suring that you get to bed at the same hour will help you establish an hour when your body will instinctively look to shut down.

So what do do if you are settling down for bed and thoughts are still racing around your head? One thing might be to get a journal and write them all down, and then tell yourself you'll deal with them tomorrow. Another

The hectic lifestyle of the average Westerner has led to a drop in average sleep times from 9 hours in 1910 to 7.5 in 1975. Nowadays, many people store sleep up for the weekend, sleeping an hour longer than on weekdays. However, the quality of sleep seems also to be decreasing with the quantity due to the increasing mental workload of modern life - we've all had nights lying in bed, thoughts racing here and there, and when we do get to sleep it is of a fitful kind that doesn't make us feel particularly refreshed when we get up in the morning.

The factors affecting poor sleep quality read like an sociologist's description of Western living: caffeine and alcohol consumption, having a big meal and watching TV just before bed, and far too little exercise! The effects of caffeine stay in the body long after the coffee 'buzz', and alcohol prevents the human sleep pattern from entering into its natural deep state. Food before bedtime engages the digestive system at a time when the body is preparing to shut down. Starting an exercise program of just 30 minutes a day can have extremely positive effects in burning away the restlessness that keeps many people awake (although done too close to bedtime can make the body think it's not time for bed yet). Another reason for poor quality sleep is the irregular hours we keep - as with food, the human body likes to establish a natural cycle of sleep, so ensuring that you get to bed at the same hour will help you establish an hour when your body will instinctively look to shut down.

So what do do if you are settling down for bed and thoughts are still racing around your head? One thing might be to get a journal and write them all down, and then tell yourself you'll deal with them tomorrow. Another w

ve all had nights lying in bed, thoughts racing here and there, and when we do get to sleep it is of a fitful kind that doesn't make us feel particularly refreshed when we get up in the morning.

The factors affecting poor sleep quality read like an sociologist's description of Western living: caffeine and alcohol consumption, having a big meal and watching TV just before bed, and far too little exercise! The effects of caffeine stay in the body long after the coffee 'buzz', and alcohol prevents the human sleep pattern from entering into its natural deep state. Food before bedtime engages the digestive system at a time when the body is preparing to shut down. Starting an exercise program of just 30 minutes a day can have extremely positive effects in burning away the restlessness that keeps many people awake (although done too close to bedtime can make the body think it's not time for bed yet). Another reason for poor quality sleep is the irregular hours we keep - as with food, the human body likes to establish a natural cycle of sleep, so ensuring that you get to bed at the same hour will help you establish an hour when your body will instinctively look to shut down.

So what do do if you are settling down for bed and thoughts are still racing around your head? One thing might be to get a journal and write them all down, and then tell yourself you'll deal with them tomorrow. Another

d watching TV just before bed, and far too little exercise! The effects of caffeine stay in the body long after the coffee 'buzz', and alcohol prevents the human sleep pattern from entering into its natural deep state. Food before bedtime engages the digestive system at a time when the body is preparing to shut down. Starting an exercise program of just 30 minutes a day can have extremely positive effects in burning away the restlessness that keeps many people awake (although done too close to bedtime can make the body think it's not time for bed yet). Another reason for poor quality sleep is the irregular hours we keep - as with food, the human body likes to establish a natural cycle of sleep, so ensuring that you get to bed at the same hour will help you establish an hour when your body will instinctively look to shut down.

So what do do if you are settling down for bed and thoughts are still racing around your head? One thing might be to get a journal and write them all down, and then tell yourself you'll deal with them tomorrow. Another

30 minutes a day can have extremely positive effects in burning away the restlessness that keeps many people awake (although done too close to bedtime can make the body think it's not time for bed yet). Another reason for poor quality sleep is the irregular hours we keep - as with food, the human body likes to establish a natural cycle of sleep, so ensuring that you get to bed at the same hour will help you establish an hour when your body will instinctively look to shut down.

So what do do if you are settling down for bed and thoughts are still racing around your head? One thing might be to get a journal and write them all down, and then tell yourself you'll deal with them tomorrow. Another

suring that you get to bed at the same hour will help you establish an hour when your body will instinctively look to shut down.

So what do do if you are settling down for bed and thoughts are still racing around your head? One thing might be to get a journal and write them all down, and then tell yourself you'll deal with them tomorrow. Another way is the time-honored practice of reading before bed - although you have to be careful your choice of book will act to reduce your mental activity rather than fuelling it. The practice of meditation is also another way of clearing the mind of unwanted thoughts. For example, one can try sitting upright, and focusing on the inflow and outflow of the breath for ten minutes, all the time imagining the breath as a flow entering and exiting the centre of the chest. Another form of meditation is using mantras, which are words or phrases which are repeated again and again - focusing on one word keeps all other unwanted thoughts at bay. Some mantras can have a quite energising effect and should not be used before bed, but one which definitely can be used is the Sanskrit word shanti, which means 'inner peace' - this mantra can be said softly, whist at the same time feeling the vibration that the sound makes in the centre of the chest and imagining that inner peace is being brought into the entire being.