Sleeping well has a direct impact on your emotional and physical well-being. If you don't get enough sleep, it might affect your everyday energy, productivity, emotional balance, and even your weight. Despite this, many of us toss and turn at night, unable to obtain the rest we require.
When you're wide awake at 3 a.m., getting a decent night's sleep may seem unattainable, but you have far more influence on the quality of your sleep than you probably know. Just as how you feel throughout the day is often influenced by how well you sleep at night, the solution to sleep problems is frequently found in your daily routine.
Unhealthy behaviours and lifestyle choices throughout the day might cause you to toss and turn at night, negatively impacting your mood, brain and heart health, immune system, creativity, energy, and weight. However, by experimenting with the following suggestions, you can enhance your sleep quality, your health, and how you think and feel during the day.
Here are a few tips to get a better night of sleep:
- Exercise!
Experimental evidence has suggested that exercise may be associated with better sleep quality. One study that evaluated exercise in patients with insomnia showed that an acute bout of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise about 3 hours before bed reduce sleep onset latency, total wake time and pre-sleep anxiety while increasing total sleep time and sleep efficiency.
Blue light influences the secretion of melatonin, which is a neurotransmitter that makes us sleepy and regulates our circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythms regulate nearly all of the body’s processes, from metabolism and immunity to energy, sleep, mood and cognitive function.
- Unfortunately, computer screens, tablets, televisions and cell phones all emit blue light. Many electronic devices have a “night shift” setting that automatically switches your device to a warmer colour at a designated time.
- Set a curfew on the amount of artificial light exposure to get a better night of quality sleep. Also, try to avoid checking your phone in the middle of the night if you wake up. As soon as the blue light from a screen hits the retina in the eye, the effect of melatonin is immediately reversed and actually promotes a state of wakefulness oversleep.
Caffeine is the most popular drug in the world. While it is very beneficial to improve performance in workouts and keep us alert during the day, caffeine does not replace sleep. After consuming caffeine, its effects can occur within 15 minutes and take up to 5 hours to die down. Considering this timeline, caffeine should not be consumed 5+ hours before bed in order to avoid a restless night.
- Consuming alcohol close to bedtime can also increase your heart rate and keep you awake. While alcohol is commonly used to aid a person’s ability to fall asleep, it can interfere with the quality of sleep.
Alcohol blocks REM sleep, which is the most restorative type of sleep. Alcohol consumption also affects the normal production of neurotransmitters and increases tendencies to wake up in the middle of the night.
Your body and mind need time to wind down and shift into sleep mode before bed. Incorporate a routine, bedtime ritual away from activities that cause excitement, stress or stimulation, will make it easier to fall or remain asleep. Relaxing activities include meditation, a warm bath, reading, foam rolling, stretching or belly breathing. It is best to take work materials, computers and televisions out of the bedroom to strengthen the association between bed and sleep. Checking email or doing work right before bed can also trigger anxious thoughts and make it difficult to fall asleep.
- Practising breathing and meditation exercises before bed can increase parasympathetic response to relax the entire body and decrease your heart rate.
- Lie down comfortably with one hand on your stomach and your second hand on your chest. Inhale deeply through your nose for a count of 5 while pushing your belly through your hand on your stomach.
- Then exhale through your mouth for a count of 10 as if you are blowing out candles very slowly while gentle pressing on your stomach to facilitate air exiting. Repeat this 3 to 10 times.
- Essential oils have been proven to promote and induce a calmer state of mind and encourage a more balanced central nervous system, which allows us to more effectively prepare for sleep.
- Essential oils are broken down organic plant molecules that can be very powerful and aromatic.
- Natural fragrances such as lavender, chamomile, sandalwood, yang, valerian, bergamot, and cedarwood are often used in the bedroom to infuse the air with calming molecules, relax our systems and encourage deeper breathing.
Evaluate your bedroom to ensure the ideal temperature, sound and light. The bedroom should be in colder temperatures for optimal sleep. Your bedroom should also be free from any noise or extra light that may disturb your sleep. Using blackout curtains, eye shades, earplugs, white noise machines, fans or other devices may help reduce distractions in the bedroom.
Going to bed early may seem obvious but also difficult to enact. Many of us are guilty of bedtime procrastination, or delaying going to because we didn’t accomplish everything on our to-do list. Sticking to the same sleep and wake time, during the week and on the weekends, will subconsciously regulate your body’s internal sleep-wake clock and help you fall asleep better at night.
- Life will inevitably interfere, but try not to sleep in for more than an hour or two, tops, to stay on track.
- If you are currently going to bed at 11 pm, don’t decide that tonight you will go to bed by 9 pm, because it likely won’t happen.
- Your internal clock resets at a rate of about one hour per day. Generally, when making behavioural changes, aim to take small steps towards the bigger end goal. Set a reminder and aim to go to bed 15-30 minutes earlier tonight.
There is no single sleeping position that works for every person. With that being said, your sleeping position impacts your sleep quality and general feeling the following day in various ways and is therefore very relevant in this discussion.
Some people are most comfortable sleeping on their stomachs and have no issues, but it does put the neck, spine and shoulders in poor positions for blood flow, muscle imbalances and nerve tension. Regardless of your ideal sleeping position, try to strive towards keeping the body in neutral alignment to avoid kinks and imbalances. This is especially important when it comes to the neck position.
- Pillows that are too soft or bulky, as in the photos, will lack support for the neck or overstretch the soft tissue and likely lead to shoulder and neck aches.
- Aim to use a pillow that will keep your neck in line with the rest of your spine.
- Sleeping on the back is typically the most recommended position, as it allows the body to rest in a neutral position.
- If this position is uncomfortable on your back, try putting a small pillow under both your knees.
- Sleeping on your back has also been shown to minimize the formation of facial wrinkles. This position may be uncomfortable for people (or their partners) because it usually causes a person to snore more than in other positions.
Sleeping on the stomach is very hard on the cervical spine and the remainder of the system as the neck must be turned to breathe in this position and the rib cage doesn’t expand in the anterior direction as it should.
Finally, if you have an injury on one side of the body, it is not advised to sleep on that side.
Think about all the factors that can interfere with a good night's sleep — from work stress and family responsibilities to unexpected challenges, such as illnesses. It's no wonder that quality sleep is sometimes elusive.
While you might not be able to control the factors that interfere with your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep.
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