Train Your Brain for Better Sleep“訓練”你的大腦來睡個好覺

春眠不覺曉，然而有些人卻飽受失眠的困擾，夜夜輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)。睡眠專家指出，其實人們可以“訓練”自己的大腦來入睡。

1. Stick to your bedtime and wake-up time schedule.

每天在固定時間睡覺和起床。

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 its 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 arent predictable and the body doesnt know how to respond.

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

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

臨床心理學家、睡眠專家邁克爾·格蘭德納指出，為了讓身體正常地分泌褪黑素，你必須規(guī)律作息。如果你的睡覺和起床時間每天都不一樣或者一到周末就改變，身體就無法預(yù)測你的睡眠節(jié)律，也就不知道如何做出反應(yīng)。

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

2. Dont lie in bed awake.

不要醒著躺在床上。

Its 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 to get up—dont lie in bed awake but not sleeping，” Grandner said. “Whether its the beginning of the night or the middle of the night， if youve 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 dont spend that time awake in bed.”

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.

“Lets 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.”

格蘭德納說，這是有“數(shù)十年數(shù)據(jù)”支持的一條睡眠醫(yī)學黃金法則。事實上，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：“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，那就起床調(diào)整一下。也許你只需要5分鐘就能感覺到困意，也許需要一小時，但是這段時間不要醒著躺在床上?！?/p>

為什么這條法則如此重要呢？格蘭德納解釋：因為醒著躺在床上會在大腦中形成關(guān)聯(lián)，從而導(dǎo)致長期失眠。這樣一來，床不再是你安睡的舒適窩，而是成為你輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)、心生焦慮并在疲憊中醒來的地方。

格蘭德納補充道：在床和睡眠之間建立正向聯(lián)系，有益于你在因工作或旅游而打亂作息的夜晚入眠。

他說：“比如說，你需要提早上床睡覺。床能幫助你安撫紛繁的思緒，讓你酣然入睡。”

3. Change your attitude about sleep.

改變你對睡眠的心態(tài)。

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.

“Dont 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 its 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 youre done or not，” Grander said. “The problem is we dont stop， and we dont disconnect. And thats to our detriment and it makes the next day more stressful.”

許多人將睡眠視為忙碌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，他們覺得晚點睡覺也沒關(guān)系。

格蘭德納說：這種想法必須有所改變。

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

格蘭德納補充道：或許這聽起來只是想法上一個小的改變，但卻很重要。

美國疾病控制與預(yù)防中心指出，大多數(shù)成年人需要7至8小時的睡眠時間才能得到充分的休息。因此，如果一個人每天要在早上7點起床，倒推8個小時，那他的睡覺時間應(yīng)該是晚上11點。

格蘭德納說：“現(xiàn)在你知道，只要到了睡覺時間，無論你的工作是否做完，你都必須停下來，準備上床睡覺。問題在于我們不愿停下來，不愿放下工作。這將損害我們的睡眠質(zhì)量，并讓接下來的一天壓力更大。”

Word Bank

regulate /'reɡjule?t/ v. 調(diào)節(jié)；控制

rhythm /'r???m/ n. 規(guī)律；節(jié)律

erratic /?'r?t?k/ adj. 不規(guī)則的；不穩(wěn)定的

shift /??ft/ n. 改變；變換