May 15th, 2008 by Phil

Hypnotherapy has been used successfully to cure addictions, phobias, cravings and even mental disorders. Hypnotherapy has been used for thousands of years and has been scientifically proven as an effective therapeutic tool. Practitioners such as the world famous hypnotist and TV celebrity, Paul Mckenna have helped make hypnotherapy popular.

Hypnosis works by tapping into your subconscious and implementing gradual changes to thoughts and behaviors, through visualizations or affirmations. Hypnosis works because the mind cannot tell from reality and vivid imagination.

Positive changes can be made in a very short space of time. In fact, hypnotherapy has been used to treat insomnia with great success. Through relaxation and positive affirmations the subject can drift into sleep much more easily and experience deeper and restorative sleep.

Hypnotherapy believe it or not, can be performed without a hypnotherapist. In an ideal situation you would have a hypnotherapist by your bedside guiding you into sleep, however this would be rather impractical and expensive. Many people use hypnosis CDs to help them drift into sleep. Hypnosis CDs work very much in the same way as a hypnotherapist does.

There is another alternative however which may surprise you and that’s self-hypnosis. Just as the hypnotherapist works as the facilitator, you can become your own hypnotherapist. There is nothing complex about self-hypnotherapy, it only takes time and practice to slot into the practice.

Through regular practice you can guide your mind into deep and relaxed states, enabling you to drift off into sleep. Using positive affirmations and visualizations you can communicate with the subconscious mind and ingrain positive thoughts, behaviors and habits.

You can learn how to self-hypnotize and tackle more than just your sleep problems. For more information on how to self-hypnotize, visit How to Beat Insomnia.

April 3rd, 2008 by Phil

Chronic insomnia is also known as long-term or hyper-insomnia. Sleep studies show on average that 10% of adults suffer from this condition. Unlike transient and intermittent insomnia, chronic insomnia sufferers rarely experience a good night’s sleep.

In fact many chronic insomnia sufferers have suffered for years and even their whole lives. What many people do not understand is that it’s a very serious condition that affects the sufferer physically and mentally.

Being an ex-chronic insomnia sufferer myself I understand how frustrating this condition can be. I thought I was going to go insane at some point; not being able to fall asleep for hours, tossing and turning every night, waking up frequently and having a barrage of thoughts circling my head, it was a living nightmare.

I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad, if I didn’t ‘need’ to sleep. But I needed it so badly. I could barely function in the day, feeling like a total wreck. I was irritable, moody and exhausted. My confidence was completely wiped out.

I couldn’t stand looking at myself anymore, I looked awful and god knows what people thought about the way I acted and looked. Chronic insomnia was the bane of my life. I had tried everything I could think of – sleep medication, aromatherapy and even acupuncture.

It was only when I started treating chronic insomnia as the symptom rather than the cause that I started noticing that my sleep began to improve. I began focusing on treating the underlying cause, tapping into the subconscious if you will with mind-programming techniques.

I started using alternative therapies to tap into the body’s meridian energy system to unblock negative energies that affected my sleep. I realized that sleep could just be another learned process like walking and cycling.

I realized that I had reinforced negative habits and thoughts into my subconscious over the years and that I had sabotaged my own ability to sleep. I had brainwashed myself in believing there was no hope and I had built an internal fear factor of sleep.

For chronic insomniacs out there, there is hope. If you believe that someone can learn to be confident, if you believe someone can learn to overcome phobias, if you believe that people can change, then you already know that insomnia can be beaten.

Subscribe for my Free Newsletter on the right and you will receive a Free Insomnia Report and Brainwave Entrainment Audio for free!

February 27th, 2008 by Phil

Have you ever tried meditation, but gave up because you find it difficult to relax and empty your mind for even just 2 minutes?

You may have heard about the health benefits of meditation and how it can help with sleeplessness and insomnia. Some other health benefits include:

• Increase oxygen levels in your body.
• Increase in blood flow.
• Reduction in heart rate.
• Lowered blood pressure.
• Reduction in muscle tension.
• Increase in self-confidence.
• Increase in serotonin production.
• Improves mood and behavior.
• Reduces stress and tension.
• Strengthens the immune system.

Insomnia can often be caused by poor mood, stress, worry, anxiety, tension and low serotonin levels. What’s more a lack of deep sleep can reduce the body’s immune system leaving it prone to diseases and viruses.

