Sleep in a comfortable, dark, quiet space. Make sure you're sleepy enough before going to bed, and don't lie there for 20 minutes or more if you can't fall asleep. Adopt a nighttime routine that helps you relax, such as reading or meditating before bed. Turn off screens well before you turn the lights out.
Reasons this might happen include drinking caffeine or alcohol late in the day, a poor sleep environment, a sleep disorder, or another health condition. When you can't get back to sleep quickly, you won't get enough quality sleep to keep you refreshed and healthy.
Go to sleep at the same time each night, and get up at the same time each morning, even on the weekends. Don't take naps after 3 p.m, and don't nap longer than 20 minutes. Stay away from caffeine and alcohol late in the day. Avoid nicotine completely.
Close your mouth and quietly inhale through your nose to a mental count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven. Exhale through your mouth, making a whoosh sound for a count of eight. Repeat the process three more times for a total of four breath cycles.
Several of the most popular natural sleep aids include melatonin, GABA, tryptophan, 5-HTP, CBD and THC, valerian root and lavender.
Is it a normal part of sleep? It is common to wake up during sleep. In fact most people wake two or three times during the night.
Your body likely produces enough melatonin for its general needs. However, evidence suggests that melatonin supplements promote sleep and are safe for short-term use. Melatonin can be used to treat delayed sleep phase and circadian rhythm sleep disorders in the blind and provide some insomnia relief.
Common causes of chronic insomnia include: Stress. Concerns about work, school, health, finances or family can keep your mind active at night, making it difficult to sleep. Stressful life events or trauma — such as the death or illness of a loved one, divorce, or a job loss — also may lead to insomnia.
Not only can magnesium help you get to sleep, but it plays a part in helping you achieve deep and restful sleep as well. In one study, older adults were given 500 mg of magnesium or a placebo. Overall, the magnesium group had better quality of sleep.
Despite these trends, the research mostly agrees that six hours of sleep is not enough for most adults. Experts recommend that most adults need at least seven hours of sleep every night.
Anxiety or depression
Stress can make it hard to get to sleep in the first place (that's called sleep-onset insomnia). But anxiety can also cause you to wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble getting back to sleep (called middle insomnia, or sleep-maintenance insomnia).
If you've been drinking alcohol, it's also not safe to take melatonin. Melatonin is also not for you if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. Researchers simply don't have enough data to know if it's safe for fetuses or breastfed babies.
Let's take a look at the liver. According to the Organ Clock it is the most busy during 1-3am at night.
Middle insomnia describes a difficulty maintaining sleep after initial sleep onset. For these individuals, sleep is fragmented with frequent awakenings at night. Middle insomnia is commonly associated with neurological syndromes (e.g., RLS), pain syndromes, or depression.
You wake up at 3am because this is the time you shift from a deep sleep into a lighter sleep. If you turn in at 11pm, by three in the morning you're mostly out of deep sleep and shifting into longer periods of lighter sleep, known as REM.
Cherries
Cherries (especially sour cherries like the Montmorency variety) are one of the only (and highest) natural food sources of melatonin.
There is a wide selection of over-the-counter sleep supplements to choose from. Some of the most common are cannabidiol (CBD), synthetic melatonin, valerian, and chamomile.