Insomnia and Exercise

Posted on September 11th, 2009, by admin

Are you having trouble sleeping? Is the stress you experience each day starting to be a constant fixture in your dreams?
Before you reach for the prescription pills, stop a moment and think about what other options are available to you. Maybe the answer to your sleep troubles lies with exercise.
All that excess energy that people have can be channeled into a strenuous exercise routine and your body as well as your sleep patterns would be greatly benefited by this.
Of course, you don’t have to start doing it just before sleeping. The endorphin high would make sleeping even more difficult to attain… but if, for example, you could walk for a few minutes before getting ready for bed or play a round or two of Wii with the kids you could see and measure for yourself the value of a brief moment of activity versus a whole night spent tossing and turning in your bed.
Busy schedules during the day means that you spend a lot of your time thinking about the things that you need to accomplish for that particular day. All that constant brain activity could get you in trouble since instead of focusing on the task at hand your brain is jumping to the next thing that you need to accomplish. This is another thing that engaging in sports activities and exercise can help you with. When people engage in sports their bodies and minds are taught how to focus. You can’t exactly throw a ball at someone and expect it to hit the target when you aren’t paying full attention… except of course if you’re holding a really big ball.
What is the key to hand-eye coordination? Focus. What do you need in order to accomplish each task in front of you to the best of your ability? Focus. Get the picture?
Have you ever wondered why stretching exercises like relaxation exercises have gained in popularity over the past years? It’s because these exercises teach people how to find their center and the movements are designed to help a person focus their energy and channel their inner conflicts and feelings into positive output.
So instead of turning to sleeping pills and other sleep aids that could turn out badly for you in the end, as many high-profile celebrities have shown, why not take a crack at exercise and see whether your busy schedule can handle a few minutes of physical activity wedged in. Although ultimately we do hope you’ll be too busy sleeping soundly to notice. Just don’t forget to set that alarm!