WARNING: This book is a lighthearted practical health guide. Laughter may be a side effect.

"I hate when my foot falls asleep during the day because I know it's going to be up all night."
Steven Wright

Falling asleep can be so easy and yet at times be so hard. When insomniacs meet with nacroleptics (people who have an uncontrollable tendency to fall asleep throughout the day), each is inevitably jealous of the other's condition.

The zen solution for people having difficulty falling asleep is to avoid trying so hard. However, telling an insomniac to not try to fall asleep is like telling someone who is starving to try to fast when sitting at a dinner table.

It may be reassuring to know that 15-25% of all adults suffer regularly from insomnia. Somehow, though, this awareness usually doesn't make falling asleep any easier. In fact, there are probably readers who will now stay up nights trying to organize meetings of Insomniacs Anonymous.

• While some insomniacs have difficulty falling asleep, others wake frequently and have problems staying asleep. Whichever problem you are experiencing, this is one situation whose solution can't be found by sleeping on it.

The good news is that not everyone necessarily needs eight hours of sleep a night. Some people define themselves as insomniacs, because they regularly sleep only five or six hours. Actually, they should think of themselves as high-energy people who don't need a lot of sleep. Some people's body rhythms are such that their highest and most creative energy periodoccurs late at night. The wakeful state that these people experience is not a sign of illness, it may simply be a signal-- sometimes an annoyingly loud signal--that the person should use this alert time to do some creative work.

• Perhaps the best way to determine if you're getting enough sleep at night is if you feel rested and refreshed upon waking. If you don't feel rested and need some help, read the next set of strategies. Soon you may be getting sleepy, very sleepy, very very sleepy....

Strategy #1: Relaxation trick #1. Hypnotize yourself. Feel total relaxation in your feet, then slowly feel the relaxation move up your body. Tell yourself: I am falling asleep. Use diaphramatic breathing which will help relax you further (see Strategy #8 in the Asthma section for instructions).

Strategy #2: Relaxation trick #2. Massage the soles of your feet, or preferably, have them massaged for you. This can be very relaxing.

Strategy #3: Relaxation trick #3: Don't sleep tight: . Take a warm bath in which you add a couple of drops of one or more essential oils such as orange blossom, meadowsweet, or hops.

Strategy #4: Hops to it. Hops is the herb that is used to make beer, and it is also used by herbalists to help people go to sleep. Some people brew a tea of it; others purchase the hops leaves and insert them into a pillow. You could also buy a dream pillows; these are small pillows filled with various sweet-smelling herbs which help you to think sweet thoughts and dream sweet dreams.