Oh, a good night sleep is nothing to scoff at. The sweetness of slumber is a gift. I have mentioned before that for most of my life, I have not slept straight through a night. Never have, still don't, and probably never will. I wake and look at the clock often.
A long time ago, I realized that I should eat nothing after about 6PM. I drink nothing with sugar or caffeine.
I have restless leg syndrome (RLS) and eating just tends to make it worse. I have finally gotten that regulated pretty well. I still have an occasional night where it is just crazy, and I get little sleep.
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I am finally used to my mattress, which I hated for ages. It is pretty comfy to me now. I used to sleep on the right side of the bed (near a window) - now I sleep on the left side (near door) and the side G used to sleep on.
I commonly go to sleep laying on my right side. Sometimes I wake and roll to my left side.
I have found that if I get a real chill, the best way to calm that feeling is to lay on my back. That is the largest presence I can make on the mattress - thus any heat loss is radiated back by the mattress. It seems to work for me. I do love to lay on my stomach - but don't very often. I generally get a neck ache - so it just isn't worth that.
MORNINGS - Let me say this is MY time! I wake early and lay there for a while before getting up. Early mornings are my BLISS! I am the most comfortable and relaxed that I am all night. The bed and especially the covers seem to be molded around me. I could go back to sleep so quickly. I am just at peace and totally relaxed in the half hour or so before I get up. I never feel that relaxed at any other time. I love this time each day.
I am totally relaxed, and I commune with God. My perfect time.
THEN I get up and get myself together and go out in the frigid temps to feed the cats. I am usually out there for a half hour or so every morning. WAKE-UP!!!
I wait till they are done, and bring the food bowls back in. It is dark and racoons and opossums are likely to still be roaming around, and I want nothing that smells of food out there in the greenhouse to entice them into the kitty's domain.
This happens 365 days a year! Not so bad when it's warm!!!!
In the evenings when I watch TV, it is from the bedroom. I record most everything I want to watch ahead of time. It is a good thing, as if it is something I REALLY want to see, I will usually fall asleep watching it! LOL!! I may have to 'watch' something at least part way - 3 or 4 times to see the whole show!! (I also hate commercials and can avoid them)
So, watching a show I am really interested in or early mornings - are my best sleep times.
My sweet slumber time is each morning! I just love the restful feeling I have each early morning. I could go back to sleep so easily, but I can't. My 'children' await their breakfast! So, I arise and take care of my babies. I am glad to do it for them.
I remember G would turn over and BOOM, he was asleep instantly. He slept till morning. He used to tell me he slept "the sleep of the innocent"! He would tease me about that when I couldn't sleep!! LOL
Do you have a special time when you are the most relaxed? A special thing or routine that helps you sleep?
Do you nap? I take one once in a while.
I wish I could bottle my morning time feeling for the whole night.
NEVER disregard a good night's sleep!!!!!! It is priceless!
A solid night's sleep is a very good thing! I need to sleep straight through the night without disturbances. Some folks do very well with just a few hours. Our fur babies can fall asleep easily. Wouldn't that be nice?
ReplyDeleteI generally get a total of about 5 hours sleep. Maybe 6. I have been that way for years. It sure would be nice to get a solid night sleep.
DeleteOur babies are so stress free - so peaceful.
I, too have restless leg syndrome. I have found that drinking a tonic water with quinine quiets this down and lets me sleep. I buy the diet version at walmart. It is less than three dollar for a six pack.
ReplyDeleteDill pickle juice seems to help me a lot. I keep a jar by the bed! If I don't eat later - I am pretty good. Thanks for the tip!
DeleteI generally sleep between 5-7 hours a night, and have learned not to have anything to drink after 6 or 7 p.m. otherwise I'm up at least once to visit the loo.
ReplyDeleteThere is no easing into my day, as Saku insists on having his breakfast the moment he realizes I am awake. Lately he's taken to combing my hair with his claws if I don't waker early enough for him.
My relaxing time is after he's fed, I've done my half-hour walk, and talked with my daughter. I make a cup of tea and relax in my easy chair and take in the peace and quiet of the day. (By this time Saku has settled down for a nap.
P.S. Your Coogy has similar marking and coloring as my wee girl Sami. Such a cutie!
