How To Sleep Better: A Guide To Get A Good Night's Sleep
May 18, 2022
Tips To Sleep Better
Sleep deprivation has an immediate detrimental impact on your hormones, workout performance, and cognitive function. It can also lead to weight gain and raise the risk of illness in both adults and children. Sleep quality and quantity have both dropped over the last few decades. In reality, many people have trouble sleeping on a daily basis. Work stress and family duties, as well as diseases, can all disrupt a good night's sleep. Many factors can disrupt a good night's sleep, ranging from job stress and family obligations to sickness.
You may, however, adopt habits that promote better sleep. Begin with these easy suggestions.
1. Follow A Sleep Schedule
Allow for a maximum of eight hours of sleep. A healthy adult should get at least seven hours of sleep per night. Every day, including weekends, go to bed and wake up at the same hour. Consistency helps to maintain your body's sleep-wake cycle. Leave your bedroom and do something soothing if you don't fall asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed. Relax by reading or listening to peaceful music. When you're exhausted, go back to bed. Repeat as necessary, but keep your sleep and wake-up times consistent.
2. Be careful what you consume before sleep
Don't sleep hungry or full. Avoid eating anything heavy or substantial within a couple of hours of going to bed. Discomfort may keep you awake. If you do have a snack before bed, it should not include alcohol or chocolate. Caffeine, which is a stimulant, is found in chocolate. Alcohol, unsurprisingly, has a similar impact. It makes you feel tired, but it is essentially a stimulant that interrupts your sleep at night. Avoid anything acidic (such as citrus fruits and liquids) or spicy, as they might cause heartburn.
3. Make your environment comfortable
When it comes to falling and staying asleep, small changes can make a significant difference. It's easier to sleep when it's cool, dark, and quiet - but the ideal sleep environment is personal, so experiment and find what works for you. Wearing earplugs, turning your phone to mute and facing down, keeping clocks out of sight, and making sure the space is adequately ventilated can all help. Some people find it better to listen to ambient sounds such as rain, soft music, or white noise. The mattress and pillows play a significant role too. Get a mattress according to your preference. This again goes for the pillows as well. They depend on your sleeping position. If you sleep on your side (as most people do), your pillow should support your head, neck, and ear, as well as your shoulder. People who sleep on their backs can consider using a thinner pillow to reduce neck tension.
4. De-stress before going to sleep
Worries from daytime can climb up with you in the bed. Stress is a stimulant and can trigger the fight-or-flight hormones, which operate against sleep. Allow yourself time to relax before going to bed. You can do gentle yoga poses before bedtime which has been proven to reduce stress and make sleep better. Many research indicates a link between gratitude and feelings of well-being. Practicing gratitude may have a variety of beneficial benefits in our life, such as lowering blood pressure, lowering the risk of sadness and anxiety, and creating favorable conditions for better sleep. A warm bath or shower an hour or two before bed has been proven to calm both the body and mind, reducing both heart rate and blood pressure in one research. Heat soothes stiff, fatigued muscles and aids in stress relief. Another way to de-stress is reading. Even six minutes spent immersed in a novel can lower stress by 68 percent.
5. Limit taking naps in the daytime
Long daytime naps might disrupt nighttime sleep. You sleep throughout the day to compensate for missing sleep at night, but you find it difficult to fall asleep at night since you slept during the day. It becomes a vicious cycle. Limit naps to one hour or less and avoid napping late in the day.
6. Reserve bed for sleep and pleasure
Do not use your bed as a workplace to answer phones or reply to emails. Avoid watching late-night television there as well. The bed should stimulate slumber rather than alertness. Keep your bed for sleeping and enjoying yourself.
But if nothing works for you don’t wait up and contact your health care provider. Identifying and addressing any underlying problems will help in getting the rest you need.