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Kim Seo-min, a 28-years-old office worker, often finds it impossible to go to sleep, despite counting sheep for hours. Every night she tosses and turns before she finally gets a mere three or four hours of shuteye. The lack of sleep is causing pains in her neck and shoulders and makes her irritable. Recently, she has also been getting forgetful because of the sleep deprivation.
According to the Sleep Disorders Clinic at Samsung Medical Center, one in five adults suffers from sleep disorders like Kim. Here, experts share their tips for getting a good night¡¯s sleep with Chosun Ilbo readers.
¡ß Develop a routine
Baek Hye-shin, who has a diploma in sleep counseling from Japan, advises doing some routine activities before going to sleep. ¡°Our body works based on habit. If you brush your teeth and pray every night before going to sleep, your body will remember these routine activities and prepare to fall asleep when you do them,¡± Baek says.
It¡¯s also a good idea to wear pajamas. ¡°It¡¯s better to wear pajamas than daytime wear such as T-shirts or pants,¡± Baek says. ¡°It¡¯s much easier to fall asleep in pajamas than in other clothes.¡±
¡ß Don¡¯t read in bed
Tomio Sato in his book ¡°The Joy of Sleep¡± says, ¡°Don¡¯t read books or memorize English words in bed.¡± Study and read at your desk so your body can recognize the bed as a place for sleep. Having tea or cookies in bed is also bad for a sound sleep.
¡ß Move clocks out of the bedroom
Remove clocks for a sound sleep. The Korean Sleep Society says people with sleep disorders tend to toss and turn at night watching a clock because they think they have to go to sleep. If you don¡¯t want the morning sunlight to disrupt your sleep, hang a thick dark curtain in the bedroom. Wearing sleep shades or earplugs also helps.
¡ß Choose the right bedclothes
¡°You should try and touch bedclothes in the store,¡± says Baek. Soft and fluffy covers are better than heavy ones. It¡¯s also important to choose the right pillow. Functional bedclothes maker Lofty offers a service to pick the pillow that fits customers best by measuring the length of their neck and shoulder.
¡ß Don¡¯t count sheep
Counting can in fact prevent you from falling asleep, because numbers increase awareness, and that wakes you up. It also plays a part in worsening insomnia.
Instead of counting numbers, close your eyes and imagine things that make you happy, the Korean Sleep Society recommends. Imagine you¡¯re lying on the beach under a parasol or you¡¯re hearing the sound of water in a little valley. You are going to fall asleep as you imagine the details, like the shape of a grain of sand, the ebb and flow of waves or water drops from a stream in the valley.
¡ß Don¡¯t struggle
Struggling to sleep will wake you up. If you aren¡¯t sleepy, it¡¯s better to give up the struggle rather than tossing and turning in bed. Walk from room to room or read a newspaper in the living room. In fact, staying up can be a solution for people who can¡¯t sleep, because it makes you tired, and that leads to a sound sleep the following night.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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