Oh Coogy makes sure I am awake - he is my alarm clock. Gives kisses and pats my face! He gets that and lays down for a few, and I get my quiet time.
DeleteIsn't that quiet time just the best? I love the calm. No TV, no noise, no nothing - just quiet.
I bet Sami and Saku are lovely. Such sweet babies.
I too have sleep issues. But I am a night owl and a late sleeper. When I finally realized I was never going to be an early riser and forgave myself, I started to sleep better. If you didn't rise early and immediately start cleaning, you were lazy in my mother's book, so I tried for years, and it made me crazy. Now I embrace my night owl late sleeper habit and I am happy. We each must do what fits us.
ReplyDeleteYou have to do what is right for your body. We are each different. I think I would sleep later if it weren't for the cats.
DeleteYou do you and you will feel much better.
I am not a morning person as i have spent to long on nightduty.i like a morning slumber lol
ReplyDeleteOur weathet is to mild. We will get a shock one of these days.
Sylvia
I can understand that. If you had night work - that would make a difference. I got up at the same time for so many years, I haven't used an alarm in forever.
DeleteI love to sleep but I have problems now, falling asleep, staying asleep. The things I do try to prepare to sleep well, I like to have really nice sheets and pillows. I love changing the sheets, when you have comfy clean sheets and the bed is well made with the things that are appropriate for the weather. Don't laugh, I sleep best after a good hot shower when I shave my legs, I don't shave the legs everyday anymore. My little dogs sleep with me, I have one that won't go to bed if I don't turn down the bed on his side. LOL
ReplyDeleteThat is just precious about your little doggy💙s
DeleteMary in SD
My pups are rotten, soon I may have to put a milk bone on his pillow.
DeleteClean sheets always feel so good! I just love that feel. It is funny how the sheets feel so soft after shaving legs. I hardly have to shave my legs at all anymore - I miss that feel. (Just no hair on them now).
DeleteOh my - how sweet with your pup. My cat has his own pillow - so I get it! LOL on the bone on the pillow!!!
Last night I fell asleep on the couch for three hours and then made my way to the bed. I was worried I would not be able to fall asleep but did so right away. Nothing beats a good nights sleep.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Your body was ready for rest. Glad you got a good sleep.
DeleteI am a good sleeper - generally 7.5 to 8 hours (might wake up once to pee but go right back to sleep) and once the alarm goes off I'm awake and up (lots of mornings I wake up about 2 minutes before the alarm goes off). Since I'm now retired and only work PT (and half the week from home) I no longer have to hit the floor running - I can have a cup of tea and ease into the day. Even on days when I go into the office I don't have to be there until about 9:30 so I have lots of time to get ready and for my commute.
ReplyDeleteI try not to eat or drink anything but water after about 7:30pm - not for the caffeine but because of acid reflux - I tend to eat my main meal earlier in the day now and just have a snack later - this works much better for me.
I like the bedroom to be quite cold - the window stays open right through winter and the A/C unit goes in early. I sleep on my back or my left side.
8 hours sleep is wonderful! It is amazing after so long, we all seem to have an internal alarm clock.
DeleteI tend to eat early in the day as well, with only a snack later. You are right, it really does help. I like the room cool and use the ceiling fan.
I notice I’m needing a nap more days now than not. But, for sleeping at night, I’ve found melatonin gummies (10mg) to be helpful. The brand is important as some do nothing. We both use Natrol brand from Amazon, when they’re available. Strawberry flavor, yum.
ReplyDeleteSweet dreams~
Mary
RLS is awful - I feel for ya.
Thanks for that tip on the melatonin gummies.
DeleteYes, RLS is awful - sometimes it feels like you are going crazy. Usually I can keep it under control - but there are those nights!
I used to go to bed, turn over once and I was asleep. Now I have a lot of problems getting to sleep and staying asleep. Naps are a double-edged sword and I try to avoid them, but don't always succeed.
ReplyDeleteAs for RLS, I have a cousin (who is a nurse educator) who drinks quinine water at night. My sister is into dill pickle juice. I get the most relief with magnesium. One time I delayed buying more and in about two weeks I started having leg cramps again. I started taking it again and no problems. I have found that if you get a severe leg cramp (the kind we used to call charley horses) and stand on it, the pain goes away.
