6 Powerful Simple Tips to Improve Your Sleep
In this article, we will be looking at 6 powerful and important simple tips to improve your sleep pattern everyday, hence leading to a healthy lifestyle you have long wanted.
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If you've had a poor night's sleep, when you wake up the next morning, everything tends to feel more stressful and testing than usual. When we're tired we feel more emotional, we lack energy, we can't concentrate properly, and we find ourselves counting down the hours until we can go to bed and hopefully get a better night's sleep.
Simple Tips to Improve Your Sleep
A good night's sleep can make most things better, and it can improve your health, both physically and mentally, exponentially.
Experts have found evidence which points to the fact that sleep deprivation can lead to an increased risk of mental health disorders, an increased risk of chronic illness, a suppressed immune system, and it can shave years off of your life.
Forgot what you read about celebrities and CEOs getting 3 or 4 hours sleep each night so that they can wake up early and get more done because medical research has proved that a lack of sleep can reduce your longevity and damage your health.
If you struggle to sleep and want to optimize your sleeping pattern and improve your health, here are 6 simple tips to improve your sleep.
Cut down blue light exposure at night
We currently live in an age in which modern technology plays essential roles in everyday life. In order to read this very article, you're likely browsing the web on your phone, laptop, tablet, or computer, and this can be detrimental to your sleeping patterns.
The reason why technology can be detrimental is that it emits what is known as blue light. Blue light in the evening can disrupt your circadian rhythm, which basically confuses your brain and makes it think it is daytime.
The light exposure reduces the production of sleep-promoting hormones such as melatonin, which helps people to relax and feel sleepy at night when it gets dark.
To cut back on blue light exposure at night-time, try not to watch TV or use your phone or electronic devices at least one hour before bed. You can also wear glasses that block blue light or download apps that also block blue light.
Avoid caffeine later on in the day
If you wake up feeling tired after a poor night's sleep, what's one of the first things you do to wake yourself up? For most people, it's to consume a large cup of coffee.
Coffee contains a stimulant called caffeine, which provides a temporary increase in physical and mental energy so that your body and your mind have more energy and are more active and alert.
The problem with caffeine is the fact that it is temporary and if you consume it later on in the day, it can stay in your system and can cause you to feel energized and alert when you're trying to relax and get to sleep.
Caffeine can stay in your system for up to 8 hours, so really, if you do insist on drinking caffeine, the earlier in the day you can drink it, the better.
Try to get more natural sunlight
The human body really is a miraculous thing. Earlier we spoke of your circadian rhythm, but what exactly is it? Well, your circadian rhythm is basically your body's natural time-keeping clock, also known as your ‘body clock'.
Your circadian rhythm affects your hormones, brain, and your body and basically tells you when you should feel tired and when you should be awake.
Exposure to sunlight can increase vitamin D synthesisation, which in turn can increase the production of sleep hormones such as melatonin like we looked at earlier.
Studies have found that exposure to daylight can improve sleep quality along with duration, and it can also reduce the amount of time it takes a person to fall asleep by as much as 83%.
Try to relax before bed
If you get into bed wound up and alert, you will of course find it harder to get to sleep because your brain is so active, and you will likely have elevated levels of adrenalin which can make you feel alert. This is one reason why experts recommend that you should never go to bed angry.
To help ensure that you get to sleep at night, try to relax. This can be done in a number of ways such as reading a relaxing book, listening to calming music, taking a warm bath, or even meditating.
Avoid watching shows or listening to music that is stimulating as this will again make it harder to relax and drift off into a peaceful slumber.
Consider supplementing with melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone produced by the body that communicates with the brain and basically tells it that it is soon time for sleep and that you should relax.
Basically, this hormone helps you to naturally become sleepy and to drift off to sleep and enjoy a night of deep and peaceful sleep.
To help improve your overall sleeping patterns and the quality of your sleep, you can supplement with melatonin supplements which have proved to be very effective for people struggling with insomnia.
Roughly 1 – 5mg of melatonin consumed around one hour before bed is the recommended way to use this supplement, which also happens to be completely safe and free of any negative side effects.
Avoid alcohol
Finally, despite what people may tell you about alcohol helping you to sleep at night, in reality, it is actually very detrimental to your sleeping patterns.
Alcohol disrupts hormone productions, including melatonin levels which can interfere with your natural body clock. It also results in disrupted sleeping patterns and an increased risk of sleep apnea. As of that wasn't bad enough, the quality of sleep that you get when under the influence of alcohol is also very poor.
Ideally, avoid drinking alcohol on a regular basis as just 2 drinks in the evening can be enough to significantly disrupt your sleeping patterns, thereby making you feel tired and unwell the next morning.
So here you go, 6 simple tips to improve your sleep all day long.
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