BETTER SLEEP, BETTER LIVING!
Getting enough sleep, let alone getting quality sleep could be a challenge in our busy lives.
Sleep deprivation can contribute to mood swings, depression, anxiety, and is a major stressor to your body and state of mind over time.
We have many tips on how to improve sleep and here are a few of our suggestions to revisit:
Setting up a peaceful atmosphere conducive to relaxation should help you wind-down:
- Consider investing in good quality blackout blinds to keep your bedroom dark.
- Avoid going to bed mad, try to resolve any conflict before bedtime if possible or at least agree to sleep on it and reconvene the next day.
- Create a routine: the body always prefers routine:
- Have a wind-down routine, it could be starting to slow down, limiting noise, and focussing on a repetitive mindless task such as folding laundry, setting up breakfast for the next day or reading an easy and entertaining book.
- Try to go to bed and get up at the same approximate time daily so your body is used to the routine and knows when to start the sleeping process.
- Make it a stress-free zone:
- Use aromatherapy or a candle to help you relax and clear your mind.
- Buy a stress-free zone sign for your bedroom door reminding yourself that once you pass that door, all life stressors are left outside of that area and all can wait till the next day.
- Avoid screen time before bed, which includes TV and phones. The glare from all devices could inhibit the body’s ability to release melatonin, the hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycles.
- Avoid heavy and late dinners as well as alcohol intake before bedtime.
- If you take medications or supplements such as Vitamin C, revisit the ones you take at night to ensure they do not contribute to keeping you alert.
Deepak Chopra, a wellness guru, in an article with CNBC, recommends eight hours of sleep and offers a few other tips to calm a busy mind:
- Breathing exercises help center the attention back to the body and away from the mind. In our stressful lives, we are all shallow breathers and have lost the reflex of breathing deeply and slowly. Deepak recommends to “count to four as you breathe in and then count to six as you breathe out. Mindful breathing immediately restores self-regulation [and] calms the mind”.
- Review the day: Deepak advises to close your eyes right before laying down and recollect the day with no judgment or emotion, simply observing like a movie or a documentary. He states that “When you do that, you actually let go of stresses that happened during the day and you go to bed with a fresh start for the next day”.
- Make sure to not go to bed too late. Deepak suggests that going to sleep after 10 pm could disrupt your circadian rhythms which is our human body’s natural internal clock. This natural clock is responsible for regulating “our brain cycles between being tired and being alert”.
Everyone is different with slightly different body chemistry. Consequently, it is always beneficial to try different tips and determine what works for you. Your body is your best test lab; listen to it, and it will tell you what it needs.
If you need additional help, click below to check our Health and Wellness Coaches who can help you change your routine for better sleep:
https://www.mariettaroswellcounseling.com/health-coaches