Twelve Simple Tips to Improve Your Sleep
How to get a good night's sleep?
Sleeping well has a direct impact on your mental and physical wellbeing. If you don't get enough sleep, it may harm your energy, productivity, emotional balance, and weight. Despite this, many of us struggle to get enough sleep at night.
Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone activated by light and helps regulate your sleep-wake cycle. When it's dark, your brain secretes more melatonin, making you tired, and less when it's light, making you more awake. However, many components of contemporary living might disrupt your body's generation of melatonin and disrupt your circadian rhythm.
Concentrate on a heart-healthy diet. It is your general eating habits, rather than individual meals, that might impact your sleep quality and overall health. For example, eating a Mediterranean-style diet rich in vegetables, fruit, and healthy fats—with limited quantities of red meat—may help you fall asleep sooner and remain asleep longer.
Following proper sleeping habits might be the difference between unrest and sound sleep. Researchers have found several "sleep hygiene" routines and behaviors that can help optimize the hours they spend sleeping, including those whose sleep is disrupted by insomnia, jet lag, or shift work.
Sleep hygiene may appear dull, but it may be the most effective strategy to obtain the sleep you require in this 24/7 world. Here are some basic methods for making your dream sleep a nightly reality:
Have a sleep schedule
We are creatures of habit, and we should try to maintain a consistent sleep routine every day. This includes weekends! Sleeping in late on weekends merely disrupts the rhythm we've been working on all week. So make a sleep routine for yourself and stick to it.
Don't exercise too late at night.
Exercise is always recommended and can aid sleep; however, we should strive to schedule our workouts no later than 3 hours before bed.
Avoid having coffee
To put it simply, coffee and nicotine are stimulants. Even ingesting them in the afternoon might disrupt your sleep. While nicotine is a weak stimulant compared to caffeine, it causes smokers to wake up sooner than they would normally due to nicotine withdrawal.
Avoid alcohol before going to bed.
If you have alcohol in your system before going to bed, it will disrupt your REM sleep and keep you in the lighter sleep phases.
Avoid heavy meals late at night.
Heavy meals might induce stomach difficulties, which can disrupt sleep. Drinking too many liquids might also lead to frequent trips to the restroom. So keep both lights!
Avoid strong medicines that disrupt your sleep.
Several widely prescribed heart and blood drugs might affect your sleep patterns when taken before bed. Whether you're having difficulties sleeping, go to your doctor to check if any of the medications you're taking are contributing to your insomnia. Even over-the-counter medications might affect your sleep.
Don't take a nap at odd hours.
Although naps may be a fantastic way to recharge, taking them too late in the day might make it difficult to sleep at night.
Make sure to have time to relax before bed.
Making time to relax before bed is an excellent approach to preparing your body to decompress before falling asleep.
Take a hot shower before bed.
A nice hot bath is a great way to unwind before night. The resultant dip in body temperature may assist you in falling asleep.
Avoid using the phone before bed.
Cell phones and laptops may be a huge distraction when used before night. This is because the light they generate, particularly blue light, decreases melatonin release, the hormone that governs the sleep/wake cycle and rises in the evening.
Get the right exposure to sunlight.
Daytime sun exposure aids in the regulation of sleep patterns. Therefore, it is advised that you spend at least 30 minutes a day in the sun.
Don't stay in bed if you can't sleep.
If you find yourself tossing and turning in bed for more than 20 minutes, get up and do something else, such as reading a book, until you feel tired.
