How to Use a Mask to Promote Sleep

Many people have occasional trouble sleeping, but it can interfere with the quality of your waking hours. Chronic sleep disturbances of one month, or longer, are classified as insomnia and can lead to health problems and mental disturbances. Sleep masks are effective at promoting sleep because they block light. If you have a job that requires you to sleep at odd hours a sleep mask is essential. New mothers can also benefit from sleep masks when they need to rest during the day while baby is sleeping.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. A good sleep mask is made from material that will block light. The best sleep masks are also comfortable around the nose and eye area.

2. The most common fillers for sleep masks are cotton, gel, or rice. Sleep masks made from gel or rice can help reduce the occurrence of bags beneath the eyes.

3. You can make your own sleep mask at home with the pattern in the resource section below. It would make a great gift, or simply to promote sleep for yourself. You may also want to fill your mask with sleep promoting herbs, such as peppermint, spearmint or lavender.

Resources

• Sleep Mask Pattern by Burda

[MyJB]

on 4/10/2009 Many work the night shift and would benefit from a sleep mask. Thanks for an interesting article.

[heatherbluesky]

on 2/12/2009 Good information on sleep masks. I'm going to try to make one! Thanks!