 |
| -This post is in collaboration- |
However, not all of us find it easy to sleep and can experience symptoms of insomnia from time to time, depending on what is happening in our lives. Luckily, there are small steps you can take to improve your sleep health!
Why is Sleep Important
Sleep is often an overlooked part of both our physical and mental health. However, a lack of high-quality sleep can have dire consequences to not only our own lives but also to those around us.
Healthy sleep promotes alertness and focus as well as strengthening our immune systems. Poor quality sleep can be associated with mood swings and can even lead to more severe illnesses such as heart disease.
Baby Steps to Improvement
The NHS website advises on the small steps you can take to improve both your sleep pattern and quality. They may seem insignificant, but they can go a long way to improving your sleep, and it is essential to keep with them and familiarise your body and mind with a healthy sleep routine.
However, if you do not feel any significant improvement despite your efforts, you should speak to your doctor who will be able to assist you further.
Prepare for the Next Day
There is nothing more stressful than worrying about the next morning. To help ease feelings of worry before you wind down in the evening, try to prep as much as you can for the following day, so the stress of getting ready in a rush is reduced. It may sound simple, but knowing that you are prepared to go for the next day can alleviate anxiety.
Ensure Your Bedroom is Sleep Friendly
Ensuring your bedroom is sleep-friendly can come down to a variety of factors, including the bed itself.
Firstly, you need to ensure the temperature is right for you to sleep. If you find your room is too warm in the evening, open a window for some breeze. If it is too cold, get warmer blankets or use a hot water bottle.
Next, consider the light. Do you need thicker curtains? A rug under the door to stop any light leaking inside the room. Or, if you can’t afford the following, perhaps purchase an eye mask. If the room is too noisy, earplugs may also be another consideration.
Is the mattress itself uncomfortable? Do you need comfier pillows or a thicker duvet? Perhaps a weighted blanket is required to make you feel more safe and secure?
Some of these may seem like a big expense, but if it helps you sleep and improves other aspects of your life, it could be an invaluable investment!
Reduce Screen Time
This is a vital part of improving your body clock. It would help if you tried to cut off your screen time at least two hours before you plan to sleep. So no phones, tablet or laptops!
If you do need to look at them, use their night mode which removes the blue light emitted by the screens. It is the blue light that produces melatonin which, in a very brief description, interferes with our circadian rhythm (our body clock) and makes us feel awake.
Create a ‘Wind-Down’ Routine
Whatever makes you feel more relaxed, start to do it as a routine every evening to help your body and mind wind-down. Whether it is reading a book, taking a warm bath, drinking a soothing (caffeine-free) hot drink, listening to a podcast or doing some bedtime yoga, schedule it in daily and make a relaxing routine of it in the evening for you to enjoy.
Keep Your Bed for Two Things Only!
These are sleep and sex! Nothing else can happen in your bed. That means no reading, watching films and definitely no eating snacks!
This may seem harsh, but it is so your mind associates the bed directly with sleep. It avoids being stimulated and awakened by extra activities which can interfere with your body clock.
Meditate
Through meditation, you can essentially train your brain to put thoughts and feelings which intensify your levels of stress and anxiety into perspective. This can help you when you sleep, and there are certain apps, such as Headspace, which provide guided meditations to help you feel more relaxed at bedtime.
Some apps also come with night-time ‘SOS’ mediations to help you drift off should you wake up in the middle of the night, as well as ‘sleep-casts’ which provide soothing sounds to aid your sleep.
Try CBD Oil
You may have noticed that I use CBD oil to help with anxiety and chronic pain. CBD oil can also be used to support a healthier sleep cycle.
As previously mentioned, lessening your feelings of stress and anxiety can help you to fall asleep. Using CBD oil for sleep can assist in alleviating these intense feelings that could be keeping you awake at night.
By reducing these feelings through CBD oil, you have the potential to drift into sleep quicker and more deeply. These are both important aspects of falling asleep because they improve the quality of your slumber. For example, you should ideally fall asleep within 30 minutes of your head hitting the pillow to deepen your sleep.
Hopefully, these tips will help you on the path of improving your quality of sleep. However, if you don’t feel any significant improvement and still find difficulty in sleeping, please visit a medical practitioner who will be able to support you further.
0 comments