I have a secret…I don’t have sleeping problems.

In fact, I sleep like a babe each night.

And if you read till the end, you will also know how to do it.

Why must you have enough sleep

Sleep is important to everyone, regardless of age. But when you reach 60 and beyond, it is crucial that you get enough of it each night. Never mind the common belief that old people need a lesser amount of sleep. That smacks of urban legend.

But how many hours is considered “enough#8221; Sleep experts cannot agree on a specific figure but suggest an average of 7.5 hours of sleep each night.

I average 6 hours of sleep but take an hour of daytime sleep each day. Missing a few hours will make me sluggish, lethargic and dizzy.

Sleep deprivation is not to be taken lightly. It cannot be shrugged off as part of aging because it can affect your health and well-being. Among others, it can cause:

• loss of strength and endurance
• Balance problems resulting in falls
• Lapses in memory lapses
• Increased wearing of vital organs
• More sensitivity to pain
• Increased risk of diabetes
• Immune system problems

While the importance of good sleep cannot be over-emphasized, the question is “How#8221;

According to the NIH (National Institutes of Health), 13% of men, aged 65 and above, and 35% of women find it hard to sleep at all.

Reasons cited are frequent trips to the bathroom, aches, and pains, anxiety, or past traumatic experiences.

But it can be done. If you belong to this group, it is still possible to have good quality each night.

How to sleep well each night

The following steps may take time to set in. It requires practice until it becomes a habit. If you don’t nail it the first time, don’t lose heart. Just keep on doing it. In time, they become second nature to you.

1.  Have a specific schedule:

I make it a point to be in bed by 10 p.m. You can choose your own time. But whatever it is, stick to it.

This will program your biological clock to send a signal to your brain to produce more melatonin, the sleep-regulating hormones. Once it becomes an evening habit, your brain takes over.

2.  Make your bedroom conducive for sleep:

Make sure your bedroom is conducive for pleasant and restful sleeping. A place for the body to recover after a hectic day. That said, a work-table or a TV set has no place in a bedroom.

Make sure your bed is comfortable to sleep in, i.e., the mattress is soft, and the bed sheets are clean.

Have as many pillows as you prefer (I have three and three other smaller cushions), and the pillowcases should not smell muggy.

Before turning in, turn off the major lights, except for a small lamp beside your bed or somewhere near your bathroom door. A pitch-black bedroom is risky for toilet-runs in the middle of the night.

3.  Tire your eyes:

Nothing puts you to sleep faster than lunch break rush than a couple of tired eyes.

You can do this by reading the Bible or watch Old Western on your iPad –  the smaller the screen and the older the movie, the better.

This is my first secret in sleeping like a babe. I watch YouTube movies from my laptop beside my bed until my eyes are about to pop out from their sockets.

Reading just don’t tire the eyes, it also tires the brain.

4.  Say a mantra:

Repeat a mantra.

A mantra is a sound, word or sentence you repeat over and over again as an aid in concentrating.

Mystical Bee has 8 mantras to help promote better sleep. Take note that mantras are good if you sleep alone. Otherwise, they will have the same effect as snoring on whoever sleeps with you.

How to sleep like a babe

I can’t remember how or when I developed this habit. I guess it just evolved on me. But since observing that it allows me to sleep fast they have become my routine even if I sleep somewhere.

Here they are:

1.  Lie flat on your back:

Lie flat on your back and relax. Empty your mind of all concerns of the day. Relax your entire body, and make your mind as blank as possible.

Say a mantra or do deep breathing exercises.

When you are sufficiently relaxed, and no images are fluttering in your mind, go to step 2;

2. Lie on your right side

Lying on your right side preps you up for the next step.

Stay in this position until your pillow starts to warm under your head, then go to step 3.

Note: It is possible that you would have fallen asleep at this stage if you did step 1 right.

3. Lie on your left side:

Turn, and lie on your left side.

Sleeping on the left side is ancient Ayurvedic’s medicine to modern science. Not only does it promote faster and better sleep, but it also health benefits like:

• Better lymphatic drainage: The body’s lymphatic system is on the left side. This system carries important elements like protein, glucose, metabolites, and others that have to be filtered by the lymph nodes and drained towards the left side of the body.

• Promotes better digestion: Both the stomach and the pancreas (an organ that helps convert the food we eat into fuel for the body’s cells and regulates blood sugar), are on the left side of the body making it easier for these organs to function efficiently.

• Promotes better heart health: Eighty percent of the heart leans towards the left and the aorta leaves the heart by arcing to the left. This makes the heart pump blood easily.

• Promotes better spleen health: Spleen (an organ that filters blood as part of the immune system and helps fight certain kinds of bacteria that cause pneumonia and meningitis), is also on the left side of the body. Sleeping on the left side will help direct body fluids to the spleen by natural gravity.

It is to be expected that you may not get the desired results after a few tries. The body needs to be taught several times before it sinks in. Besides, old fogies take time to learn. But even old dogs can be taught new tricks. And you must. The importance of sleep cannot be over-emphasized.

Sleep is as important as food and water for your over health and well-being. It is crucial for your mental health.

Chronic lack of sleep or sleep deprivation can cause headaches, memory loss, and deprivation. On the more serious side, it can result in cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s.

Not to mention being called a “cranky old man.”

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~oOo~

The post Do You Have Sleeping Problems Try These first appeared on Age With Charm.

Do you know that I start and end my day reciting a mantra I am not doing it because I am into the mind-over-body thing, or I am into this “meditation.“  I do it because it gets me into a positive, hopeful mood; gives me faith that my day will always end right.

But wait, “what is a mantra “ you may ask.

For a layman, a “mantra “  is a word or group of words or a sound repeated several times to aid concentration in meditation.

The word is Hindu in origin and comes from the words “man,“ which means mind, and “tra,“ meaning transport or vehicle. In other words, a mantra is an instrument of the mind to enter into a deep state of meditation.

For people who are not into meditation, like me and you, a mantra is simply the seed for energizing intention.

Mantras are good to ease the ill-effects of aging by refocusing the mind into thinking positive, cheerful, happy and uplifting thoughts.

They help remove stress, depression and can lower blood pressure. And they cost nothing but a few minutes of stillness and concentration.

To get you started in reciting a mantra here are one-liners that are easy to memorize:

1.  I love my body;

2.  I am powerful, or I am strong;

3.  I am enough;

4.  I am at peace, or I am where I am supposed to be;

5.  I have love in my life and joy in my heart;

6.  I trust my path;

7.  I embrace change;

8.  I am worth it;

9.  Be still;

10. Breathe in, breathe out.

If you want poetic mantras, try any one of these:

11.  There are blessings found everywhere. I will find them;

12.  I focus on how I feel, not what I want to achieve;

13.  Accept “what is,” instead of resenting it;

14.  Just to be alive is a grand thing;

15.  I am not a drop in the ocean. I am the entire ocean in a drop;

16.  Don’t postpone joy.;

Now I would like to share with you my mantra:

“Sometimes the best thing we can do is not think, no wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best.”

I got it online but I can’t remember who passed it on to me. Whoever it was my gratefulness for his act reaches Heaven-wards.

I say this twice a day- early in the morning before I get into my work, and when I am lying flat on my bed for the night.

It works all the time. My mantra gives me stress-free days, and sleep like a baby at night.

Please share to help other seniors who are struggling with adversities all days of their lives.

Image: http://www.reneweveryday.com/how-meditation-could-be-the-key-to-senior-addiction-recovery/

~oOo~

The post Mantras to Help You Through Adversities first appeared on Age With Charm.