Train Your Brain for Better Sleep“训练”你的大脑来睡个好觉

春眠不觉晓，然而有些人却饱受失眠的困扰，夜夜辗转反侧。睡眠专家指出，其实人们可以“训练”自己的大脑来入睡。

1. Stick to your bedtime and wake-up time schedule.

每天在固定时间睡觉和起床。

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the body to regulate when you get sleepy and when you wake up. As night approaches， levels of melatonin rise， becoming a signal to the body that its time for bed. Production of melatonin is stopped by light， so levels naturally fall as daylight approaches， getting you ready to greet the day.

To work properly， the release of this hormone needs to occur at regular times， said clinical psychologist and sleep expert Michael Grandner. So if your bedtime and wake-up time change from day to day or on weekends， he said， your sleep rhythms arent predictable and the body doesnt know how to respond.

Therefore， its important to have a standard wake-up time， even on weekends， vacations or after a night of poor sleep.

褪黑素是身體分泌的一种激素，你什么时候感到困，什么时候醒来，都靠这种激素来调节。随着黑夜降临，褪黑素的水平就会升高，暗示身体该睡觉了。光线会阻止身体分泌褪黑素，所以白天来临时褪黑素水平就会下降，让你准备好迎接新的一天。

临床心理学家、睡眠专家迈克尔·格兰德纳指出，为了让身体正常地分泌褪黑素，你必须规律作息。如果你的睡觉和起床时间每天都不一样或者一到周末就改变，身体就无法预测你的睡眠节律，也就不知道如何做出反应。

因此，每天在固定时间起床很重要，即使是周末、假期或是前一天晚上没睡好也不应该例外。

2. Dont lie in bed awake.

不要醒着躺在床上。

Its a golden rule in sleep medicine， backed by “decades of data”， Grandner said. In fact， he said this tip is so powerful that when used in his sleep clinic it “can even beat prescription sleep medications”.

“The best sleep tip you can ever give somebody is to get up—dont lie in bed awake but not sleeping，” Grandner said. “Whether its the beginning of the night or the middle of the night， if youve been awake for 20 or 30 minutes， get up and reset. Maybe you just need five minutes to get sleepy， or maybe an hour， but dont spend that time awake in bed.”

Why is that so important？ Because lying in bed awake can form an association in your brain that can lead to chronic insomnia， Grandner explained. Instead of being a restful spot where you peacefully fall asleep， your bed becomes an anxious place where you toss and turn and wake up tired.

Establishing that positive relationship between the bed and sleep can be beneficial on nights where your schedule has to be erratic due to work or travel， Grandner added.

“Lets say you need to go to bed extra early，” he said. “The bed now has the power to help overcome your racing mind and allow you to fall asleep.”

格兰德纳说，这是有“数十年数据”支持的一条睡眠医学黄金法则。事实上，这条法则在他的睡眠诊所中“甚至比处方药还管用”。

格兰德纳说：“你可以给出的最好的睡眠建议就是醒了就起床，不要醒着躺在床上。无论是刚入夜还是夜已深，如果你躺在床上二三十分钟都睡不着，那就起床调整一下。也许你只需要5分钟就能感觉到困意，也许需要一小时，但是这段时间不要醒着躺在床上。”

为什么这条法则如此重要呢？格兰德纳解释：因为醒着躺在床上会在大脑中形成关联，从而导致长期失眠。这样一来，床不再是你安睡的舒适窝，而是成为你辗转反侧、心生焦虑并在疲惫中醒来的地方。

格兰德纳补充道：在床和睡眠之间建立正向联系，有益于你在因工作或旅游而打乱作息的夜晚入眠。

他说：“比如说，你需要提早上床睡觉。床能帮助你安抚纷繁的思绪，让你酣然入睡。”

3. Change your attitude about sleep.

改变你对睡眠的心态。

Many people view sleeping as the final thing they have to do in a jam-packed day， worth delaying to catch up on housework， schoolwork， office work or the latest binge-worthy television series.

That thinking needs to be changed， Grander said.

“Dont see your sleep as the amount of time you have left in your day，” he advised. “See your sleep as the amount of time you need in order to set yourself up for a productive tomorrow.”

It may sound like a small shift in thinking， but its an important one， Grander added.

Most adults need between seven and eight hours of sleep to be fully rested， according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So if a person needed to rise at 7 am each day， backtiming eight hours would require a bedtime of 11 pm.

“Now you know when you have to stop and get ready to go to bed whether youre done or not，” Grander said. “The problem is we dont stop， and we dont disconnect. And thats to our detriment and it makes the next day more stressful.”

許多人将睡眠视为忙碌一天后要做的最后一件事。为了完成家务、作业、工作或追新剧，他们觉得晚点睡觉也没关系。

格兰德纳说：这种想法必须有所改变。

他建议：“不要将睡眠时间看成你一天中剩下的时间；要将其看成为了高效的明天而休整的时间。”

格兰德纳补充道：或许这听起来只是想法上一个小的改变，但却很重要。

美国疾病控制与预防中心指出，大多数成年人需要7至8小时的睡眠时间才能得到充分的休息。因此，如果一个人每天要在早上7点起床，倒推8个小时，那他的睡觉时间应该是晚上11点。

格兰德纳说：“现在你知道，只要到了睡觉时间，无论你的工作是否做完，你都必须停下来，准备上床睡觉。问题在于我们不愿停下来，不愿放下工作。这将损害我们的睡眠质量，并让接下来的一天压力更大。”

Word Bank

regulate /'reɡjule?t/ v. 调节；控制

rhythm /'r???m/ n. 规律；节律

erratic /?'r?t?k/ adj. 不规则的；不稳定的

shift /??ft/ n. 改变；变换