There’s so much nourishing material in Rubin R. Naiman’s book “Healing Night: The Science and Spirit of Sleeping, Dreaming, and Awakening,” that you must send it to any friend with sleep issues, or buy it for yourself if you’re not resting deeply. Naiman says too many of us are out of sync, and that a “winding down” period is best commenced at dusk: less caffeine, less night-time illumination, less computer, less Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central (oh drat). Safe to say Naiman has little fondness for the sleeping pill industry.

“Our grandparents’ advice to get plenty of sunshine by day and turn the lights off at night refelects an intuitive wisdom that would serve us well today. We need to become more sensitive to the natural rhythms of day and night. We would, in fact, benefit from becoming more ritualized, much more rhythmic in our dance with night and day consciousness…”

Do you prepare for sleep or just collapse into it?