How to Sleep Soundly Tonight: 250 Simple and Natural Ways to Prevent Sleeplessness

by Barbara L. Heller and Barbara L. Heller M.S.W.

America is sleep deprived, and the consequences are serious. A good night's sleep may be all that most people need to build energy, improve mood, and even increase lifespan. Focusing on natural and herbal remedies, HOW TO SLEEP SOUNDLY TONIGHT offers more than 150 easy-to-implement tips for anyone who has trouble sleeping. Readers will learn how to relax with deep breathing, meditation, nutrition, exercise, visualizations, and other calming techniques...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580173144
• ISBN13: 9781580173148
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Storey Publishing
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

Many Sound Ideas, But We Also Need a Word of Caution

As someone who has spent years helping people get control of their sleep/wake cycles, I'm always on the lookout for anything new that may help before we have to use prescription medications. There are a great many good ideas in this book, but also a couple of things about which we need to be careful. I love it that Barbara starts with "Ten things you can do today to sleep soundly tonight", and that item six concerns temperature. Yet there is little further mention of the importance of temperature control, even though it is one of the key controllers of the sleep/wake cycle. Though 90% of the suggestions are very sound, those for using herbal remedies worry me. I am very keen on the use of some herbal remedies, but with some caveats. Barbara is very good about mentioning the importance of discussing the use of St. John's Wort with a health care provider: there are scores of potential interactions of the herb with other herbs and prescription medicines. Sadly she doesn't go into the same detail with some of the other herbs that she recommends. Even when the book came out five years ago, there were already some worries about Kava-kava and Valerian. That shows the importance of supplementing any books - including my own! - with up-to-date information from critical review articles. Though there are thousands of things written on the Internet and in popular articles, there are not that many good, readily available and up-to-date critical review articles, so we are going to help fill the gap through richardgpettymd.com and psychiatricresourceforum.blogs.com. Because I really like most of Barbara's suggestions, I'm going to give the book four stars, and hope that she has the time to produce a second edition to talk a bit about the pros and cons of herbal remedies, and the new data about using melatonin.

A great guide to improve your sleep

Heller's book contains helpful tips for anyone who has trouble sleeping. I've suffered from insomnia for years and found her book extremely helpful. The book packs a lot of information into a quick, easy read. I especially liked the lists such as the ones on how to lessen the effects of jet lag or the 7 essential habits of highly successful sleepers.Heller's book was a vital resource for an article I wrote about sleep titled "Wooing the Sandman."

Two hundred easy, effective, highly recommended techniques

Whether sleep problems are intermittent or chronic, author Heller provides over two hundred easy, effective, and highly recommended techniques ranging from simple exercises and easy recipes for sleep-inducing foods to useful herbal baths and productive room sprays in How To Sleep Soundly Tonight. Some approaches, such as visualization and bedtime sleep rituals, may be familiar to any who have struggled with this problem; other suggestions, such as the recipes for herbal baths, are unique in How To Sleep Soundly Tonight. If you suffer from insomnia or other sleep related difficulties, read Barbara Heller's How To Sleep Soundly Tonight.

Help for the Sleepless

How to Sleep Soundly Tonight is a delightful little book. Written simply enough for anyone to understand, yet it is packed full of information for those who suffer from insomnia or other sleep problems. The book starts out with a comprehensive list of ten things you can do today to sleep soundly tonight. These are not your everyday tips, but just a bit off the beaten track. Yet I can see the benefit of all of them. Chapter one deals with how and why we should sleep. Do you know how much sleep you need? This chapter will help you decide what's right for you. Barbara also explains the difference between NREM and REM sleep. This chapter also deals with circadian rhythm, your biological clock and chronotherapy. Are you a morning lark or a night owl? "Research suggests that only about 20 percent is truly at either extreme," Barbara explains in a sidebar, "but it is helpful to be aware of your own tendencies." Do you dream? Barbara explains that most of us dream as much as two hours a night. More important, why do we dream? You'll find the answer in Sleep Soundly Tonight. Sleep patterns tend to change as people age. In chapter two of her book, Barbara discusses sleep from how to deal with fussy babies to the sleep debt entailed by the life of a teenager. Pregnancy alters a woman's sleep patterns, as does growing old. Barbara explodes the myth that senior citizens don't need as much sleep as they did when they were young. "It is a myth that the elderly don't need as much sleep," Barbara says, "but it is true that they don't seem to get as much." Why? You'll find the answer in the book. In chapter three Barbara takes a look at sleep disorders and how to detect them. She discusses common sleep disorders - insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome and other disorders. Believe it or not, a lot of these sleep problems we seem to bring on with our erratic lifestyles, filling our time with work and play and not leaving enough hours for sleep. "This deliberate sleep deprivation," Barbara says, "may be a precursor to involuntary insomnia and other health problems." Chapters four and five discuss our habits and our environment. There are ways to improve both these factors of our lives and thus improve our sleep. Chapter six is filled with excellent self-help tips, including bedtime rituals and napping. The last two and a half pages of this chapter contain hints from other people on how they cope with sleeplessness. Ever tried meditation, creative visualization, yoga? In chapter seven, Barbara talks about all of these as a means of relaxing so you can fall asleep. She also discusses relaxation techniques like massage, reflexology, reiki and several more. How about music? "Music therapy has been shown to benefit patients in hospitals and nursing homes," Barbara says in chapter seven. And then there's herbs - in your tea, in your pillow, in your bath or in the air. Barbara tells you in chapter eight how to brew chamomile tea, how to make herbal b