Restful Sleep: The Complete Mind-Body Program for Overcoming Insomnia

I sometimes have trouble sleeping . . . not so much getting to sleep, but staying asleep . . . so when I saw RESTFUL SLEEP by Deepak Chopra, I jumped at the opportunity to listen to the program. Subtitled THE COMPLETE MIND/BODY PROGRAM FOR OVERCOMING INSOMNIA, it delivered a great deal of information . . . but this was not surprising because Chopra tends to do that with every book and/or tape he comes out with . . . in my opinion, this was one of his best. I particularly liked how he backed up his ideas with insights from Ayurevda, the ancient Indian science of life. There were many tidbits I gained from listening; among them: * You can't force yourself to sleep. * Trying to sleep will not help; it will actually aggravate the insomnia. * Turn your clock to the wall. Don't be concerned with the time. * The solution to all sleep problems is making the period of being awake totally dynamic and satisfying. * Lunch should be your heaviest meal of the day. * Supper should be light and eaten early. * Take a short stroll after dinner. * Avoid watching TV at night. If you must, stop by 9 p.m. * Best to go asleep before 10 p.m., according to the rhythms of nature. * Rising earlier will lead to an earlier time for going to bed. * Wake up at a regular time every day. * Do reading in a room other than the bedroom. * Making your bed each day creates an orderly and harmonious impression when you go to sleep. * Extract of lavender is considered helpful for sleep. * Ask yourself: Do you love your job? Are you really happy? If "yes" to both those questions, then it is likely to will avoid most heart and other health problems.

I bought this book several years ago when I first became aware that I was having chronic problems with sleeping. I finally pulled it off my shelf about a month ago and read it. I have found it to be extremely helpful.Chopra begins by encouraging the reader to consider the connection between waking life and sleeping life, and also the connection between our own biorythms and the rythms of nature. He then writes about sleep and how to make it restful again rather than stressful. His style is very relaxed and easy to understand. He takes an ayurvedic (the ancient tradition of Indian medicine) approach to helping solve sleep disorders. I was not familiar with the ayurveda prior to reading this book, and really enjoyed learning a little bit about it. As a reader I did not feel that Chopra was trying to convert me, just help me. And - I feel that he did.