Sunday, July 31, 2016

How to Improve Your Odds of Getting a Better Night’s Sleep!

uncluttered bedroom.jpeg
Your bedroom should be free of distractions so you can concentrate on sleep.


We all experience those occasional nights when you simply can’t fall asleep. Sometimes, you can blame this condition on stress.  Other times, you can over stimulate your mind by working too hard into the night and carrying those thoughts with you to bed.  Then again, drinking too much of any beverage, especially coffee with all of its caffeine can keep your mind alert besides body active during your extra trips to the bathroom. If sleeplessness happens to you more than you like, I have some suggestions that will help the problem.

Try to go to bed every night at the same time instead of different hours. This is important to keep the body’s internal clock functioning properly.  Just remember, the more hours you take in before midnight during this restorative period of non-REM sleep, the more it benefits brain function and creative solutions besides your overall health.

Stop doing whatever household chore, exercising, or work-related project two hours before that established bedtime hour can make a difference.  Nothing is that important that it can’t be finished the next day.  You’ll have a clearer head and more energy for tackling it at that time.

Allow yourself some unwinding time of at least an hour to relax whether in a soothing bath, reading, watching television or in pleasant conversation with the family can help.  

Another thing to think about is what your bedroom looks like.  You want it to invite sleep.  This means to make it free of clutter like that laptop or briefcase or, perhaps, a basket of laundry that you just parked in the corner because you just ran out of steam.  All I’m saying is trying to keep this room simple as your sleep sanctuary without distractions that can make you think should be foremost in your mind.  

For more useful tips on improving your sleep, you might want to read my earlier posts on how to make your own herbal sleep potion potpourri, aromatherapy bath salts to what you’re risking without enough sleep.  

If stress is the culprit, you might also find a few of these simple stress reduction tips as well as my post on stress busting tricks helpful to the problem.
  
Though it may seem hopeless, incorporating some of this advice into life does bring relief.  Try it and see for yourself!