How can I get a good night's sleep? - Ask the Experts - Brief Article

Sound sleep recharges our energy, preserves our memory, and gives us brighter eyes and glowing skin. If warm milk and sheep-counting aren't doing the trick, let these experts guide you into sweet dreams and restful slumber.

Aromatherapist

Blend a cup of cold water with 12 drops of jasmine essential oil, put the mix in a spray bottle with a fine mister, and spritz your lower legs before you go to sleep. Jasmine promotes sleep and alleviates restlessness; spraying it on your legs helps draw tension away from your upper body and head. Keep the mix refrigerated during the day and shake well before each use.

Valerie Cooksley, nurse and author of Healing Home Spa

Feng shui consultant

Make sure there's nothing underneath your bed, especially documents like tax returns and letters from old lovers. Those sorts of things feed your energy while you sleep, causing restlessness. Avoid having any mirrors face the bed, since mirrors create chaotic energy that disturbs sleep. If your mirror can't be moved, cover it with a piece of light, sheer fabric before you go to sleep.

Katherine Anne Lewis, founder of the Harmony and Balance design firm

Psychologist

Most people hate the idea of getting up and out of bed, but if you do so every time you have trouble sleeping, the effects can be very powerful after a few weeks. It works by helping to reestablish your bed as a relaxing place, not a source of tension. When you're a restless sleeper, the feeling of being miserably awake makes you feel tense and anxious, which keeps you from drifting off. Go into the living room and do something that calms you--read a book, play solitaire, do a jigsaw puzzle. When you begin to feel sleepy, go back to bed. Sleep will find its way to you.

Derek Loewy, Ph.D., director of behavioral sleep medicine at the Sleep Clinic of San Francisco at St. Mary's Hospital

COPYRIGHT 2004 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group