Tired of tossing and turning at night? Sleeping better directly affects your mental and physical health. Fall short and it can take a serious toll on your daytime energy, productivity, emotional balance, and even your weight. Yet many of us regularly toss and turn at night, struggling to get the sleep we need.
How much sleep do you need?
In their book The Power of When: Timing Is Everything , Arianna Huffington and Steven Kotler note that we spend most of our waking hours under a dual influence: the 24/7 demands of work and family. Yet our body and brain actually need a periodic respite. These small, longer windows of sustained, restorative sleep contribute to the well-being of your body and brain, enabling you to feel and perform at your best.
Dr. Andrew Weil, a world-renowned leading expert on integrative and integrative medicine, notes in his best-selling book An Ultra-Short List of Everything Your Body Needs That the amount of sleep we need depends on a number of factors, including our age, level of physical and mental fitness, and the length of our workday.
Tips for Sleeping Better
In this article, we’ll share the best tips to sleep better to ensure you’re getting enough rest for you to recharge your batteries and start the day off with a clearer mind and clearer energy.
Do not go to bed hungry
Whether it’s cutting out sugar, coffee, alcohol or eating right before bed, the best tip to get a better night’s sleep is to eat your dinner before going to bed. Not only will eating earlier lead to more restful sleep, but it will also prevent you from snacking too close to bedtime, which can interrupt the natural pattern of your circadian rhythms.
Make your bed your haven
No, we’re not suggesting you sleep on a pillow top mattress with all the bells and whistles. Instead, make your bed a place of rest and relaxation.
Exercise and diet
Altering your sleep habits is much like tweaking the composition of your food: Don’t go overboard or it will lead to weight gain. First, stop smoking and reducing your alcohol intake. Exercise is also recommended, as it helps your body to cope with the lack of melatonin. Then, you can consider cutting down on your screen time at night, since blue light may disrupt your sleep. A study in the journal Open Heart reported that blue light can affect sleep-related hormonal fluctuations. You can also take a sleep supplement and follow an evening routine, in order to fall asleep faster.
But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include exercise in your evening routine, as it helps increase blood flow to the muscles.
Relaxation techniques
This might sound counter-intuitive, but a good, relaxing bedtime routine is a great way to start your day off right and help you drift off to sleep. Getting sleepy while lying in bed with the lights on or while listening to music can help to ease your anxiety levels, which can cause you to toss and turn. It’s not necessary to sit there and watch the clock count down the minutes to the moment you fall asleep. As long as you’re relaxed and calm, it won’t matter when you fall asleep, as long as you stay asleep.
Anxiety
Research shows that anxiety and depression are linked to difficulty sleeping. Learning to manage your stress levels may help you wind down at night.
Mindset and other tips
Get your bedroom clean and organized. This makes it easier to climb into bed. Similarly, research suggests that if you change your work environment to a white or light colored space, your energy levels will rise.
Create a bedroom routine. Prioritize your nightly routine to help you sleep better. Making a bed, cleaning up clutter, and curling up to read are all excellent steps to take before bed.
Watch what you eat and drink. A consistent sleep schedule is important, and you can help regulate your biological clock by eating and drinking regularly throughout the day.
Put some exercise in your nighttime routine. A regular bedtime workout and light aerobic exercise at least 30 minutes before bed may help you sleep.
Make sure your bedroom is dark, silent, cool, and comfortable.
Too little rest not only affects how we feel the next day, but can make you more prone to illness and contribute to weight gain. If you have trouble sleeping, getting out of bed is less of a problem than you think.
However, if you still can’t get to sleep without some kind of assistance, try and go see someone. Sleep the wrong way or not at all and you’ll be just as tired.
