Insomnia Solutions: How to Sleep Better Tonight

Waking up in the middle of the night and struggling to fall back asleep can be frustrating.
Before you get up to wander the kitchen or scroll through your phone (a mistake!),
here are all the tips to help you sink back into deep sleep, and also what to avoid.

What to do to sleep better

Regulate room temperature:
Make sure the room is comfortable, not too hot or too cold.
A fan, air conditioning, or heater can help depending on the season.
Wearing soft, comfortable clothes or socks can also aid sleep.

Focus on positive thoughts:
Insomnia often comes from intrusive thoughts that create an endless loop.
While you cannot simply “stop thinking,” you can shift your focus to pleasant thoughts imagine a place you love, fantasize about a vacation, have an internal conversation with a loved one, or any other positive mental imagery.

Try counting meditation in sand:
Instead of counting sheep, focus on a repetitive, monotonous activity to encourage sleep.
Imagine sitting by the shore, drawing the number 99 in wet sand.
When a wave washes it away, draw 98, and continue until you drift off.

Practice distracting breathing:
Lie in a comfortable position and take three deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Then resume a normal rhythm and imagine sending calm with your breath to your feet, gradually moving upward throughout the body.
This may help you fall asleep before reaching your head.

Stay in bed:
Getting up will only wake you more.
Try adjusting your position using a large pillow or body pillow to support all parts of your body.

What not to do:
Do not go to the kitchen for food.
This wakes your body and trains your stomach to expect food at night, which can lead to night eating disorder.

Avoid turning on lights.
Light signals your body that it’s morning.
Complete darkness allows for better quality sleep.

Do not turn on the TV.
Light and stimulation will make it harder for your brain to relax.

Partners snoring can affect sleep:
A study published in the scientific journal SLEEP explains that partners of people with insomnia may unknowingly worsen each other’s sleep problems.

Researchers found that 74% of partners encouraged behaviors contrary to cognitive-behavioral therapy for good sleep, like going to bed too early or waking too late.
Other studies show that 10–15% of adults worldwide suffer from insomnia, often linked to financial stress and emotional strain.

Women are generally more affected, experiencing greater fatigue and higher risks of depression.
Snoring has a greater impact when it comes from men affecting female partners, who are more likely to move to another room due to noise.