The first thing you need to do is to change your thinking about howmany hours of sleep you should get a night. You have probably alwaysheard that you need to get at least eight hours of sleep a night. Buteverybody is different and their circadian rhythms may be different.Therefore throw out the notion that you must have eight hours of sleepto be productive. You may be able to function just fine on six hours.

Oneof the best ways to get your body ready for sleep is to set up anightly ritual. Do the same thing every night, at the same time, beforeyou go to bed. This ritual may involve listening to a particular typeof music or it may be reading. Setting up a ritual will let your bodyknow that it is time to wind down and get ready for sleep.

Dosome stretching exercises to help your body relax. Stretch out thosesore muscles and your brain will automatically go into relaxation modeand help you wind down. While you are stretching, do some deepbreathing exercises to help you relax ever further.

Thisbreathing exercise comes highly recommended. It is called the 4-7-8breathing exercise. Rest your tongue slightly on the roof of your mouthjust behind your teeth. Exhale completely. Now close your mouth andbreath in deep through your nose while counting to four. Hold yourbreath to the count of seven and then slowly exhale while counting toeight. Repeat this breathing exercise three more times.

There isone thing you should never do if you wake up in the middle of thenight. Do not look at the clock. This will only make your stress levelgo sky high as you lay there worrying about getting back to sleep. Ifyou wake in the middle of the night, do not open your eyes. Just rollover, get comfortable and try to get back to sleep.

So if youfind yourself having trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep, usethese tips. Your sleepless nights may become a thing of the past. Butif you are still experiencing insomnia after trying these techniques,you should pay a visit to your doctor. There may be underlying healthfactors that are keeping you from getting a restful sleep.