If You Can't Sleep

Have you ever had one of those nights when you just can't seem to sleep? Well, I did last night. And my lack of sleep aside, I thought that today I would share with you some of my favorite insomnia cures.

• A cup of warm milk is a classic insomnia treatment that many people swear by. Unfortunately, it is a treatment that I find completely repulsive. However, despite my less-than-positive opinion of hot milk, I do find some value in this suggestion. I find that when I cannot sleep, getting out of bed and performing some mindless task can actually help. So when I can't sleep, I sometimes walk out into the kitchen and warm myself up a saucepan of milk. And though I have no intention of drinking the midnight brew, standing in front of the warm stove, swirling a pan of milk is somewhat hypnotic and can help me fall asleep.
  
  
• Counting sheep is another classic sleep-aid. But I must admit that every time I attempt to visualize a bunch of sheep for the counting, I find myself becoming preoccupied with the question – why sheep? I mean, I can understand the idea of counting something to the point of bored exhaustion, but who decided that we should all count sheep? And why? Now, I really don't have an answer for you here. In fact, the only conclusion that I have reached is that someone at one time looked at some sheep and thought – those look like giant, overstuffed pillows; let me try and sleep on one! And, of course, after countless attempts that person either became tired of attempting to sleep on the frightened sheep and either gave up to take a nap elsewhere or was knocked unconscious during a sheep stampede... Whatever the case, I find that counting something readily available is a bit more effective than counting sheep. Counting books on a bookshelf, stains on your blanket, and hairs on your knuckles are all effective sleep aids.
  
  
• And my last sleep aid is perhaps the simplest of them all – reading. Of course, don't pick up an interesting book, because that will just capture your attention. But keeping a boring book on your nightstand is a great way to lull yourself to sleep. So pick up that college psychology book, that dictionary, or that copy of “The Scarlet Letter” (or anything by Hawthorne, really...), and let the words put you to bed.

Good night.