Wear a pair of anklet socks to bed to keep your feet warm. Warm feet will make your body more comfortable so that you sleep better.

Take two dissolved aspirin and drink a small glass of warm milk an hour before going to bed. This works as well as a sleeping pill without leaving any drugged feeling or hangover the next morning.

Drink a cup of relaxing, herbal tea about an hour before bedtime. Sleepytime, from Celestial Seasonings, is a good one that can be purchased at the supermarket. Passionflower, Lemon Balm (aka, Melissa,) Lavender, Lady's Slipper, Chamomile, Kava Kava, Valerian, Skullcap, Hops, Peppermint, Mullein, and Schizandra are good herbs that will help relax you. You can buy these at your local herb shop. Look for herbal teas or tea combinations, or capsules as a last resort. If you are prone to be tense, try drinking a cup of one or more of these herbal teas several times a day. They are caffeine-free. Your own body will let you know which ones are right for your system because you will be more drawn to that particular tea or teas.

Some people declare that the herb, St. John's Wort, helps them relax. Others say Melatonin supplements helps them relax. Some people declare 5-HTP helps keep them relaxed. Others say that GABA supplements help them sleep better. Listen to your own body to know what herbs or supplements will help you. Always read about anything you decide to try. The internet has tons of information on any medicines, supplements, or herbs you want to research.

Ignatia Amara is a good homeopathic remedy to help you sleep, especially if you are going through the grieving process. Grief can take up to five years to go through. You can buy Ignatia Amara at VitaCost.com, and Vita Cost sells their products cheaper than any other place I have found.

Tryptophan is a precursor for the body producing serotonin, a neurotransmitter which sends messages between nerve cells and causes sleepiness after being ingested. Ingest foods containing tryptophan on an empty stomach for best results. Foods that contain tryptophan are turkey, warm milk, whole wheat bread, chicken, tuna, cashews, yogurt, peanut butter, cottage cheese, and soybeans (edamame.) Tryptophan can also be taken as a supplement. Ornithine is another supplement that can be taken like Tryptophan.

Eat dried cherries daily to stop insomnia. You can find these at your supermarket.

Buy a white noise machine and use it to block out external noises that might be keeping you awake. HomeMedics makes one that you can buy for about thirty dollars at Kmart and Walmart or similar stores. It has six different sound effects plus a radio and clock and is battery operated. You can also run an electric fan or ceiling fan on low or medium speed to make some white noise to keep you from being distracted enough to not get any sleep from other people's noisemaking.

Wind down gradually during the evening by turning off extra lights, or dimming the lights in your home. When you get up to use the bathroom at night or to check on loved ones, do not turn on bright lights. Once a bright light is turned on, it disrupts your sleep cycle. It usually takes a good while to go back to sleep once a bright light has been turned on in a room. If you must turn on lights, use night lights during the evening hours after going to bed. If someone is afraid of the dark, keep night lights on so they can sleep better.

Don't get into arguments or try to make important decisions at night. Never go to bed angry. Clear your mind of any racing thoughts by simply choosing to do so because you are in control of your own mind. Don't let people push your buttons and cause you to react to their manipulations. You can train yourself not to react when others try to do this to you. Overreacting can cause you to go into overwhelm and ruin your day or night.

Create a sleep inducing environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable, and cool. If a mate likes it warmer in the home than you do, have them wear warm pajamas and provide an extra blanket for them. You can install darkening blinds or shades on your windows to block outside lights if necessary. Check out the mini blinds section of Walmart or similar stores to see what they have available.

Decorate your bedroom with peaceful, calming, relaxing colors and fabrics.

Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows. Purchase as good a mattress set as you can possibly afford. It is a long term investment for good quality sleep. Overstock.com has a good quality 4-inch memory foam mattress topper for less than $163.00 including shipping. Two bonus memory foam pillows come with one of these 4-inch Serta toppers, but the Ultimate Serta 4-inch topper is the best one because it has a 4# density. The other one only has 3# density. Buy the largest size available, then use an electric carving knife to trim it to fit your bed perfectly once it has aired out completely. You can use the extra pieces to make pillows, or put them on another bed.

Buy good quality bedlinens with a higher thread count. The higher the thread count the more comfortable the bedlinens will be to sleep on. Sleep the way you are the most comfortable because the more comfortable you are in bed, the faster you can relax and go to sleep.

Spray your bedlinens with pure lavender essence so you inhale the relaxing fragrance while you sleep. The Healing Garden makes a lavender fragrance spray that works well for this. Or you can make your own by mixing some pure lavender essential oil into warm water in a spray bottle. This way you control how strong you make the fragrance. Check Walmart and Kmart for The Healing Garden fragrances.

Use your bed only for sleep and sex. It is best to take work materials, computers, video games, and televisions out of the sleeping environment.

Finish eating at least two to three hours before your regular bedtime. Spicy foods may cause heartburn when lying down.

Don't drink a lot of fluids before going to bed, or you could be waking up to go to the bathroom during the night. Never drink anything at least 90 minutes before going to bed. Always urinate before going to bed. Otherwise, you will be waking up to urinate during the night, and your sleep cycle will be interrupted.

Exercise regularly, but it is best to complete your workout earlier in the day or at least a few hours before bedtime. Exercise stimulates the body. Thirty minutes of daily exercise can make you sleep better.

Avoid nicotine in cigarettes or tobacco products, as using before bedtime can lead to poor sleep.

Avoid caffeine in coffee, tea, soft drinks, and chocolate before bedtime. It can keep you awake. Over-the-counter medicines can also contain caffeine that will keep you awake. Read the labels to know what your meds contain.

Avoid alcohol before bedtime. Even though it might appear to initially relax you, it can lead to sleep disruptions later in the night. A glass of wine with your dinner should not affect your sleep cycle, unless you eat then go straight to bed for the night.

Do not take a nap during the daytime, if you have trouble sleeping at night. If you are so tired that you feel you absolutely must take a nap, let the nap last 30 minutes or less.

Have your doctor check your blood to see if you have an iron deficiency, as such can be a cause for poor sleep.

When you first awaken in the morning, expose yourself to bright sunlight for a couple minutes. Doing this will help to regulate your body's natural clock so you can sleep better at night. You need to get about 20 minutes every day of bright sunlight as well.

If you find you are laying awake in bed, do not watch your clock. Place it so you do not see it. Watching the hours go by will only make you more anxious. Get up and do some housework if you cannot sleep.

I have never known this last tip to fail. Lie in bed and pray to God. You will be amazed at how fast you will fall asleep.