I can take a nap with no consequence to sleeping.
DeleteI do the pickle juice and have found a tablet called Restful Legs that helps. You are the 2nd one to mention quinine water.
I don't get Charley horses - just that nervous, can't keep your legs still feeling. Charley horses are horrible.
Cheryl, what does the dill pickle juice do? I do not have a problem with my legs but do have a problem with muscle spasms in my head, neck, shoulders and jaws due to chronic migraine.
ReplyDeleteIt really calms one down. I read about it once and tried it and it really helps. I suppose it must be the vinegar in it - not sure. If so, being pickle juice makes it go down easier! It needs to be dill juice (not sweet).
DeleteI wish I could give a better answer.
I cannot sleep most nights or wake after four hours and cannot go back to sleep. I sleep on my left side as that is the side where a person has the least acid reflux. I cannot sleep on my back anymore as my back is not the back of a young woman any longer. Before I had my first pregnancy over 50 years ago, I slept on my stomach all the time. I sleep best with a wool blanket, one with NAVY stamped on it. I love wool. The best time is just before I go to sleep and just after I awake. I feel all soft and warm all over.
ReplyDeleteNever heard that about acid reflux. Oh, good for you - I can't do wool anything. So itchy to me. I like to be warm - but my room needs to be cool. I often have a foot or leg sticking out of the covers!
DeleteLove that soft and warm feeling!
So sorry you have trouble sleeping and don't sleep through the night. I had RLS but it seems to have gone away these last couple years. It's horrible so I'm not complaining. I am a night owl and so therefore I go to bed vey late. Once I hit the pillow though I am instantly asleep. I wish I could go to bed earlier but it just ain't gonna happen so why fight it? And you're right, that is the best time of the day, early morning lying in bed right before getting up.
ReplyDeleteI am so used to my sleep patterns - been this way for what seems forever. You just need to go with whatever works - whether late night or early - the body wants what the body wants.
DeleteLove the snuggly time.
It's 3 a.m. as I write this. I understand completely! --Elise
ReplyDeleteThe witching hour!!!! LOL.
DeleteI swear I look at the clock at about 3AM each night.
Me, too, Cheryl. LOL!
DeleteBut I've learned to appreciate those silent, WAY before dawn hours with no distractions. Well... mostly. LOL!
Yep - we wake for a reason. Maybe God just giving us a nudge to say an extra prayer!
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ReplyDeleteMy best sleep cycle is Midnight to 8 a.m. but being a working girl with a working dh means we are up at 5:30 (cattle chores). In the winter he's asleep by 8:30-9 p.m. I go to bed around 11 p.m. My most relaxed time is just before I fall asleep. I have a soft fleece blanket that I like the feel of and I tell God "Thank you" for my day. I start out on my back and then turn to my left side. I'm usually up at least once a night to use the potty. I wake somewhere around 4 a.m. with either a hot flash or leg cramp.
ReplyDeleteI would take a 20 min nap every day if I could.
I sleep my very best in my overstuffed chair from about 3:30 till sunrise with my sleep sounds in my earbuds. I try to only do it occasionally. I still have my dh here and I never want to take for granted, sleeping in the same bed with him. :)
I used to stay up late, and would still lay forever before I could go to sleep. I am talking an hour or more. And always woke easily. I was always the one to hear stuff and get up to see what it was. And Roger was like Glen...the minute his head hit the pillow he would be asleep, and often snoring. I would elbow him or wake him a little to tell him to stop snoring and he would say he did not know he was asleep. Now I normally go to sleep very easily...though I have a night every month or two when I can't sleep. I have sewed the night through one time, another time when a dog was barking, non stop, I sewed till 3:30 a.m. The dog sort of lost the shrillness till I could ignore it.
ReplyDeleteUsed to, and even now when Ihave the occasional night I cannot sleep, I will lay and name the states and their capitols, counting them on my fingers, or I will take a city and state and try to think of words to make from their letters.
I do nap...if I lean back in my chair there are certain shows that will lull me to sleep. I like to sleep on my stomach, too, but seldom do any more.