How to Sleep Like a Baby

 How to Sleep Like a Baby

Problems sleeping can be a major drag on happiness — if you can’t sleep well, you can’t function as well during the day.

Today a reader asked, “I want to spend less time rolling in the bed, and more time sleeping. I wanna be a baby again. Help!”

I love the image of being a baby again — in my head, it conjures¹ up not only sleeping peacefully (though in reality many babies don’t), but growing magically young again, care-free, without the worries that normally² plague³ us and keep us up at night.

I don’t have the magical pill that will make you young again, but I can offer some help with sleep. I’ve changed my sleeping patterns a number of times, and know that it can be difficult. Sleep is a deep part of the body’s rhythms⁴, and it’s one of the harder habits to change. That said, it’s changeable.

Sleep Problems

Let’s take a quick look at some of the problems that keep people rolling around in bed (not in the good way, pervert):

Not tired yet — your sleeping pattern is set so that you usually sleep later, so if you go to bed earlier, you’re not tired enough to fall asleep.

Too tired — it’s possible to be so exhausted⁵ that sleep is difficult. This tends to be a problem less often than “not tired enough” though.

Worries — you’ve got something spinning around in your head, so the sleep doesn’t come. Sometimes it’s replaying something that’s happened, or things that someone said, and other times it’s worrying about something coming up, or planning.

Computers — if you’re on your computer (often in bed), you might be tired but have a hard time sleeping because your mind isn’t unwinding.

There are other issues, but I’ve found these to be the most common. Let’s look at how to help with them.

Formula⁶ for Becoming a Baby

So how do we solve the problems above and become baby-like in our sleep? I don’t have all the answers, but here are some of the things that have worked for me:

1. Exercise. A good hard workout or run, bike or swim will get you nice and tired. A good yoga workout is a wonderful way to do that, as you learn mindfulness at the same time. Even if the workout is early in the day, I often go to bed with a tired body, and look forward to the rest. Don’t workout right before bed though.

2. Get up early. You can get your body to shift⁷ its sleeping schedule by slowly getting up earlier. Try 15 minutes earlier than normal for a week, then another 15 minutes. If you get up earlier, you’ll be a bit tired during the day, and when it comes time to go to sleep, you’ll enjoy the rest.

3. Establish a bedtime ritual⁸. It takes time to unwind the body and mind. At least an hour before bedtime, start slowing down. Turn off the computer. Floss & brush your teeth. Put away things you were using in the evening. Lay down and read a book (not on your laptop). This kind of ritual helps establish in your mind that it’s time to sleep, and your body takes this cue⁹ and begins to prepare itself.

4. Keep your room only for sleeping. Don’t eat, watch TV, use your computer, or do other kinds of activities in your room (OK, perv, just one other activity is OK). Keep those activities in the living and dining rooms, so that when you go to bed, there’s just one thing to do. Be sure to make the room dark when you go to sleep too — your body reacts to light.

5. Focus your attention. Once you’ve done your bedtime ritual and unwound, and your body is nice and tired, you need to quiet the mind. My trick for doing that: close your eyes, and visualize¹⁰ what you did first thing today. That might be opening your eyes and getting out of bed. Then visualize the second thing you did — let’s say you peed and washed your face, or drank a glass of water. Then you started the coffee but first had to grind¹¹ the beans. Visualize these tiny steps in detail. I never get past the first hour before I’m asleep.

6. Change slowly. Be patient with sleeping changes — they are difficult, because when we are tired, our mind doesn’t have the discipline to stick to changes. Our body and mind want to do what they’re used to doing. But if you change a little at a time, and forgive yourself for “messing up” (there’s no messing up, actually), then you can make changes.

I hope this helps. I will admit that I don’t always sleep soundly — sometimes I have trouble sleeping, but when I use these methods, I can usually cure the sleeping problems.

Sleep is a blessing¹² that I wish on all my friends, all of you included. It’s a much-needed rest that helps us to be truly awake once the glorious¹³ new day has come.

1 conjures   

用魔术变出( conjure的第三人称单数 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• The word 'birthday' conjures up images of presents and parties. “生日”这个词使人想起礼物和聚会的情景。
• The name Sahara conjures up images of a desert of aridity. "撒哈拉"这个名字使人想起干旱的沙漠情景。

2 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

3 plague   

n.瘟疫，鼠疫，祸患，灾难；v.烦扰，使痛苦

参考例句：

• Plague was then prevailing in that city.当时瘟疫正在该城流行。
• The plague once could wipe out a village.鼠疫曾一度可以夺走整个村庄村民的生命。

4 rhythms   

节奏( rhythm的名词复数 )； 规则变化； 规律； 节律

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• Stylistically, the term implies loose, rapid painthandling, large rhythms and broken colour. 从风格上来说，这个名称意味着松散而迅速的绘画笔触，奔放的格调，使用强烈配色。

5 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

6 formula   

n.公式；配方，外方；规则，一定的做法

参考例句：

• His father is acting on his formula.他的父亲总是按他的原则办事。
• Here are some applications of Taylor's formula.下面举例说明泰乐定理的应用。

7 shift   

n.交换，变化，移动，接班者；vt.更替，移转，变声；vi.改变，定责，更衣

参考例句：

• Lend me a hand to shift this box,will you?来帮一下忙，把这箱子搬开，好吗？
• A sudden shift in the wind warned of the coming storm.风向的突然改变预示暴风雨来临。

8 ritual   

adj.例行的，老规矩的，惯常的

参考例句：

• This was the monthly ritual.这是每月一次的例规。
• I realized that here the conventions required me to make the ritual noises.我意识到此时按照惯例我应该说些客套话。

9 cue   

n.暗示，信号，提示；vt.提示，暗示

参考例句：

• When she coughs,it's my cue to come onto the stage.她一咳嗽，就是给我暗号出场。
• The actor missed his cue and came onto the stage late.这演员错过了向他发出的提示，上场晚了。

10 visualize   

vt.使看得见，使具体化，想象，设想

参考例句：

• I remember meeting the man before but I can't visualize him.我记得以前见过那个人，但他的样子我想不起来了。
• She couldn't visualize flying through space.她无法想像在太空中飞行的景象。

11 grind   

n.（常贬义）用功的学生，书呆子；vt.磨，磨碎

参考例句：

• Would you please grind a pound of coffee for me? 请给我磨一磅咖啡好吗？
• Do you find learning English a grind?你觉得学英语是一件苦差事吗？

12 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

13 glorious   

adj.美丽的，辉煌的；荣耀的

参考例句：

• It is a glorious thing to die for the people.为人民而死，虽死犹荣！
• We had a glorious time at the seaside.我们在海边度过了愉快的时光。