Deep meditation can help relieve these underlying issues so that sleep comes easier. What’s more through practice of meditation your brainwaves will slow and may even produce waves in the Alpha and Theta range. Theta waves are associated with REM sleep. With practice you can learn to enter the Theta stages at will – your gateway to sleep.

Confused? Here’s a little More On Brainwaves…

The brain constantly produces waves that flow through its neural pathways which are called brainwaves. There are four brainwave patterns; Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta. Each one is defined by a different set of frequencies measured in Hz (Hertz).

The following is a basic look at the four common types of brainwave patterns, their frequencies and mental states each pattern is associated with:

Beta Waves (13 - 30 Hz)
Commonly found during an active or waking state. It is also associated with busy or anxious thinking, active concentration, arousal and other mental sates such as fear, anger and worry.

Alpha Waves (7 - 13 Hz)
If you’ve ever been relaxed and at peace, perhaps sitting in a park, soaking up the sun then your brain was probably producing alpha waves. Alpha waves are associated with a tranquil state of consciousness, on the edge of deep relaxation and meditation.

Theta Waves (3 – 7 Hz)
Associated with deep meditation, dreaming and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. During this state your mind wanders where it will and you are in the prime state of creativity, visualization and imagery.

Delta Waves (1 - 3 Hz)
When your brain is producing delta waves you are in deep dreamless sleep or a deep trance like state. This stage is essential for repair and rejuvenation of the mind and body.

So What Is Brainwave Entrainment And How Can It Help?

Brainwave Entrainment is the practice of synchronizing or tuning one’s brainwaves to a desired frequency.

How It Works:

If you play a tone of say 96 Hz in your left ear and 102 Hz in your right ear, your brainwaves will resonate at the differential frequency – 6 Hz. Playing this set of tones will produce a frequency in the range of Theta Waves.

Because of this naturally occurring phenomenon the brain has a tendency to change its dominant EEG (electroencephalograph) frequency towards the frequency of the dominant aural stimuli, in effect ‘synchronizing’ the two hemispheres of the brain.

The use of Binaural Beats can achieve exactly this. When listening to binaural beats, each ear is sent pure sine waves of different frequencies. As I mentioned the brain will resonate at the differential frequency. We can create a range of desired frequencies using binaural beats.

How can this help? Well I guess it’s obvious now, but if we can create a set of tones which create a frequency of between 1 to 3 Hz, your brain can be entrained to resonate at the same frequency. If you look at the brainwave chart above, you’ll notice that Delta Waves are produced at that frequency. Brainwave entrainment can be very helpful in getting into deep meditative states.

Brainwave entrainment can be used for other purposes other than to aid and guide you through meditation. Using binaural beats can actually help with sleep and guide you into deep sleep states.

Many insomnia sufferers have experienced dramatic improvements in the ability to fall asleep through brainwave entrainment alone. It has even been used to effectively treat psychosomatic illnesses like depression. As well as improving mental and physical health it can also increase concentration, memory functioning and even creativity.

If you’re interested in giving brainwave entrainment a try, sign up for my Free Newsletter and you’ll get a free Brainwave Entrainment Audio worth $29 – Visit: How to beat insomnia

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February 13th, 2008 by Phil

The regular routine things, like sleeping, eating and walking are so common that we hardly spare our time in thinking about them. It’s a vast territory of mystery, which Shakespeare once termed, “night’s second self”. We sleep as it is needed. It’s an inevitable part of our life. But a simple general knowledge about sleeping can make this almost overlooked part a strongly enhancing factor of our life. Let us take a deeper look at some interesting sleeping facts.

Sleep more - feel good, makes sense right? We know that at least eight hours we should spend in sleeping. We are, Bernard Shaw said, “slave to nature for that”. But the recent neo-scientific theory demonstrates the lesser we sleep, the more energetic we feel. It may sound heretic, almost breaking the standard norm of understanding. But the bone of contention goes, a five-six hours of sleeping can make you healthier and more awake. In fact, you may be taken aback hearing the fact that the world’s busiest people, CEOs, entrepreneurs, scientists, whose minds are constantly running relentlessly, sleep only four hours and wake up fresh to face the challenges the day brings.

With the world changing fast and strongly dependent on electronics, you have really a lesser time to adapt to it, both physically and professionally. Thus, there may have been some change in biological need as well.

Is the change destructive? Are those people victim of insomnia? Or do they hide some secret mystery? The truth is the more you sleep, the lazier you become. Sleep more than necessary and it’s likely you will feel tired and sluggish. Oversleeping makes you feel exhausted, and consequentially lazy.  After a particular point of time, you are bound to feel bored or irritated.

