To sleep or not to sleep? that is the question.

Some of us are lucky to sleep well, but from time to time we wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. For others sleep is evasive most of the time and sometimes even impossible! Whichever category you find your self in, the techniques for getting back to sleep are the same. These will work, but there are many factors to consider before trying Tai Chi Breathing.

The following* may be preventing you from getting back or even beginning to get to sleep:"

• Sleep habits we learned as children.
• Going to bed at different times each night
• Daytime napping
• Poor sleeping environment, such as too much noise or light
• Spending too much time in bed while awake
• Working evening or night shifts
• Not getting enough exercise
• Using the television, computer, or smartphone in bed
   Use of:
  
  • Alcohol or other drugs
  • Heavy smoking
  • Too much caffeine, especially late in the day
  • Getting used to certain types of sleep medications
  • Some cold medications and diet pills
  • Other medicines, herbs, or supplements 
  Physical, social, and mental health issues can affect sleep patterns, including:
• Anxiety disorders
• Certain medical conditions, such as thyroid disease
• Feeling sad or depressed. Often, insomnia is the symptom that causes people with depression to seek medical help.
• Physical pain or discomfort
• Stress, whether it is short-term or long-term. For some people, the stress caused by the insomnia makes it even harder to fall asleep.
  Sleep Apnea

With age, sleep patterns tend to change. Many people find that aging causes them to have a harder time falling asleep, and that they wake up more often.
If you can change some of those above causes, that will help and you can also implement some relaxation strategies for falling back asleep:
Calming the mind and relaxing the body will aid in allowing you to fall back into a sleep pattern.
There are many techniques from hypnosis to listening to recordings of soft waves or sleep music CDs.There is a technique called Jacobson method for progressive muscle relaxation."*

Tai Chi Breathing

There is also a very simple Tai Chi breathing technique that many of my students have successfully used!
It's like counting sheep, sort of. You lay comfortably in your bed on your back to start with. If you need a pillow make sure it is not too big, or just lay on the mattress. Keep the pillow nearby for later on when you are ready to sleep. Place your hands on your lower belly, just below the belly button. Start to let go of the muscles in your abdomen, and feel the breath go in and out of your body. Don't force the breathing, just notice the breaths. Connect the tongue to the top of your mouth or palate or behind your top front teeth. and lightly close your lips. You may notice your abdomen slightly rising as you breathe in and falling as you breathe out.
Start to count your breaths. I find counting up to ten and starting over again is easier and less thinking than counting all the way up to 100 or down from 100. Anyways, it's not a contest. Just count as you breathe gently in and out. By focusing on the breath and counting, your mind is now beginning to move into a meditative state, which is the preparation for totally relaxing and subsequently falling asleep. Don't be upset if some thoughts drift through your mind, just gently but firmly send them on their way and get back to the counting and following the breaths. You will begin to feel you body relax more and when you just feel like you can't count one more breath, you are ready to find your comfortable sleep position and drift off.
If this doesn't work for you, some of my students actually get up from the bed and do a very gentle version of a Tai chi move or moves (any ones you like) focusing on the move and breathing gently, for 10 minutes or so and then go to the bed and follow up with the breathing.

Good luck and Sweet dreams!

*Article from ADAM Medical Encyclopedia  Pub Med Health
Tai Chi practice and Sleep Studies:
Dr. Michael Irwin, the Norman Cousins Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director of the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, studied a group of 112 healthy, older adults between the ages of 59 and 86, randomly assigning them to two groups. One practiced 20 tai chi moves for 25 weeks, and one took classes in healthy lifestyles, including sleep hygiene, for the same period of time. At the end of the study, published in the scientific journal Sleep in July 2008, the class that performed tai chi reported a significant improvement in the quality of their sleep on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, a self-rated questionnaire." read more

Tai Chi for Medical Conditions Harvard Medical School Publications

Tai chi for medical conditions

When combined with standard treatment, tai chi appears to be helpful for several medical conditions. For example:
Arthritis. In a 40-person study at Tufts University, presented in October 2008 at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, an hour of tai chi twice a week for 12 weeks reduced pain and improved mood and physical functioning more than standard stretching exercises in people with severe knee osteoarthritis. According to a Korean study published in December 2008 in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, eight weeks of tai chi classes followed by eight weeks of home practice significantly improved flexibility and slowed the disease process in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful and debilitating inflammatory form of arthritis that affects the spine.

