Learn How to Sleep Better Tonight
Many people struggle to get a good night sleep. Whether you can’t fall asleep, or you wake up in the middle of the night, this can be a problem that affects every aspect of your life. While you sleep, your brain and body recharge, but other things happen as well. Your brain uses this time to store information to your long-term memory. Your body uses your sleep time to heal and build a healthy immune system, build muscles, repair tissues and produce hormones. Even though sleep is so important, many people don’t value a full night’s sleep as much as they should.
According to the National Sleep Foundation adults between the ages of 18 – 25 should get 7 – 9 hours of sleep. Adults between 26 – 64 should get 7 – 9 hours of sleep. Adults older than 65 should get 7 – 8 hours of sleep. Once you lose sleep you cannot “catch up” on it. It’s gone.
Do you really need 9 hours of sleep? Well it depends on your energy level and mood. If you are moody and tired all the time then maybe that 6 hours of sleep is probably not working for. If possible, try to test out different amount of sleep and closely observe how you feel. Maybe all you need is 6.5 hours to feel energized.
Either way if you are struggling with getting enough sleep to get you ready to take on the world here are some ways to improve your sleep tonight.
Prepare for Sleep
If you struggle to sleep well, it might help if you do a few things to get your body ready to rest. Try dimming the lights in your house an hour before bedtime. Avoid watching television shows that will get your emotions going like action packed films or thrillers that get your heart racing. Turn off your phone or computer. The lights stimulate your brain. Try reading a book or listening to soothing music instead. Take a warm bath or meditate to help your body relax.
Get Plenty of Exercise during the Day
Exercise has as many benefits as sleep. When you get the right amount of exercise, you help your body to be strong, shed excess fat, and improve your cardiovascular health. But did you know that exercise helps to relieve stress? In this way, you are managing your stress throughout the day, so you will have less of it to keep you up at night.
If possible, get your exercise outside, because this further helps to manage stress. You should avoid a heavy workout just before bed because you don’t want to spike your heart rate at this time, but some light stretching to help you relax just before bed can help you fall asleep better too.
Meditate Daily
Just like exercise, daily meditation is a great way to manage stress. Stress is a leading cause of not sleeping well. Does your mind race when you try to fall asleep? This is your brain working to solve all your problems. During the day, you may be able to keep your mind distracted, but when you lay down to sleep in a dark and quiet room, your brain will start to go over everything that’s on your mind. Meditation can help with this, leading to better sleep. Try meditating as part of your pre-sleep routine.
Herbal Remedies
There are many herbs that help to improve sleep, and several ways to use them. Lavender is well known to help you sleep. You can spray lavender on your pillow, which has been found to be very useful. You can also use a diffuser to fill your bedroom with sleep-enhancing aromatherapy. Some other good choices include chamomile and jasmine. A nice cup of herbal tea can help too. You can find special blends for better sleep in just about any grocery store. The herbal supplement melatonin has also been found to help people sleep better.
Make Sure Your Brain Associates Your Bed with Sleep
If your brain associates your bed to sleeping alone, getting into bed at night will trigger the brain to know that it is bedtime. Avoid watching TV in bed, as well as other activities such as playing on your phone, paying bills, or other non-bedtime activities. When you do these things in bed, your brain does not recognize that bed is where sleep happens, because so many other things happen there as well.
Sleeping well is one of the cornerstones to good health. Not only does it improve stress levels, memory, and energy levels, but it also leads to a healthier immune system and body. Sleeping well also helps to fight the body’s inflammation response, so if you suffer from things such as arthritis, chronic pain, or other issues with an inflammatory component, you may see improvement in this area as well.
Getting enough sleep is very important. It improves brain function, increases energy levels and supports over-all wellness. If you are not getting enough sleep, then you owe it to yourself to give these suggestions a try.
Good night!