So is it possible to sleep less and feel vibrant? The answer is ‘Yes’, it’s astonishing that people are performing well while sleeping less. Actually, the old calculation goes, you should sleep eight hours a day, but how true is this? This mathematics strips you off one third of your life. The quarter of the rest is gone in performing nature’s duties.

In fact, this order has been set according to the load of the work. Previously people had much time to perform their work. But this ultra-sophisticated world demands from you more time to ameliorate it better. Thus the order of sleep has lessened accordingly. Science is in no way opposed to that. It’s only a matter of adaptation.

Now, prepare the statistics. Eight hours of sleeping gives sixteen hours of work. Add two hours to your work by deducting it from sleeping, and then calculate it for the next ten years. The amount can fulfill any number of dreams you set. In fact, you waste one-third of your life by sleeping. Imagine how much progress you could make if you were able to dedicate two hours extra to your work. The working proverb is not, early to bed and early to rise anymore.

January 24th, 2008 by Phil

Insomnia is a tough cookie to crack. Sleep deprivation is a doubled edged sword which most of us fail to understand. There are two mechanisms that govern our sleep and daytime functionality

On one side you have the sleep mechanism and on the other you have the wakefulness mechanism. With a majority of insomniacs, the wakefulness mechanism often beats the sleep mechanism. This is usually due to a number of reasons. For one when our conscious mind is too awake at night, we find it nigh on impossible to sleep. Often this is due to excessive worry, stress or anxiety. Psychological disorders such as depression can also affect the ability to sleep.

It’s the subconscious that knows how to sleep, not the conscious mind. You may have tried, but it’s absolutely impossible to will yourself to sleep with the conscious mind. What’s more lack of sleep is habit forming. In time your body and mind get use to not sleeping, you get used to the spiralling thoughts that keep you awake and sleeplessness becomes a habit.

To top it all off, sleep deprivation reinforces the inability to sleep. When we are exhausted in the day, we can sometimes sense that our body and brain wants to shut off. The only thing we can do is to fight the tiredness. You drink caffeine to keep you awake, you go get some fresh air, you force concentration, you try and wake yourself up anyway you can.

By fighting off sleep, you’re weakening your sleep mechanism, it becomes a habit. Even when you’re completely exhausted and ready to sleep, your internal wakefulness mechanism keeps firing up from habit, breaking up sleep and keeping you awake. You’re natural ability to sleep is weakened and your sleep/wake cycle becomes imbalanced.

People wonder why sleep medication fail to work. Well for one, sleep medication cannot substitute natural sleep. In fact the chemicals in sleeping pills affect brainwaves and disturb deep sleep. Deep sleep is the most essential stage for energy and restoration, without it, you will most probably wake feeling groggy, tired, dazed and irritable. Headaches and muscle aches are common symptoms of sleep deprivation and light fragmented sleep.

It’s not surprising that in recent tests a placebo (sugar pill) had a far better impact on its test subjects than sleep medication. It’s a myth that sleep medication helps you sleep faster and it’s a myth that it can improve sleep and daytime performance. What’s more sleep medication is addictive and unhealthy for the body and mind (it is a drug after all).

You might be thinking right now, that there is no hope, that if sleep medication don’t work, what will? Insomnia is just as much a psychological disorder as it is a physical disorder. So it’s really essential for a sufferer to be treated on both the mind and body to successfully cure insomnia or at least improve sleep.

December 13th, 2007 by Phil

Insomnia medication falls into three categories- there are the over-the-counter products which can be easily bought. These often contain antihistamines. Then there are the prescription medications- benzodiazepines and antidepressants.

Using prescription or over-the-counter sleep aids to catch up on your sleep should be avoided. You should consult your doctor before taking sleep medication. You should also avoid taking them for more than 2 or 3 nights in a row, as prolonged use can cause ‘rebound’ insomnia.

Sleeping pills are generally bad news as they will break down your body’s natural sleep cycle and make sleep very difficult in the long term. It may also affect the amount of deep sleep you attain during the night as most major sleeping pills interfere with normal brain wave patterns. Without deep quality sleep the body skips the vital stages of sleep that are required for restoration.

You may find that you wake up feeling groggy, drowsy or tired this is because most sleeping pills take time for the body to break down. In fact sleeping pills do not improve daytime performance whatsoever; they only help tackle the symptoms. Even so, in studies it has been shown that insomniacs that rely on sleeping pills took on average 45 minutes to sleep. This destroys the belief that sleeping pills help you sleep faster.

