Calm your mind before bed! You may meditate or take the time to unwind and relax. Have a regular bed time, to get your body clock into the habit of knowing when it is ‘awake time’ and ‘sleep time’. Stay away from caffeine and heavy or sugary foods.

Maintain a peaceful atmosphere in your sleeping space with no electronics or electrical energy to disturb your quiet domain. Reading your book and writing in your journal can be pleasant examples of ways to steady your thoughts and let go of the days activities before bed.

Do electronics in the bedroom really have a negative impact. I think a lot of people would relax more if they listended to music or the radio. A nice soft distraction to stop the mind wandering to problems.

Sleep expert, Dee Trethewey, has the following tips on electronics in the bedroom:

What sort of electronics does your bedroom contain? If you must have your smartphone in the room, ensure that it’s put on silent and placed face down, out of arms reach. By doing this, you will not be as inclined to reach for it in the middle of the night to check email, Facebook, etc. Plus when your alarm goes off, you won’t be tempted to press snooze and roll over. You will have to get physically out of bed to switch it off. By having to get out of bed, you will be more alert straight away. Banish the TV to the living room or another room in your house.

However, in relation to listening to music or the radio, it can be an excellent source of "White noise." If your environment includes the sound of barking dogs, traffic sounds, and noisy neighbours these and more can disturb or disrupt your sleep.

White noise is considered an excellent way in which to mask background sounds which may prevent you from falling asleep or keeping you awake. By adding White Noise to your sleep environment, you are essentially masking the sound rather than drowning it out.

White Noise (in the most basic of terms) is a sound that contains all frequencies within the range of human hearing in equal amounts. Examples of White Noise include TV static or light rain. White Noise examples are at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=38&v=CCnCMHNyny8

Most people have heard of “White Noise” but to it is not so common to have heard of “Pink Noise.” Pink Noise is a variant of White Noise. Pink Noise is basically white noise that has been filtered making it an even gentler sound. Pink Noise is considered more effective when promoting better sleep.

Listeners find that Pink Noise sounds more like heavy rain, rushing water or strong wind. Many find the Pink Noise more relaxing than White Noise. A Pink Noise example can be heard at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=10&v=9w8MxzLMvsM

Both White and Pink Noises are effective at eliminating background noises that may be disturbing your sleep. They are also both effective when looking for a deeper sleep.

The Benefits of White/Pink Noise include:

• Masks distracting sounds
• Relaxing
• Reduces stress
• Soothes headaches

The trick is to try either and use what works best for you.

To discover more about overcoming insomnia see: The Sleep Edition eCourse