Whether you suffer from Insomnia or not, the inability to fall asleep is something everyone experiences once in awhile. The tossing and turning, kicking the blankets on and off, feeling wide awake but wanting nothing more than to drift off into unconsciousness, and having a million and one unnecessary thoughts racing through your mind at once. Like, really? Why now, at 3:27 AM, am I finding myself thinking, "wow, when you clean a vacuum cleaner...you become a vacuum cleaner." Some nights are truly harder than others, but regardless of just how hard it is that one particular night or if you have the disease or not, not being able to fall asleep really kicks your ass (and not in a good way) and can take a real toll on your body and immune system. So from one Insomniac to another, here are some things that tend to help me fall asleep:

1. Read

Pick up a book, a magazine, the bible, whatever suits your fancy, and read. I'm not saying reading is boring, because it's not, but it gives your eyes something to look at and your mind something to focus on. It will most likely tire your brain out and help you to fall asleep. You might not even have to read that much, maybe just a chapter or two, or maybe six or seven. Plus, reading is good for you and you should pick up a book every once and awhile anyway! Whatever you do, do not read it on your phone.

2. Get off your phone

Staring at your phone screen is not going to help tire you out. The light from your phone is only straining your eyes and stimulating your brain more. While we're on the topic of light...

3. Don't sleep with lights on

Yes, I know, sometimes it's comforting to sleep with a little light on (and some nights, you just straight up forget to turn the lights off), but sleeping with a light on is not going to help you. Just like your phone, light is only going to continue to stimulate your brain, therefore keeping you more awake.

4. Listen to soothing sounds

If you're a college student who shares a room, this might be off limits to you while at school. I used to have this awesome sound soother machine that let me pick different sounds to play on a loop and it was fantastic. Every night, I would play the sounds of rain or a thunderstorm and it would put me right to sleep. Of course, thunderstorms are not everyone's cup of tea, but there are plenty of other sound options on machines like those - i.e. birds, the ocean, etc. Don't have a sound soother? Find your old iPod, go to Youtube, download a sound that puts you at ease, and make a playlist that will play that sound on a loop for you! Don't like natural noises and prefer music? Do the same thing but with soft music that will calm you down, rather than make you want to get up and sing or dance.

5. Drink some tea

I'm not one for tea...so I guess you could say that tea isn't my cup of tea...but anyway, I've heard that this works pretty well too! Keurig makes K-Cups with something called, "Sleepy Time Tea" that is supposed to help you unwind before bed. Give it a try, maybe it'll work for you!

6. Take Melatonin

This is an all natural supplement you can buy at the store that helps induce sleep. Sometimes, it's hard to fall asleep because our body is low on this natural occurring compound in our body, so taking one of these before bed would definitely be helpful. However, this doesn't mean it will work for absolutely everyone.

There are plenty of other little things you can do to help you sleep, it's just a matter of finding what works best for you! Although, if you do have consistent complications falling asleep and staying asleep, I suggest you see a doctor and possibly go for a sleep study to get further advice. Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!