Understanding And Overcoming Insominia

Understanding And Overcoming Insomnia (Sleeplessness)

Over sixty percent of the population experience disturbed sleep or complete sleeplessness, either chronically or once in a while. Insomnia has never killed anyone, but to the person suffering from it, insomnia is as weakening as anemia and as nagging as an ulcer. Apart from physical causes such as malfunctioning of some organ, it is anxiety which is the cause of most sleep abnormalities.

Anxiety causes nightmares and night terrors in children, and it is the most frequent cause of sleep walking and sleep talking. Even small worries can cause insomnia, as the person lies in bed "over thinking" and fearing that he will not be able to sleep. The fear itself results in that very result i.e. inability to sleep. A vicious circle results, continuously, increasing the severity of the problem.

Since worries and over thinking are the prime causes of insomnia, the cure is obvious: stop worrying, especially at bedtime. Unfortunately, that advice, though true, is very difficult to put into practice. A period of meditation, ranging from ten minutes to half an hour, just before going to bed, is usually successful in eliminating the problem.

Meditation works by relaxing the mind. The peaceful mind quickly spreads its effect to the hypothalamus inside the brain, the region where the sleep centre is located. When the blockage there is removed, natural and peaceful functioning of the sleep centre is restored.