A good night’s sleep can be refreshing and rejuvenating. For millions of people, however, a good night’s sleep seems out of reach. People of all ages around the world suffer from occasional or chronic insomnia. Insomnia is a condition that interrupts your ability to fall asleep or stay asleep. If you suffer from this sleep disruption, you may be reluctant to use heavy medication to help you lose asleep.
Here are five ways to improve your sleep naturally:
Eliminate caffeine
The morning cup of coffee seems to be a basic drink for many people. However, caffeine is not only found in coffee. Caffeine can be hidden in the cola you drink, tea, and even some of the foods you eat. While it may not be possible to eliminate caffeine from your diet 100%, try to limit your caffeine intake to the morning alone. Prevention magazine tells us that caffeine intake, even 6 hours before bedtime, can disrupt sleep.
Physical exercise
Not only does exercise help you maintain healthy body weight and have a better mental outlook, but a study by the Sleep Foundation found that those who exercised were less sleepy during the day and slept better at night.
While a new exercise program may leave you a little tired at first, regular exercise will give you more energy and help you fall asleep at bedtime. This may be related to the chemicals released by the body when you exercise. Neurotransmitters released by the brain during exercise have various beneficial properties, and improving sleep is one of them.
Meditate
Meditation has a stimulating effect on the brain. There are all kinds of benefits that meditation can have for a person. Among the many positive results of meditation are reduced stress and an improved ability to cope with difficult life problems.
Meditation is also excellent for insomnia. A Harvard study showed that mindfulness meditation helps combat insomnia. It provokes a relaxation response in those who participate, helping them relax enough to fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night. If you don’t know how to meditate, there are many guided meditation audio programs that you can buy or consult in your library.
Sleep hygiene
Sleep hygiene is a practice that aims to help you sleep better at night. It is linked to environmental cues. Alaska sleep notes that these environmental cues should be taken into consideration if you are not sleeping.
– Use the bedroom only for sex and sleep.
– No electronics
– Keep the room dark and quiet
– Keep your room cool
– Having a right mattress
– Set your alarm clock away from your bed
Getting up every morning
Getting up at the same time each day and avoiding naps helps the body follow a circadian rhythm. According to Very well, we need this to sleep well at night. There are two essential elements at this stage.
1. Stop napping and practice getting up at the same time every day. If you press the nap button once or twice (or six times), you are not practicing getting up at the same time every day. If you know you don’t need to get up before 7:30 a.m., stop setting your alarm clock to 7. Save yourself the 30 minutes of interrupted sleep, and set the alarm clock to 7:30 a.m., get up the first time it rings.
2. NO PAPER. If you’re not used to getting up in the morning, this may be the most challenging part for you. Napping can keep you awake at night because you’re just not tired enough to go to bed on time. Skip the nap (and the caffeine) and stay up so you can sleep.
You now have an arsenal of information that should help you fall asleep faster at night. Remember that you may need to play a little game to figure out what’s best for you. So if you can’t do it the first night or two, don’t give up.
These sleep strategies have been proven effective. They take time. Give them a few weeks, and you should get a good night’s sleep.
