TrainYour Brain For Better SleepWith 3 Expert Tips

趙德全

春眠不覺(jué)曉，然而許多現(xiàn)代人卻飽受失眠的困擾，夜夜輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)。睡眠專家指出，其實(shí)人們可以“訓(xùn)練”自己的大腦來(lái)入睡。

1. Make a schedule， and stick to it

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the body to regulate when you get sleepy and when you wake up. As night approaches， levels of melatonin rise， becoming a signal to the body that it’s time for bed. Production of melatonin is stopped by light - so levels naturally fall as daylight approaches， getting you ready to greet the day.

To work properly， the release of this hormone needs to occur at regular times， said clinical psychologist and sleep expert Michael Grandner. So if your bedtime and wake up time change from day to day or on weekends， he said， your sleep rhythms aren't predictable and the body doesn't know how to respond.

Therefore it's important to have a standard wake up time， even on weekends， vacations or after a night of poor sleep.

2. Don't lay in bed awake

It's a golden rule in sleep medicine， backed by “decades of data”， Grandner said. In fact， he said this tip is so powerful that when used in his sleep clinic it “can even beat prescription sleep medications”.

“The best sleep tip you can ever give somebody is get up - don't lay in bed awake but not sleeping，”Grandner said. “Whether it's the beginning of the night or the middleof the night， if you've been awake for 20 or 30 minutes， get up and reset. Maybe you just need five minutes to get sleepy， or maybe an hour， but don't spend that time awake in bed.”

1.每天在固定時(shí)間起床和上床

褪黑素是身體分泌的一種激素，你什么時(shí)候感到困，什么時(shí)候醒來(lái)，都靠這種激素來(lái)調(diào)節(jié)。隨著黑夜降臨，褪黑素的水平就會(huì)升高，暗示身體該睡覺(jué)了。光線會(huì)阻止身體分泌褪黑素，所以白天來(lái)臨時(shí)褪黑素水平就會(huì)下降，讓你準(zhǔn)備好迎接新的一天。

臨床心理學(xué)家、睡眠專家邁克爾·格蘭德納指出，為了讓身體正常分泌褪黑素，你必須規(guī)律作息。如果你的上床和起床時(shí)間每天都不一樣或者一到周末就改變，身體就無(wú)法預(yù)測(cè)你的睡眠節(jié)奏，也就不知道如何作出反應(yīng)。

因此每天在固定時(shí)間起床很重要，即使是周末、假期或是前一天晚上沒(méi)睡好也不應(yīng)該例外。

2.不要醒著躺在床上

格蘭德納說(shuō)，這是有“數(shù)十年數(shù)據(jù)”支持的一條睡眠醫(yī)學(xué)黃金法則。事實(shí)上，這條法則在他的睡眠診所中“甚至比處方藥還管用”。

格蘭德納說(shuō)：“你可以給出的最好的睡眠建議就是醒了就起床，不要醒著躺在床上。無(wú)論是剛?cè)胍惯€是夜已深，如果你躺在床上二三十分鐘都睡不著，就起床調(diào)整一下。也許你只需要5分鐘就能感覺(jué)到困意，也許需要一小時(shí)，但是這段時(shí)間不要醒著躺在床上?！?/p>

Why is that so important？ Because lying in bed awake can form an association in your brain that can lead to chronic insomnia， Grandner explained. Instead of being a restful spot where you peacefully fall asleep， your bed becomes an anxious place where you toss and turn and wake up tired.

Establishing that positive relationship between the bed and sleep can be beneficial on nights where your schedule has to be erratic due to work or travel， Grandner added.

“Let's say you need to go to bed extra early，”he said. “The bed now has the power to help overcome your racing mind and allow you to fall asleep.”

3. Change your attitude about sleep

Many people view sleeping as the final thing they have to do in a jam- packed day， worth delaying to catch up on housework， schoolwork， office work or the latest binge-worthy television series.

That thinking needs to be changed， Grander said.

“Don't see your sleep as the amount of time you have left in your day，”he advised. “See your sleep as the amount of time you need in order to set yourself up for a productive tomorrow.”

It may sound like a small shift in thinking， but it's an important one， Grander added.

Most adults need between seven and eight hours of sleep to be fully rested， according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So if a person needed to rise at 7 am each day， backtiming eight hours would require a bedtime of 11 pm.

“Now you know when you have to stop and get ready to go to bed whether you're done or not，”Grander said. “The problem is we don't stop， and we don't disconnect. And that's to our detriment and it makes the next day more stressful.”

為什么這條法則如此重要呢？格蘭德納解釋道，因?yàn)樾阎稍诖采蠒?huì)在大腦中形成關(guān)聯(lián)，從而導(dǎo)致長(zhǎng)期失眠。這樣一來(lái)，床就不再是你安眠的舒適窩，而成為你輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)心生焦慮并在疲憊中醒來(lái)的地方。

格蘭德納補(bǔ)充道，在床和睡眠之間建立正向聯(lián)系還有益于你在被工作或旅游打亂作息的夜晚入眠。

他說(shuō)：“比如說(shuō)你需要提早上床睡覺(jué)。床將能幫助你安撫紛繁的思緒，讓你酣然入睡?！?/p>

3.改變對(duì)睡眠的心態(tài)

許多人將睡眠視為忙碌的一天后要做的最后一件事，為了完成家務(wù)、作業(yè)、工作或追新劇，晚點(diǎn)再睡也沒(méi)事。

格蘭德納說(shuō)，這種想法必須改變。

他建議：“不要將睡眠時(shí)間看成你一天中剩下的時(shí)間，而是將其看成為了高效的明天而休整的時(shí)間?！?/p>

格蘭德納補(bǔ)充道，或許這聽起來(lái)只是想法上的一個(gè)小小改變，但卻很重要。

美國(guó)疾病控制與預(yù)防中心指出，大多數(shù)成人需要7到8小時(shí)睡眠時(shí)間才能得到充分休息。因此如果一個(gè)人每天要在早上7點(diǎn)起床，倒推8個(gè)小時(shí)睡眠時(shí)間應(yīng)該是晚上11點(diǎn)。

格蘭德納說(shuō)：“現(xiàn)在你知道，只要到了睡覺(jué)時(shí)間，無(wú)論你活干完了沒(méi)有，你都必須停下來(lái)，準(zhǔn)備上床睡覺(jué)。問(wèn)題在于我們不愿停下來(lái)，不愿放下。這將損害我們的睡眠質(zhì)量，并讓接下來(lái)的一天壓力更大。”