Tips for better sleep

At my recent appointment ("survivorship clinic") suggestions were made for better sleep. This can mean going to sleep, or staying asleep, or getting back to sleep, or sleeping enough hours. I was surprised that the only recommendations offered were listening to soothing music or drinking warm milk. In general, those don't work for persistent sleeplessness.

Up until a few years ago I enjoyed blissfully long hours of sleep, about 8 hours. It was very easy to fall asleep and stay asleep. And when there was a lot going on, all my yoga tricks helped.  But then sleeping hours became more elusive and none of these methods worked. It became especially difficult to go back to sleep after waking up at night. I thought I had to accept that we sleep less as we get older, we should stop stressing, maybe read a little in the middle of the night for an hour or two, or however long it takes. But I changed my mind on this subject. The longer we follow this pattern, the harder it is to get back to the blissful state of sleeping longer hours.  Here are some things I find useful, and I am now back to sleeping 7-7.5 hours at least 2 or 3 days each week instead of just 6 hours every day.

• Acupuncture may help with underlying issues to bring us back to a more balanced state.
• The system of Reiki has a number of practices: meditation (Joshin Kokyo Ho, the precepts) or hands-on healing (do it yourself).
• Tai Chi is a moving meditation, and finishes with a closing movement that is "grounding."
• Getting off screen time about an hour before the regular bedtime (and keeping a regular bedtime). No more food intake at least 3 hours before bedtime,  and nothing "heavy." This time can be used for meditation or some of the other practices mentioned here.
• Restorative yoga puts the body in a fully supported yoga pose such as supported child pose, supported twist, and legs up the wall.
• Washing the feet with COLD water, and rubbing them dry afterwards with a rough cloth, massaging with almond oil.

Caveat: if sleeplessness is due to worry or too many thoughts, then these tips may not be sufficient.

Tips I tried and tested and they didn't work for me: light exercise, intense exercise, weightlifting, soothing music, different kinds of pillows (water pillow, ergonomic pillow, between legs pillow), different types of breathing techniques, tea, warm baths, short meditations (for example, less than 20 minutes), essential oils (lavender, peppermint). All of these are good things, but they are not sufficient to help me staying asleep. I can go to sleep just fine, but wake up at night.
Ear plugs do help somewhat, but some ear plugs are contaminated in the unopened packet, and I am prone to ear infections.

Good luck!