Do you suffer from Insomnia or ever just find yourself laying in bed just staring at the ceiling? No worries, you are not the only one. I myself suffer from Insomnia, and when you’re laying there thinking about work the next morning, kids sports games, practices, and all of our other duties as a parent, the last thing we want are hearing that alarm go off and you have not slept hardly any!
Nodding off requires your mind and body to be completely relaxed, easier said than done, right? As anyone might expect can be very trying in our every day rushed lives. Next time you are laying conscious in an attempt to have a little shut eye try one of these shockingly straightforward, science-based tips for a superior night’s rest.
1.) Reduce Your Room Temperature
Ideal room temperature for rest is in the vicinity of 60 and 68 degrees. Temperatures that fall too far beneath or over that range can prompt anxiety.
2.) Make Your Room Dark
It sounds sufficiently basic, yet light has a huge impact on our internal timeclocks. Why do you think Doctors always tell you, “When teaching a baby day from night, during nap times leave it bright during the day, and dark at night so they learn day from night. Per Harvard Medical School, “introduction to light in the late night tends to postpone the period of our inner clock and lead us to incline toward later rest times.”
3.) Make Your Bed In the Morning
I don’t know about you but a made up bed with fluffed pillows, and the look of crisp sheets, makes bedtime look a lot appealing to me than a messed up bed with the look that someone has been sleeping in it all day.
4.) Your Bed Should be For Sleep & Love Making Only
This will enable your brain to connect your bed with rest and unwinding only. Stare at the TV, utilize your PC, chat on the telephone, and eat elsewhere, not in the bed!
5.) Come Up With Your Nighttime Routine
Kill your PC, turn off the TV, and don’t answer your telephone for an hour prior to you need to bedtime. Pick exercises you know will calm and relax you. Take a warm bubble bath, read a magazine or novel, have some decaffeinated tea. 10 Bed Time Rituals That Can Change Your Life
6.) Try To Avoid Any Spicy Foods & Alcohol Right Before Bed
Despite the fact that a nightcap may help you fall asleep, you will most likely experience divided rest, and find yourself wide awake inside a couple of hours. Avoid spicy foods that you know will cause any heartburn, acid reflux, and gastric issues during the night.
7.) Get Up In The Mornings The Same Time
No Matter how much sleep you get the night before, try and wake up the same time every day. The more you keep your sleep schedule intact, the more your body will recognize your bedtime and wake up hours. Short-term sleep loss can be made up if its done within a few days explains Dr. W. Christopher Winter, of Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine. Long-term sleep cannot be made up, do not try and make up for lost sleep from the entire week by sleeping in on the weekend.
8.) Read Before Bed Or If You Can’t Fall Asleep
If you have been laying in bed and 20 to 30 minutes have passed, pick up a book! Don’t lay there tossing and turning, your brain is running too fast, and thinking about too much it cannot relax. Do not pick your iPad, iPhone, nook, or any other technology up. Don’t do anything that requires brain work even looking at a clock. All of these can stimulate the brain making your anxiety rise. The moment you get tired start getting ready for bed.
9.) Keep A Notepad With Pencil & Pen Beside Your Bed
If you wake up in the middle of the night as I do frequently worrying about what needs to be done, which causes a lot of my Insomnia. Like me, I will think about one thing and then start thinking about another. Try this, get your notepad beside the bed and write down everything that you are thinking about what needs to get. When you are finished this should release your mind from worrying about forgetting in the morning, allowing you to drift back to sleep.
10.) Sniff A Chamomile or Lavender Scent
Lavender has been known to help with relaxation and sleep deprivation. Use a lavender scented lotion, ( this is what I use) or a lavender bubble bath before bed. A small cup of chamomile tea has also been shown to relax you for a good night sleep.
11.) Try A Sleep Mask
Maybe you just need to be in pitch dark, but you don’t have the capabilities with your bedroom. Try a Sleep Mask! This is one of the best I have found! This will block out all light, and let you fall into a deep sleep! Don’t let the light keep you awake, especially for the ones that get Migraines like my daughter. I know all about this!
12.) Turn On Some White Noise
Download a FREE app on your phone if you don’t have the actual CD to play in your bedroom. Fan’s even work for me! White noise such as rain, waterfalls, the ocean waves washing up on the shore, and my favorite bamboo water fountain! They relax you, and your brain. It does not make your brain work at all, just listen and close your eyes!
13.) Set The Mood
Make sure you dim the lights, turn on your lavender infuser, your salt lamp, and roll down the comforter and sheets. Let the sheets get cold, fluff the pillows, and go on about your night time routines. Your bed will be waiting for you patiently clean, crisp, and ready to dive right in to Never Neverland.
14.) Meditation
You may already know that meditating can help reduce stress levels, but it can also help you sleep better. Try meditating for about 10-15 minutes before bedtime to help clear your mind. Maybe even a little stretching or yoga mixed. This will relax your body to better fall asleep faster.
15.) Do Not Exercise or Eat Before Bed
Both exercising and eating before bed WILL keep you awake. Use your evening to wind down instead of eating and exercising. You should not exercise 2-4 hours before bed. Plan to finish exercising at least three hours before bed. But don’t skip your workout; exercise has been shown to help regulate your sleep cycle. Try not to eat within three hours of falling asleep as digestion can keep you up.
If you have problems falling asleep try these tips, and if you have something that helps you fall asleep please don’t hesitate to share! We all need to sleep to function. Until next time my friends. Keep it simple and sleep great tonight!
Yours Truly,
Heather Gantt