same and do the same thing so you can take a look at both or look at the reviews and decide which suits better.

Now you can use your screen without it leading to inevitable insomnia, and it actually does work

2. Exercise

No you don't have to run a marathon or perform 100 pushups 10 minutes before bed, in fact this would probably make matters worse, as exercise before bed will make you alert for at least a good hour.

What I am suggesting instead is, do something light to moderate about 5-6 hours before bed. Do a 3 or 4 sets of pushups, pullups , squats , or whatever you like, at a mildly uncomfortable rep range, you should be slightly tired at the end of each set. You could also go for a light jog (preferably outdoors) just before the sun goes down, this will make your body realize it is time to wind down and the exercise will compound this by getting rid of all the stresses and excess energy left over from the day.

3. Food

Food is often blamed for being the cause of insomnia. We blame eating right before bed, or eating certain foods for our inability to fall asleep. This is true to some extent, but it doesn't play as much of a role as you think, and is simply something that we can simply point the finger at because it is usually one of the common denominators on days we have insomnia (we have to eat every day. Crazy, right? )
The thing most people don't know is, food can be used to your advantage, quite easily really. You don't have to go out and buy some special night time milk which is enriched in melatonin, although some people find milk helps, and some find it makes matters worse, so you should play around with it and see what results you get. Basically, simply put, you're looking for foods with tryptophan in them. You can Google "foods with tryptophan" or something similar and you will get a more complete list than I will provide. Foods I suggest are dairy (as stated above), rice, pasta, chicken, turkey and other foods you'll find through research. Basically what tryptophan does is it allows your brain to manufacture melatonin, which if you're not aware of, makes you sleepy, very sleepy. It is the chemical that makes us feel sleepy at night time (which links in with the blue light thing - which inhibits melatonin production at night).

Foods are not the sole perpetrator for your insomnia problems, but they do have some impact.

Brainwaves

Many of you will skip straight to this step as technically, yes it is possible to get rid of insomnia using just brainwave entertainment, but if you want to get rid of it for you'll probably need a combination of all the topics discussed in this post.


Basically, in today's society, we spend a lot of time on computers, on the phone, stressing about work/life in general, etc. All of these things make our brain a jumbled up palace of excitement (our brainwaves are impacted by the electronic devices I mentioned), if you'll allow lack of talent in creating metaphors. For years I had a problem where I would be completely tired, then go to bed and suddenly thoughts would stream through my head. And these weren't normal "I'm so tired" thoughts you'd expect at night, these were thoughts about how I could do such a thing and how I can be better at this and I'd get ideas which were really incredible. Basically, I was most productive at night, not a good thing. It would be 5-6 AM usually before the thoughts subsided. I combated this using brainwave entertainment. I found a video that claimed to put you asleep, I thought it was some sort of hypnosis. I started listening to what at first sounded to me like a hoover being pushed back and forth, and it honestly made me laugh. But then, I started to just close my eyes and listen to the motion of the audio, the next thing I remember was it was morning.

Ever since then I've researched brainwave entertainment and brainwaves in general, and become quite popular on YouTube through my own videos on it (+2100 subscribers). Brainwave manipulation allows you to control what usually becomes uncontrollable in people who have a tendency to suffer from insomnia, alert brainwaves at night time. It allows you to start from the alert state we are in right now and takes your right to deep sleep, and was the first way I got over my insomnia.


I leave you now with what will probably be your first experience of brainwave entertainment, and it is designed specially to take you from a waking state into deep sleep. So please, enjoy it, and I hope you never have to suffer with insomnia again

The information in this post is gathered from my experience as a past insomnia sufferer, who now has taken control. I hope the information here helps you as much as it has helped me.

Peace

I am an insomniac. I shall peruse your infos.

Tingle
Here's how I got rid of my insomnia.

1. Laptops/Phones/Gaming Consoles/etc.

No blue lights. I've taped them all. Every peep of light has been reduced to a smothered scream of silenced photons.

yet it persists..

