SUFFICIENT REST

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 237, 7 October 1942, Page 5

SUFFICIENT REST

IMPORTANCE OP SLEEP (By the Health Department.) Unless it arises from some specific cause that requires medical treatment, inability to get sufficient sleep at night is something that can be cured by the exercise of a little selfdiscipline, perhaps with some spiritual aid. That does not sound easy, and it isn't easy, but it gets results when properly applied. Lack of exercise is often a cause of improper sleep. It induces selfpoisoning, or auto-intoxication. This results in restlessness at night and inability to sleep; in the daytime it shows up in loss of energy and appetite. An hour's walking a day will help to offset this condition, and a mild alkaline saline in a longer tumberful of water on rising is a help. A little more care in the diet is also very important. Here your doctor can help. Then again, a warm bath and a good rub down at the end of the day is soothing, and at bedtime a warm drink is useful in promoting sleep—milk, for instance, or lemonade, barley water, or just plain water. In this way the blood is drawn from the brain to the stomach. Elderly people are sometimes wakeful in the small hours. A biscuit chewed slowly and a small drink of milk from a vacuum flask near the bedside will help. An important thing is to relax the body, relax every muscle deliberately, from the toes up, and lie comfortably with all joints slightly bent. The next thing is to control your thoughts—practise mental discipline. Train the mind to recall pleasurable past experiences, and let them take the place of the bogeys of the imagination that cause the mental unrest. You'll be surprised how easy this habit is to acquire with practice. Remember that all the worry in the world won't solve your troubles.