Did you ever think about your sleep - or sleep in general. To some, it comes naturally - or at least it is supposed to. Look at most babies - they sleep without trying. This is what God/nature intended us to do. We are pre-programmed - hardwired - to sleep about 1/3 of our lives.

So why do about 50 - 60% of Americans have insomnia - described in this context as not being able to get to sleep (naturally) or not being able to stay asleep (naturally)?

In exploring the answers we need to understand who we are and where we live. We need to journey inside ourselves as well as understand the society and environment around us. As Americans we all live very fast-paced lives filled with expectations. And when problems do arise, we want quick solutions because we just have to get on with the next event or commitment in our lives. Multi-tasking - multi-doing and burning the candle at both ends...Oh Yeah....and how many of us do that, and on how many levels - physically, mentally and emotionally?

Part of our fast-pace lifestyle is the ever-increasing need for immediate solutions and instant gratification. We don't have time for something like insomnia slowing us down! We want and expect that this dis-ease will have some magic bullet to cure the problem. It is no surprise, therefore that our pharmacy shelves are bulging with just the right magic formulas to help us overcome insomnia. Well - and some of them do - at least temporarily. And that's just the over the counter variety of medication. There are still many prescription medications you could try!

Insomniacs know that sleep medication is usually expensive- particularly the prescription variety - and usually this does not provide long lasting results once discontinued. So we may have thought we were achieving immediate solutions but the actual trade off is that they are often only able to induce a level 2 sleep - which is one of the lighter stages of sleep - and then the effect often wears off within 3 to 4 hours. You could of course, increase the dosage but then you run the risk of daytime complications - drowsiness, having dry mouth, and general malaise as your body is trying to rid you of the effect of a larger dose.

Then if you stop the medication - the dis-ease of insomnia usually returns. All you've really done is masked the problem, and not gotten to the root cause. And of course, we all know that these drugs can be addictive.

So I ask again......why do 50-60% of Americans have insomnia?

We humans used to live in agrarian societies. We slept with nightfall and woke with sunrise. For the most part, we had no artificial light except wood fires or gas lanterns or for that matter, the moon's reflection. Then we ushered in the 20^th century and Thomas Alva Edison. Bless his heart! He was a driven, creative man... who rarely slept. He thought sleep was for the weak! Sound like the American lifestyle? He gave us 24/7 light at the expense of his health and his family relationship.

So now we can stay up all day and all night. We've altered our body chemistry. We've altered the natural state of what God/or nature intended us to have and be. We've dramatically affected the intricate balance of our circadian rhythms - the intricate play of darkness and light on our body physiology and...we have created some bad habits.

We read in bed, watch TV, check our emails, eat... and then you wonder why you can't get to sleep. You've set up associations with your bed that tell you its OK and normal to do all these other things in bed. Then you say to your body - OK - it's now time to go to sleep. And you wonder why you can't.

Bed should be kept for sleeping and intimate relations only. Everything else - all other activities should happen elsewhere. Keep your bed for sleeping.

So insomnia is the inability to get to sleep or stay asleep naturally.

Now, how do you restore your balance - your natural balance if you happen to be one who suffers?

My encouragement to you, is to look inside yourself at who you are, as well as at the environment you've created - see what's going on with you. Have you created a high-tech racing, non-stop day and nighttime environment? Do you push the boundaries of your natural rhythms?

You want to be able to say ‘ I wake up to the energy of excellence - my own excellence'! And the only way to do that is to sleep restfully.

And how do you do that?

There are many natural ways to alter your current sleeping habits naturally and without drugs. But I will add, that if you are currently on sleeping medication - I highly recommend discussing this situation with your doctor particularly if you want to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of sleep medications. I stopped cold turkey - March 1 2006, but I certainly know this is not the recommended route because re-bound insomnia can often occur - and it did - but I persevered.

In the ebook - The Spirit of Sleep - you will find many natural techniques and tools to help you overcome your sleep challenges. And since no two of us are alike, there is no ‘same' solution that is going to work for every person.

But suffice it to say - the primary objective for you is to recognize that your thoughts, attitudes and beliefs are likely at the core of your personal situation, and that these beliefs need to be changed in order to affect long lasting natural change. Hence - you must get your spirit involved in making this change. It is not something that can come solely from your environment. For effective and lasting change, you must have a strong internal desire and recognize that change must first happen within you. And you must believe in your ability to make this change.