Tips for Sleep

Tips For Sleep at night (5 tips on how to get better sleep)

According to the American Sleep Association, 70 million people suffer from insomnia and have a sleep disorder. Insomnia can present itself in a variety of ways such as tossing and turning with the inability to fall asleep, issues with staying asleep during the night, or even having the inability to fall back to sleep after waking up. In addition, stress has greatly contributed to the issue of insomnia.

Having a healthy lifestyle correlates to a good night’s sleep. A lack of sleep can greatly affect your mental, physical, and emotional health. There have been countless medications and sedatives created in an attempt to alleviate the inability to fall asleep like melatonin and even antihistamines, which leave you feeling drowsy the next day. 

Here are 5 tips on how get better sleep at night:

Implement relaxation techniques

Finding peace and a sense of relaxation after a busy day is vital for one’s ability to fall asleep. It is recommended that you do breathing exercises. Before falling asleep, close your eyes and notice your breathing levels. Strive to get your breathing under control. Focus on your inhaling and exhaling. Go as far as visualizing the flow of air entering your nose and out your mouth. Focus on trying to release any stored up tension within your body. Feel free to wiggle your shoulders and neck area to relax your muscles. While doing this breathing exercise, your mind might attempt to distract you with other outside thoughts. However, it is critical to let go of any thoughts that try to break your concentration.     

Better your sleep hygiene

Staying disciplined about your sleep hygiene is one of the quickest ways to have a better good night’s rest. A way to have better sleep is to first have a comfortable bedroom environment. The place where you decide to fall asleep indirectly affects your ability to sleep. Make sure that your bed is comfortable to your sleeping preferences and that the environment is nice and quiet. Secondly, be sure that you stay consistent with a sleep schedule that works for your lifestyle. Having inconsistent sleep schedules is a direct affect on the quality and quantity of sleep that you receive. A way to help keep you on track with your sleeping schedule is to set an alarm on your clock or cell phone. Set the clock to the specific time that you normally would go to bed. 

Paradoxical Intention therapy

This method is a cognitive technique that is designed to have you lay in your bed and not go to sleep. Paradoxical Intention therapy is meant to lower one’s performance anxiety. Performance anxiety is defined as the fear of doing a certain task. When trying to sleep some people may experience the fear of actually falling asleep. To counter this irrational, but relatable fear, paradoxical intention therapy instructs you to do the exact opposite of what you’re fearing. So instead of feeling the anxiety of falling asleep and fighting with it, don’t fall asleep. This method is used to diminish performance anxiety to allow sleep to occur more naturally.

Don’t take any Caffeine before bedtime

According to the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, caffeine taken 6 hours before bedtime can disrupt your sleep. The average person drinks up to 500 mg of coffee a day, which is associated with a 16oz cup of coffee from your favorite coffee shop. In addition to sleep disruption, drinking too much caffeine has effects on your cardiovascular health. Caffeine can also become very addictive for several people; it’s the first beverage working class people depend on to give them ‘energy’ throughout the day.

Better eating habits

Eating sugary and fat filled foods has been directly correlated to less sleep quality. Comfort food has a way of making us feel good with something that is familiar and even nostalgic to us; whether it’s your grandma’s favorite peach cobbler or even a burger from a fast food joint. Too much of this food can definitely cause someone to feel fatigued throughout the day, with what’s also known as the ‘itis’ . It is critical to eat your comfort food in careful moderation and instead dedicate the majority of your eating habits to eating green veggies, fibrous snacks, nutritious smoothies, and brain food.

Author: Martel M