There are a great deal of ways that people utilize when trying to get to sleep. Some of them work and some of them don’t. Some of the best sleep tips involve all natural techniques that you can do in your own home without a daunting middle of the night trip to the drug store.

Make sleep a priority. Don’t stay up till all hours of the morning when you know you must get up early. Do this enough times and then your body will no longer sleep when you want it to. You will have reset your internal alarm clock, which will only make you groggy and very cranky.

Start a sleep/bedtime ritual. Start getting ready for bed earlier in the evening. Unwind from the madness of the day at least 2 hours before bed. Start lowering noise and lighting, along with any other stimulants. Take a shower or bath or just wash your face. Put on your pajamas and get comfortable. Create a bedtime for yourself. Going to bed at the same time every night tells your body what time to go to sleep.

Create a restful place to sleep. No television in the bedroom. No clutter in the bedroom. Make your bedroom an oasis from the rest of the house. Make sure that you have a good quality mattress and foundation on your bed. It should be comfortable and support your spine.

Cut back on what you take in before bed. Avoid foods. Cut back on or reduce the amount you smoke and the amount of alcohol you consume before bed. Try warm milk or herbal tea , like chamomile, to help you relax in the evening.

Need more help to relax? Listen to music. Not crazy music, but soft, lilting music to practice deep breathing to. Get your spouse to give you a massage. Close your eyes and clear your mind. Some people swear by practicing meditation techniques at bed time as well as counting backward from 10,20, or even 30.  The belief is that your body comes to understand that you are ‘counting down’ to sleep and it begins to relax into the beginning stages of the sleep mode.

If you just cannot sleep, get up. If you are laying in bed staring at the ceiling then get up. Attempting to force yourself to sleep results in a horrid restless sleep. So get out of bed and deal with whatever issues may be dealing with.

One last way to help you sleep is exercise. Now don’t exercise within 1-2 hours of bedtime. Find some time during the day, even first thing in the morning, to exercise. It has been scientifically proven  that people who exercise have a better quality of sleep. Exercise helps to reduce stress levels and increase health, both of which help to create a more peaceful quality of sleep.

There are a huge amount of sleep aids on the market today. When picking a sleep aid there are three categories to pick from. One is available only by prescription, the second choice is to use an over the counter sleep aid while others are at your nearest health food store.  Only you and/or your doctor can help to decide which sleep aid is right for you.

Prescription medications that help you get to sleep include Lunesta, Rozerem, Halcion, Ambien and Sonata.  Medications that help you stay asleep are Estazdam, Lunesta, Restoril, Ambien CR. These are really more of a last resort for someone with prolonged insomnia. Side effects may include dizziness, headache, sleep-driving, severe allergic reaction, swelling of the face, as well as possible prolonged drowsiness.

The next best possible sleep aids are over the counter medications. Diphenhydramia, is the key ingredient in medications such as Nytol, Sominex and Unisom. These have very few side effects. It is possible to become addicted to any sleep aid, whether a prescription or over the counter drug.

Getting out of the drug thought process, try using herbs to help you sleep. A cup of chamomile tea before bed helps to relax your mind and your muscles. You may also want to try valerian root which reduces the amount of time it takes you to fall asleep as well as increasing the quality of your sleep. This should be taken approximately 1 hour before bedtime. Valerian root takes 2-3 weeks for the user to receive it’s full effects. Do not use it longer than 3 months. Consult a health professional before using this herb if you take prescription medications. Other items are lavender, which is a known stress reliever as well as St.John’s Wort which is known to help with depression. If your insomnia is due to depression then this herbal supplement would help a great deal. Another supplement recommended by herbalists is melatonin. Melatonin is a natural substance inside our bodies that help to control your internal clock. It can be taken in pill form. It is great for jet lag or if you work odd hours at work. Melatonin should be taken within 30 minutes of bedtime and be used for less than three months. Doctors say that caution should be used with this her if you suffer from depression or an autoimmune disease. All of these herbs can be found in health food stores as well as in some grocery stores.

A truly all natural way to induce sleep is through food. Ingesting Tryptaphan, most commonly found in turkey meat, causes increased levels in serotonin which transforms into melatonin. This type of response also occurs when eating complex carbohydrates such as whole grain breads or whole grain crackers.