How To Sleep Well

Put Sleep at the Top of Your To-Do List

To do today: work projects, school activities, sports practice, music lessons, neighborhood meeting, household chores, and family time. Oh -- and somewhere on your list, tryto find time for a good night's sleep.

"We all have too much to do, so be sure to derive the greatest benefit from your time in bed," stated Andrea Herman, director of the Better Sleep Council. "How well you sleep at night can make all the difference in how productive and stress-free you'll be the next day, whether you're scrubbing the bathrooms before houseguests arrive or rushing to the grocery store to stock up."

Like proper nutrition and exercise, sleep is essential to feel your best. Because we all want to stay healthy, it's important that we get the best night's sleep possible every night.

To help ensure relaxing days and sleep-filled nights, the Better Sleep Council offers the following tips:

1) Give yourself "permission" to go to bed. As hard as it may be to put away your "to do" list, make sleep a priority. You'll thank yourself in the morning.

2) Take care of yourself. Cut back on alcohol, caffeine and smoking, all of which can make it more difficult to fall and stay asleep. Regular exercise can help relieve tension and stress.

3) Unwind early in the evening. Finish chores and run errands early in the evenin

g so you can clear your mind and relax before bedtime.

4) Keep regular hours. Go to bed around the same time each night and wake up close to the same time each morning to keep your biological clock in check.

5) Create a restful place to sleep. Be sure your bedroom is cool, quiet and dark, and that you are sleeping on a comfortable, supportive mattress and foundation. A bed that's too small, too soft, too hard or too old can rob you of sleep.

Exercise Your Brain

We all have little lapses in memory like leaving the keys in the door, forgetting someone's name or missing an appointment. Rarely do we think we are getting old or senile. Most times it's due to too much going on in that brain of yours. You have too much on your mind or you're stressed out. Maybe you didn't concentrate enough on what it was you were supposed to remember.

Research shows that brainpower can increase with mental activities in older people. Aging does not mean automatically losing mental capacity. The National Institute of Aging has conducted a series of tests that prove most dramatic memory decline occurs around age 70, if it occurs at all. Even though memory may fade with time, thinking ability remains strong. Vocabulary and reasoning skills often improve with age.

No matter what your age, exercising your brain may make the difference between using it and losing it. Or if you are young and have older family members or friends who seem to be losing memory, encouraging brain activity can help.

Activities such as doing crossword puzzles, playing word games or cards strengthens the synapses between brain cells in memory transmission areas. Physical exercise can increase mental abilities 20% to 30 %, according to recent studies. Journal writing and working with your hands to build or create can help as well.

For older adults who sense memory loss occurring, use mental helps such as calendars, calculators, list making, and group discussions. And relax. Worrying about what you're going to forget can cause a mental block.