Sleeping pills may help you get to sleep but with continual use your body will build tolerance, and you may find that you need to ‘up’ your dose to attain the same affect. Since they do not tackle the root cause of insomnia, many users become dependant and even worse ‘chronic users’. Taking sleeping pills is definitely not a long term solution to insomnia.

So if they don’t improve daytime functioning and they do more damage than good including; reducing brain activity in the day, affecting memory and judgment as well as being highly addictive, then why are they being relied upon by millions of adults?

Many sufferers feel powerless and simply do not know how to tackle insomnia effectively. An insomnia patient who seeks advice from their doctor week after week can leave the doctor feeling desperate to help and more likely to resort in prescribing sleep medication.

With only 10% of doctors rating their sleep knowledge as good in a recent survey, we can assume that the general public knows significantly less in terms of sleep education. Sleep medication can seem the only way to get a night sleep.

However insomnia medication is not a long term solution. They will only worsen the condition. With this in mind it’s best to seek alternative therapies and medicines.

November 24th, 2007 by Phil

Anxiety and insomnia are common problems which are often interrelated. Too much stress, worry and anxiety are common factors for the cause of a sleepless night. Likewise insomnia can perpetuate anxiety, worry and stress which often lead to more serious psychological disorders and psychosomatic illnesses.

Anxiety can be characterized by symptoms such as feeling on edge, excessive worry, fast heartbeat and breathing. This often affects the ability to carry out normal daily tasks and can seem all too powerful to cope with.

Anxiety disorders generally develop over time through negative life experiences negative life experiences or thoughts such as having a negative self image or feelings of inadequacy. Negative acts toward us such as being ridiculed and being made to feel guilty also have detrimental affects on our psyche.

These problems can seem too much to handle at times and can deeply affect our lives. They can be so ingrained that we find it impossible to clear from our mind and body. Negative thoughts and experiences that have been stored into our subconscious, over months and years cannot simply be forgotten. They are learned, developed and are a part of the way we think, feel and act.

It’s important to seek guidance and professional advice if you are suffering from anxiety. Accepting and wanting to do something about your condition is the first step to recovery. Your doctor may be able to provide guidance or be able to recommend a good therapist.

However, generally people who suffer from anxiety fail at combating anxiety for the same reason insomniacs do. Too much reliance on outside help and the belief that ‘quick-fix’ remedies work, can often perpetuate your symptoms. Prescription medication can sometimes help relieve the symptoms of an anxiety or sleep disorder. However it will almost certainly fail at tackling the root cause.

Often the root problem runs deep into psyche. The physical symptoms that manifest barely touch the surface of the root issue. The only permanent way to tackle anxiety is self-help. Sure, guidance from a good therapist will certainly help you, however they will not be able to get inside your head and rid of your problem. You are the only one who can recondition your mind. By changing your habits and behaviors, you can learn to control your thoughts and emotions. Through this you can learn to change your who you want to be.

Anxiety and insomnia can be cured, but at the end of the day it’s down you to overcome the problem. If you need more information and guidance on how to tackle anxiety and insomnia, visit How to beat insomnia

November 3rd, 2007 by Phil

Here are some links to several sleep articles which I hope you’ll find useful:

How to beat insomnia

Insomnia Cures

Cures for Insomnia

Sleep Facts

Sleep Techniques

How Much Sleep Do I Need

Natural Sleep Remedies

Cant Get No Sleep

How to Fall Asleep

How to Sleep Better

Sleep Program

Insomnia Help

Causes of Insomnia

Natural Sleep Aid

Fall into Sleep

Sleep Help

Sleep Deprivation

Sleepless

Sleeping Pills

Fall Asleep

Sleep Problems

Sleep Aids

Sleep Disorders

Enjoy!

October 27th, 2007 by Phil

If you are interested in a natural sleep aid to help you fall asleep or a drug-free method of dealing with insomnia, then read on.

I’m sure you’ve heard about drinking warm milk to help you sleep. It’s not exactly a miracle solution and its effectiveness does vary. Milk contains amino acid that is converted to a sleep-enhancing compound which will help you relax and fall asleep. A caffeine and alcohol free beverage such as chamomile tea will also help you to relax in the evening before sleep.

Lack of Vitamin B will affect your sleep, so taking a supplement may help. A good product containing A-Z of vitamins and minerals is recommended to give you overall health benefit. It’s also advisable to check your iron level as women who are deficient in iron tend to have more problems sleeping.

