Help to prevent insomnia and get a better nights' sleep!

Ah, the internal clock. It can be a blessing and quite the bear as well. An internal clock is what wakes us up at a certain time each day, and what starts making us tired at the same time every night.

It can be triggered by certain rituals we perform every night that signal to our body that we are ready for bed, or it could be that garbage truck that woke us up at 3 am one too many times, and now our body wakes us up every morning at 3 am.

The internal clock is not just a psychological mechanism; it is actually very biologically influenced. Cell regeneration, detoxification, activity in your brain, and hormones all affect this inner clock, or circadian rhythm. Exposure to light is often a big factor in how our body reacts to our clock, and whether we wake up or not. Sometimes bright digital alarm clocks can cause you to wake up in the middle of the night, even though you don't necessarily know why. This kind of light plays with our sleep cycle and our internal clocks, and it sometimes causes chronic insomnia.

Insomnia can be caused by many things, psychological factors, medicinal factors, our environment, or physical factors.

Whatever the cause may be, waking up during our sleep cycle is a disturbing occurrence that can semi-permanently play with our internal clock.

There are some helpful ways that you can learn to re-set your internal clock. Waking up at your regular time (even if extremely tired) can help. By doing this, and also going to bed at your regular time, your body remains on a consistent schedule, teaching it to fall asleep and wake up at certain times no matter what.

When it is your time to wake up, getting as much sunlight as you can help! By exposing yourself to light, it tells your brain that it's daytime, and time to get up (even if your day starts when it's dark out).

Another tip is indulging in a mid-day nap and a cup of coffee! Drinking a cup of java before a short nap (no longer than 45 minutes) can leave you feeling less groggy when you wake up, and ready to take on the rest of the day.

Finally, checking in with your doctor is very important if these simple techniques are just not working for you. Travel, daylight savings time, heredity, medication, etc. can all be affecting your internal clock, so it's important to talk to your doctor if you feel these tips are not working for you!