This is the first in a a series of articles targeted at ending insomnia and sleep deprivation. I have personally used all of the methods I write about and can attest to their efficacy. Happy reading!

The inability to get an entire night's sleep, for most nights in a 30 day period, can be considered insomnia - sleep deprivation at it's worst. Insomnia affects 10% of Americans (around 40 million), and 30% of healthy seniors.

In a study done by the National Institute on Aging of more than 9,000 people 65 years of age and older, more than half of the participants reported frequent difficulties sleeping.

Inability to fall asleep when you first go to bed is one form of insomnia, the other is waking up during the night and being unable to fall back asleep. In some cases, sleep-related problems can last for several months, or even years. While in others, it is only a temporary, although frustrating annoyance.

Serious underlying medical disorders are sometimes the culprit of insomnia. Fifty percent of cases can be attributed to depression and psychological disorders, such as anxiety and stress, or grief. There are many physical causes as well, such as; adrenal fatigue, arthritis, asthma, heart disease, hypoglycemia, hyperthyroidism, hyperthyroidism, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, kidney disease, muscle aches and pains, Parkinson's disease, or physical pain.

The consumption of caffeine, jet lag, and certain medical prescriptions, can also lead to insomnia. A *calcium and magnesium deficiency can cause you to wake up a few hours after going to sleep, rendering you unable to fall back asleep. Poor nutritional habits and eating too close to bedtime, as well as disorders involving the brain, digestive system, endocrine system, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, and pancreas may all affect sleep.

Irritability and daytime sleepiness can be caused by one or two sleepless nights, with the decreased ability to perform repetitive or creative tasks, however most people have the ability to adapt to short-term periods of sleep deprivation. With three days or more of deprived sleep, serious deterioration in overall performance and even mild personality changes are common. When chronic, sleep deprivation can cause problems in relationships, contribute to health problems and compromises ones productivity.

In a normal nights sleep, two main states of sleep occur: rapid-eye-movement (REM) and non-rapid-eye-movement (non-REM) sleep. Dreaming occurs most often during REM. A breakdown of the two stages of sleep are as follows:

• Stage 1: Light sleep. We drift in and out and can be awakened easily. Our eyes move slowly and muscle activity slows.
• Stage 2: Light sleep. Eye movement stops and brain waves slow down, occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindlesoccur.
• Stage 3: Deep sleep. Delta brain waves (extremely slow) occur, interspersed with smaller, faster waves.
• Stage 4: Deep sleep. Delta waves are produced by the brain mostly. Eye movements and muscle activity do not occur.
• Stage 5: REM sleep. Breathing is irregular, shallow and rapid. Eyes jerk rapidly while limb muscles are temporarily paralyzed. This is the stage in which dreaming almost always occurs, but may also happen in the other sleep stages.

All five stages are gone through in about two hours, at which time they are normally repeated. REM sleep mostly occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep. For adults, 50% of their sleep time is spent in Stage 2, 20% in REM, and 30% in the other stages. Infants begin life spending half of their sleep time in REM.

How much sleep is enough? There are no hard and fast rules, because every individual's requirements vary. Five hours of sleep is enough for some to function, where as others perform better with nine, ten, or even more hours of sleep. Eight hours of sleep is the average amount needed by adults to feel refreshed and at their optimum efficiency during the day. Children require more sleep, especially very young children and adolescents, to be at their best. As people get older, it is not uncommon to require less sleep, especially after the age of sixty.

The cardinal sign of a sleep problem requiring intervention is inappropriate sleepiness, such as dozing off during a conversation, at the dinner table, or while driving. Even falling asleep in front of the television can be a warning sign that the body's internal clock is out of balance.

The solution? There are many sleep-aids on the market; natural, over-the-counter and prescription. The author advises highly against prescription drugs for treatment of insomnia, also known as sleeping pills. Sleeping pills do not cure insomnia and can interfere with REM sleep. It is also documented that half of people taking sleeping pills regularly find that their insomnia worsens.

There is one specific natural product that I have tried personally with success, and feel confident in recommending: Melatrol, a natural melatonin based sleep-aid.

Melatrol offers relief of temporary sleep insomnia, and you can take advantage of the free trial and try it risk-free for sixty days at the link above. I have had the pleasure of experiencing relief from sleep insomnia myself, and am happy to say that I am sleeping better than ever today.

I did take other small measures to establish a healthy sleep cycle. The following are steps you can take to establish a healthy sleep cycle. (Some are obvious, I know - but not for some):

• Go to bed only when you are sleepy.
• Once in bed, if you are not sleepy, get up and move to another room to read, watch television or do something quietly until you are really sleepy.
• Use the bedroom solely for sleep and sex, all other activities; such as reading, watching television, working or eating should be taken to another room.
• Go to bed and set an alarm clock to wake up at the same time every day. No matter how you slept the night before, get up when the alarm goes off. Once you have established a normal sleep pattern, you may find you no longer need the alarm clock.
• Sleep in a dark, quiet room with a comfortable temperature. If too much quiet is the problem, try running a fan or playing a radio softly for background noise. A "noise machine" is a device that creates "white nose" sounds such as the ocean surf or rain with birds chirping and can be a great help to people who are "quiet sensitive" in order to sleep.
• If it is not a normal habit for you, do not nap during the day. If you are a regular napper, do not nap later than 3:00 P.M.
• Exercise regularly in the late afternoon or evening--but NOT within tow hours of your targeted bedtime. Sleep comes more easily to a body that is tired from physical exertion.
• Put worries out of your mind by reading a soothing book of poetry, or concentrating on pleasant memories and thoughts. Think of a pleasurable event or time in your life, and relive it in your mind. Learning a relaxation technique such as meditation as well as the use of guided imagery is extremely helpful in getting healthy sleep patterns back for many people.

If you are having the symptoms of chronic insomnia, it is advised to see a health practitioner. My recommendation is to see an alternative health provider, be they a naturopathic doctor for health related sleeplessness, or a practitioner dealing with emotional well-being such as a somatic therapist, or energy psychologist. One of the many energy psychology methods, **EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), is highly effective in resolving a myriad of physical and emotional complaints.

*Insomnia is just one of the many signs of a calcium deficiency. Other symptoms include aching joints, brittle nails, convulsions, delusions, depression, eczema, elevated blood cholesterol, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, hyperactivity, muscle cramps, nervousness, numbness in the extremities, pasty complexion, rheumatoid arthritis, and tooth decay. Magnesium deficiency is manifested in the following ways: confusion, insomnia, irritability, poor digestion, rapid heartbeat, seizures, tantrums, and can be synonymous with diabetes.

**See one of my favorite EFT coaches, David Childerley in action on YouTube while he helps you "tap" your way to restful sleep with Emotional Freedom Technique.

For supplementing, I recommend a powdered form of calcium and magnesium with a ratio of 2:1 (calcium:magnesium).

Related Links:

Cure Insomnia: THE Top 10 List of Natural Cures for Insomnia - First article in this series.