2. Exercise
No you don't have to run a marathon or perform 100 pushups 10 minutes before bed

All I need now is your guide on how to motivate myself to exercise. Hopefully it should be shorter than the guide to cure my insomnia, or it will result in a perpetual loop. oO

3. Foodcliffs - tryptophan

I already eat that in spades. I have tried supplements, and even sourced melatonin at one point to reset my biological clock. I have also taken casein from milk, and hot milk and .. well, my uberu insomnia is mega powefuu..

Brainwaves

Simpsons did it...

I mean, already did it.. Works reasonably well till it ends and then the silence wakes me up, refreshed and alert.

Aww I didn't cure my insomnia at all.. All I did was realise I have no cure. What I need is a magic pill that a doctor can give me that would knock me out.

Or one of those things they have in star trek that they wave over your face and you go out like a light.

Science.. *shakes fist* Y U NO CURE ME!

thanks tho.

The only thing that worked for me a few years back was sungazing. Yup, I did that, for many reasons which I will not enumerate here, but the best side effect of that experience was that I could sleep right after sunset and would feel very energized and rested the next day.

Now I am not advocating this for anyone, as it requires sunny weather, mostly, and most likely it is damaging to the eyes if not done properly. I reached at the mark of 22 minutes gazing at the sun, after which my inner voice told me to stop. What it did for me, it "reset" the circadian rhythm and the insomnia is gone.

Nutrition and other habits/surroundings are important, as the others have noted above.

Best of luck.

reply to post by winofiend


Sorry if it was a bit heavy on the information side, just tried to pack a lot in

I guess as motivation you could use the desire for a good night's sleep. So in a way your problem would solve your problem...

Have you really given the brainwave side of things a chance, or when you listen to it are you thinking "wow this is complete BS what the hell am I doing?". The latter is pretty common, as to anyone "out of the loop" so to speak, it would seem as though you were listening to a vacuum cleaner being swung around by its cord while it's on. But you need to give it a real chance

About waking up when its over, 30 minutes should be plenty time, if not I'm sure there's 1 hour or even 2 hour sleep induction videos. So that would pretty much guarantee you don't wake up when it ends

reply to post by Ubei2


I did this for about a week (right at sunset), it does help but I'm not sure of its safety, despite its many advocates. You can't really believe anything they say after that guy who claims he hasn't eaten in years and gets his energy from sun-gazing. That's where it crossed the line for me

Back on topic, hope you all get a good night's sleep tonight!

reply to post by Tingle


The sungazing practice is quite ancient and not based on the claims of just that guy. He advertised it far and wide and it became a fad - people doing it for different reasons, blindly, pun intended, believing the ubermensch claims. At least he stressed the right way of doing it, to his credit.
It is quite an esoteric experience and as such shouldn't be taken lightly. I can say it gave me the best sleep ever, beside other things, and that's why I mentioned it, merely as a curiosity to others.
Insomnia causes may be numerous and each case should be addresed specifically for each individual. I believe it is a sign of deep psychological trauma or stress and these need to be dealt with whether by working out, changing eating habits and or meditation. Some supplements also might help, 5htp comes to mind.
Cheers

reply to post by Ubei2


5-htp and melatonin seem to work best as supplements.

Anyway about the sungazing:

I actually did sleep better if I watched the sunrise, I think it was the way humans were supposed to learn it is time to start being sleepy. You see animals (not house dogs) go to bed once the sun goes down - all the year round. We live unnaturally by going against this cycle and probably one of the reasons we have a lot of insomnia problems. Throw in the amount of blue light we receive such as phones and laptops at night and the whole system is messed up, how is our brain supposed to know its sleepy time.

Well, I am LOVING this sunset looking light on my computer already!

If I go to sleep at a decent hour, all the better, the color alone is worth it.

Thank ya!