If you are after natural sleep aids try Standardized Valerian extract which is a safe and non addictive sedative that works by calming the mind and body. Valerian is available at most pharmacies and is a natural remedy to aid sleep. Taken before bedtime it can ease nerves and calm the mind to help you drift off to sleep. Lemon balm and Hops, are also soothing remedies which can calm and relax the mind and body.

Aromatherapy is an age old art and is the use of essential oils from aromatic plants to promote a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Essential oils may be blended together to create your own personal blends. Through inhalation the essential oil can be absorbed into the bloodstream stimulating the production of relaxing hormones such as endorphin and serotonin.

Lavender, rose and Chamomile all have soothing and relaxing qualities. Essential oils can be used in several ways, such as vaporization and massage. Try adding a few drops in your bath to help ease away tension. Alternatively try scented candles and incense in the evening which can also help relax, and calm the body and mind before sleep.

As well as trying some of these natural sleep aids, try and improve your sleep habits and ensure that you are getting up and going to bed the same time everyday, including weekends. Put into practice the following:

* Every morning expose yourself to sunlight for a good few minutes to increase your serotonin levels. This will help wake you up.

* During the day ensure that you eat healthily and participate in some light exercise.

* Try to deal with stress and worry. If you feel that you are not coping, take a break or talk to someone.

* Leave your troubles at work. Try and relax when you get home.

* Unwind in the evenings and avoid stimulants such as caffeine

* Listen to some relaxing music and dim lighting to increase your melatonin levels which will help induce sleep

* In bed, try relaxing progressively from your head to your toe. Remember it is not a time for worry or thoughts.

If you suffer from sleeplessness, consider a natural sleep aid, but more importantly improve your sleep habits and pay attention to your emotional levels in the day.

October 13th, 2007 by Phil

Sleep deprivation is generally the cause of sleep disorders such as apnea, narcolepsy and insomnia. Sleep deprivation affects millions of people around the world and is the lack of sleep which is crucial for restoration and rejuvenation.

Contrary to what people think, insomnia is not defined by the number of hours a person sleeps. As we get older, we tend to need less sleep. Babies might need between 10 to 14 hours a night and children between 9 to 12 hours sleep. Sleep is important for growth as well as for restoring muscular energy.

The optimum amount of sleep for most adults is around 7 to 8 hours a night. Although as I said it really does differ from person to person, some people may need as few as 4 hours, or as many as 10 hours of sleep per night.

If you feel refreshed during the day and not sleepy until bedtime, then obviously you’re getting enough sleep. The amount of sleep required varies from person to person and depends on a number possible of factors including, age, genetic make-up, the amount of exercise you get, what you do during the day, the quality of your sleep and whether you are still growing.

5 hours of deep quality sleep is far better than 12 hour of broken sleep. It’s important to note that it’s the quality of sleep obtained at night and not just the quantity that determines how you feel the next day. There are various stages of sleep and it’s in the deeper stages that the body is able to restore.

Lack of sleep generally causes daytime tiredness, lethargy, aching muscles, blurred vision, headaches, nausea, irritability and frequent yawning. Although sleep deprivation is not life threatening it can adversely affect brain functioning. You may find that your ability to concentrate or carry out tasks more problematic.

You may find that after a good night’s sleep that you feel refreshed and energized. Sleep enables you to restore and rejuvenate many functions of the mind and body. Without sleep your immune system may weaken leaving you susceptible to illnesses. Sleep is essential for the release of growth hormones for proper physical and mental development.

Sleep studies have found that sleep deprivation can have the similar affects to those of excessive alcohol. Thousands of accidents a year occur due to falling asleep or loss of concentration, mainly while driving or operating dangerous machinery. Its total cost, in terms of illness, injuries, and decreased quality of life is staggering. A constant lack of sleep severely affects quality of life and can often lead to mental disorders such as anxiety and depression.

Sleep deprivation affects all ages including students in high school. In act in a recent study it was revealed that 1 in 4 students admitted to falling asleep in class. Most schools start early which prevents students getting enough sleep. Forced sleep deprivation over a long period can lead to insomnia. Fortunately in many school districts, opening school times have been delayed to give students more time to sleep.

However this doesn’t prevent the fact that people are working longer hours than ever and with electricity, the average amount of sleep a night has decreased dramatically.

With sleep deprivation becoming an increasingly growing problem and insomnia affecting a third of all adults, more needs to be done to counteract this problem. People need to be made aware of the seriousness of sleep deprivation and more importantly how to deal with it.