Seems like I rave about this topic all the time, but I truly think that I is THAT important. While some people may cut their sleep short on purpose to gain more waking hours, many others long for a solid eight hours of rest. For many, active, stressed-out brains keep them in overdrive. Things start to build up and before you know it, it starts to affect your health, both physical and mental.
Stress and anxiety are the big culprits for making us toss, turn and lose our ability to will ourselves back to sleep, also causing physical tension in our bodies.
How can we make our racing minds relax so we can get that badly needed sleep?
1. Get out of bed. If you are having trouble falling asleep for more than 15-20 minutes, getting out of bed so your brain doesn’t associate that as the place where you don’t sleep. Go to a dim room to read a book - no digital devices, no screens. When you get sleepy again, go back to bed.
2. Keep it cool. We sleep better at night if the temperature in the room is kept on the cool side. (Keep the bedroom door closed which can help keep it cooler)
3. Stick to a sleep schedule We should aim to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. People generally have a hard time adjusting to changes in sleep patterns. Unfortunately sleeping late on weekends doesn’t make up for poor sleep during the week. If necessary, set an alarm for bedtime.
I totally understand that this might not be that easy and not everyone has the luxury to this kind of a schedule, but I hope that those who do try their best to have a schedule of some sort.
4. Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed The sleep we enter after drinking is more like anesthesia than real sleep, due to alcohol’s sedative effect, instead of helping you fall asleep, alcohol merely “sedates you out of wakefulness”. Please be mindful with your nightcaps.
5. Make sure to leave time to relax before bed It’s important to have time before bed to unwind. Try to schedule your days so that there is time to relax before bed.
This is one of my favorite times of the day, night time routine; and speaking of it, this next tip goes with it hand in hand.
6. Take a hot bath or shower before bed The drop in body temperature after a bath or shower can help you to feel sleepy, it can help you to slow down and relax before bed.
Sleep is extremely important regardless of a pandemic, even when we feel like we've just been laying around all day. We should think of sleep as the highest wealth there is. Productivity, motivation, creativity and even levels of honesty can be improved just by good quality sleep. I challenge you to get as much great quality sleep as you can, it could save your life.
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