Must... relax... !!!!!

I've been having trouble sleeping for a while now and it's actually sort of been an on-going "issue" of mine for years.

My main problem is falling asleep to begin with...

Anytime I have something weighing heavy on my mind or I'm really upset about something, I lie awake, rehashing it in my mind, every word of the conversation, wondering where I went wrong, if I did at all, how I could've changed something, how I'm going to fix it and move on, etc., etc.

Anytime a big event is about to happen (traveling, holidays, doctor's appointments, parties, tax season), I go over my "to do" list in my head and practically tick things off in my head, one by one, until I have a solution for each one and can put them all in a time-line of when I should do each one.

Anytime I've suffered a death in my family I lie awake thinking about the last time I saw them, the last words I said to them, what, if any, regrets I had about my relationship with them.

Anytime David and I have an argument, I lie awake thinking about my own personal disappointment and how I was hurt, how I hurt him, how I'm going to apologize and make it right the next day.

Anytime I've had a particularly bad day and didn't feel I was that great of a mother to Emily, I lie awake, beating myself up about it.

Anytime I've just reallocated our stock portfolio I think about my choices and whether or not I felt I made the right ones.

Anytime we have visitors in town (which is every single month!!!) I wonder if they are comfortable enough, if the house is clean enough, if they are warm enough or too cold, if Emily is handling the extra stimulation well, if we are making too much noise for our neighbors, if I've planned enough fun things for us all to do the next day...

Argh! You would think I would exhaust myself but nooooooooooo, I just end up raising my blood pressure and getting so worked up that I might as well be fully awake and up out of bed, cleaning house or something productive. House will pass and, although I climbed into bed around 9:00PM, trying to give myself time to relax and fall asleep at a decent hour, I end up drifting off after 2:00AM!

Before I settle on the fact that I may need professional help and medicinal intervention, I decided to do things just before bed to relax me and settle down my mind. I've always heard great things about drinking tea two hours before bed (the caffeine needs a chance to wear off), taking a hot bath and then, reading a book rather than watching television so, that's what I started doing this week. It's been three days and I've actually been less restless at night and am falling asleep before midnight!

I'm drinking Yogi Tea from Whole Foods, both the "calming" and "stress relief" varieties and am currently reading both "A New Earth" and "Nineteen Minutes".

I'm really hopeful this remedy works!