Low bone density. A review of six controlled studies by Dr. Wayne and other Harvard researchers indicates that tai chi may be a safe and effective way to maintain bone density in postmenopausal women. A controlled study of tai chi in women with osteopenia (diminished bone density not as severe as osteoporosis) is under way at the Osher Research Center and Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Breast cancer. Tai chi has shown potential for improving quality of life and functional capacity (the physical ability to carry out normal daily activities, such as work or exercise) in women suffering from breast cancer or the side effects of breast cancer treatment. For example, a 2008 study at the University of Rochester, published in Medicine and Sport Science, found that quality of life and functional capacity (including aerobic capacity, muscular strength, and flexibility) improved in women with breast cancer who did 12 weeks of tai chi, while declining in a control group that received only supportive therapy.
Heart disease. A 53-person study at National Taiwan University found that a year of tai chi significantly boosted exercise capacity, lowered blood pressure, and improved levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and C-reactive protein in people at high risk for heart disease. The study, which was published in the September 2008 Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, found no improvement in a control group that did not practice tai chi.
Heart failure. In a 30-person pilot study at Harvard Medical School, 12 weeks of tai chi improved participants' ability to walk and quality of life. It also reduced blood levels of B-type natriuretic protein, an indicator of heart failure. A 150-patient controlled trial is under way.
Hypertension. In a review of 26 studies in English or Chinese published in Preventive Cardiology (Spring 2008), Dr. Yeh reported that in 85% of trials, tai chi lowered blood pressure — with improvements ranging from 3 to 32 mm Hg in systolic pressure and from 2 to 18 mm Hg in diastolic pressure.
Parkinson's disease. A 33-person pilot study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, published in Gait and Posture (October 2008), found that people with mild to moderately severe Parkinson's disease showed improved balance, walking ability, and overall well-being after 20 tai chi sessions.
Sleep problems. In a University of California, Los Angeles, study of 112 healthy older adults with moderate sleep complaints, 16 weeks of tai chi improved the quality and duration of sleep significantly more than standard sleep education. The study was published in the July 2008 issue of the journal Sleep.
Stroke. In 136 patients who'd had a stroke at least six months earlier, 12 weeks of tai chi improved standing balance more than a general exercise program that entailed breathing, stretching, and mobilizing muscles and joints involved in sitting and walking. Findings were published in the January 2009 issue of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.

No pain, big gains published in Harvard Medical School Publications

No pain, big gains

Although tai chi is slow and gentle and doesn't leave you breathless, it addresses the key components of fitness — muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and, to a lesser degree, aerobic conditioning. Here's some of the evidence:
Muscle strength. In a 2006 study published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Stanford University researchers reported benefits of tai chi in 39 women and men, average age 66, with below-average fitness and at least one cardiovascular risk factor. After taking 36 tai chi classes in 12 weeks, they showed improvement in both lower-body strength (measured by the number of times they could rise from a chair in 30 seconds) and upper-body strength (measured by their ability to do arm curls).
In a Japanese study using the same strength measures, 113 older adults were assigned to different 12-week exercise programs, including tai chi, brisk walking, and resistance training. People who did tai chi improved more than 30% in lower-body strength and 25% in arm strength — almost as much as those who participated in resistance training, and more than those assigned to brisk walking.
"Although you aren't working with weights or resistance bands, the unsupported arm exercise involved in tai chi strengthens your upper body," says internist Dr. Gloria Yeh, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. "Tai chi strengthens both the lower and upper extremities and also the core muscles of the back and abdomen."

Flexibility. Women in the 2006 Stanford study significantly boosted upper- and lower-body flexibility as well as strength.
Balance. Tai chi improves balance and, according to some studies, reduces falls. Proprioception — the ability to sense the position of one's body in space — declines with age. Tai chi helps train this sense, which is a function of sensory neurons in the inner ear and stretch receptors in the muscles and ligaments. Tai chi also improves muscle strength and flexibility, which makes it easier to recover from a stumble. Fear of falling can make you more likely to fall; some studies have found that tai chi training helps reduce that fear.
Aerobic conditioning. Depending on the speed and size of the movements, tai chi can provide some aerobic benefits. But in the Japanese study, only participants assigned to brisk walking gained much aerobic fitness. If your clinician advises a more intense cardio workout with a higher heart rate than tai chi can offer, you may need something more aerobic as well.