“Couldn't sleep at all last night,” Many seniors remember the words of that hit song by Richie Adams, among others … “Well I was tossin’ and turning, turning and tossin’, toss and turn all night.” How many times has that happened to you these days? You know, because of those aching muscles and bones, or that acid-causing pepperoni and peppers pizza or barbaric burrito you ate before bed, or that misdemeanor imbibing of spirits at the local Grill and Bar. It happens to all of us, for one reason or another.

Sleep is such an essential waste of good time, but a necessary evil. But how much sleep is necessary, required, and healthy for you?It ranges from as little as 5 hours to as much as 11 hours a night. After hours of deliberation and discussion, a group of professional practitioners came to the consensus that ‘the amount of sleep people need varies from person to person.’

That’s a great help. You could have come up with that decision at your poker party.

What are these variables from person to person? Weight, lifestyle, exercise routine, worries and flights of the imagination, a snoring better half or the pet dog, the neighbors barking dog, lights-on or lights-off, TV on, the amount of caffeine consumed, you forgot to go to the bathroom before bed, or money concerns (bills, bills, bills) … usually not enough of it, but never too much.

But there are ways to help the old noggin to bob off into slumber land. When you lie down in bed, try a breath-counting exercise … sounds like counting sheep, or try another anxiety-relieving option: Visualize a pleasant and relaxing experience, such as lying on a deck chair on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, or being alone in candy store.

If you feel anxious about sleep, get up and leave the bedroom. The idea is to disconnect your relationship between the bed and your anxiety. Try reading or doing some other enjoyable but low-key activity … and not eating, because the digestion can cause sleeplessness (see the first paragraph). Or, just before you go to bed, take a warm bath. Bathing will elevate your body temperature, but lying down will make it drop because your muscles relax and produce less heat. Sleep tends to follow a steep decline in body temperature … say the professional practitioners.

Holy Hector, they say exercise is good for making you sleep. In a number of studies, exercising 30 to 45 minutes during the day or evening helped insomniacs enjoy better, and somewhat longer, sleep. It also helps control the blood pressure and diabetes. Why exercise seems to help is still unclear, probably because your heart is beating a little faster and your lungs get some fresh air, although one possibility is that it has effects similar to sleeping pills. And speaking of which, sometimes taking some aspirin/Tylenol^®/Advil^®/etc., if pain is keeping you awake, will help.

You may think that exercising too close to your bedtime can keep you from falling asleep, not true . In fact, research (again probably by those professional practitioners) shows that even vigorous exercise right before bedtime doesn’t affect sleep for many people, and in some cases it may help.

Even if you are sitting in a chair for increased mobility, you can still lift those small dumbbells or use the old muscle-motor chair to race around the room instead of the electric one.

Other suggested cures for non-sleeping are sex, not thinking, ear plugs, force yourself to yawn two or three times (not sure that works), lie down with a hot water bottle on your stomach, smoke yourself to sleep (whatever you like), or try contacting your local glassy-eyed hypnotist to give the Sleep … Sleep … Sleep knockout cure.

If you are still a working senior there are other considerations, and that famous Unknown Author said it right, “The best cure for insomnia is a Monday morning.” And he/she also said, “If people were meant to pop out of bed, we’d all sleep in toasters.”

The bottom line is, try different things until you find out what works for you … but don’t hit yourself in the head with a hammer. There may be some pleasant dreams on the other side that you do not want to miss. And just remember W.C. Fields philosophy, “Sleep – the most beautiful experience in life – except drink.” Also, they say, reading before bed is a good way to put yourself to sleep, and if you read this, you probably didn’t get this far.