How to Get Better Sleep
If you wake up during the night, toss and turn, experience difficulty falling asleep or have trouble waking up in the morning and remaining alert all day, you are not alone. Thousands of people experience difficulty falling asleep and remaining asleep throughout the night. Our bodies are crying out for ways to get better sleep. A quality and restful sleep is crucial to your energy level throughout your day. If you experience frequently interrupted or minimal sleep, you will feel tired and groggy while you are awake. Since better sleep is so integral to exceptional performance, it is important to know how to sleep better. What follows are some helpful tips for you to use to fall asleep quickly and receive better sleep throughout the night.
Falling Asleep
- Try counting backwards from 100 by threes. I know that this sounds a little silly and resembles the age old counting sheep remedy, but it can really work in your desire to get better sleep. The object of this exercise is to distract your brain from over thinking about what has yet to be done and what might be worrying you, and give it something mundane and systematic to do. Once you have stopped worrying about other things, your mind and body will be able to relax and then sweet better sleep is not far behind.
- Breathing exercises have worked as well. Breathe in deeply and slowly and exhale the same way. Pause before you inhale again and create a rhythm with your breathing that you can thoughtlessly follow. You will concentrate on the rhythmic sound of your breathing and not on the other distractions running through your head that are coming between you and your search to sleep better.
- Make sure your room is conducive to better sleep. You need your room to be a restful and relaxing place. Make sure that there are no impediments to better sleep in your sleep sanctuary. For example, make sure that there isn't distracting light coming into your room too early in the morning that might wake you from an otherwise restful sleep. Also, be sure that your bedroom is a sleep only zone. Don't clutter it with distractions like televisions or computers. If you train your body and mind to recognize going to your bedroom as going to bed, it will become easier to fall asleep.
How to Sleep Better and Stay Asleep
- Create a routine. If you have a habit of going to bed around the same time and getting up around the same time (even on the weekends) it will be easier for your body to fall into that routine. You will fall asleep faster, sleep better, and remain asleep with greater ease.
- Write down notes for the next day. If you find yourself dwelling on something and you can't seem to relax, write yourself a note about it. Writing it down and knowing that you can come back to it later will allow your mind to relax for a night of better sleep.
- Be sure that your bed is comfortable. Sometimes the barrier to better sleep is what you are sleeping on. Choosing the right mattress is key to sleeping soundly and waking up refreshed and ready to start your day. Clean Air Plus is a great place to start your hunt for how to sleep better. Royal-Pedic organic mattress sets combine ultimate quality materials and expert craftsmanship to create a better sleep experience and ergonomic support. All organic mattress sets are handcrafted in the USA in a chemical-free environment, using 100% California-grown organic cotton, natural latex from England, and pure lamb's wool from France. Royal-Pedic is the best rated mattress for uninterrupted and healthy better sleep.
- If your allergies are bothering you, you may wake up often and have difficulty falling back asleep. You spend a lot of time in your bed sleeping and you need this environment to be the healthiest and most relaxing that it can be for better sleep. Taking this into account, the bedding you choose to sleep in should ultimately provide not only maximum comfort but also peace of mind in regards to health. In our search for how to sleep better, Clean Air Plus' offers organic bedding that is luxurious, tasteful, and hand crafted with meticulous attention to detail and quality. This organic bedding is definitively the healthiest bedding for your sleeping environment to get better sleep. It is made using only organic cotton which will promote restful better sleep while attending to your environmental and health concerns.
- You may be waking up during the night because of breathing difficulties. The IQAir HealthPro Plus air purifier offers a proven solution to remove the airborne allergens and irritants from the air you and your family breathe. It will deliver the results that you require to get better sleep and for a restful night's sleep through its incredible filtration system. By combining a medical grade HEPA filter with 5 pounds of activated carbon and potassium permanganate, this amazing purification system removes 99.97% of lung damaging dust particles, pet dander, pollen, mold spores, bacteria, germs, viruses, tobacco smoke, chemicals, and odors. The IQAir HealthPro Plus is convenient and easy to use. It comes in an attractive off-white color and is up on casters so that you can move it with ease. It is also energy efficient and comes with a five year warranty. The HealthPro Plus air purifier ships the next business day. Ensure that you get better sleep and are not losing sleep because of poor air quality.
During the Day
- Exercise. Daily exercise will wake your body up in the morning and get you ready to start your day. Exercise also promotes healthy and restful better sleep. DO NOT exercise before bed. This will wake your body up and make it harder for you to fall asleep.
If You Can't Fall Asleep
- Get up and find something else to do. Start an activity that will help distract your mind. Put together a puzzle or read a book.
- Don't try to go back to sleep until you truly feel tired, then your mind will be ready for better sleep.
Things to Avoid to Get Better Sleep
- Caffeine: I know this one seems obvious but caffeine is a strong stimulant and it can stay in your system for hours. Avoid consuming items that contain caffeine within 8 hours of your normal bedtime. These items include soda, tea, coffee and chocolate. Avoiding caffeine later in the day will go a long way to better sleep.
- Alcohol: This may seem counterintuitive but it is true. While alcohol may help you fall asleep initially, it will cause you to experience a restless sleep where you are tossing and turning in addition to waking up more often. Also, alcohol is a diuretic so it promotes urination which will cause you to get up during the night. Try not to consume alcohol within six hours of your normal bedtime to sleep better.
- Nicotine: nicotine is a stimulant for the nervous system so it can wake your body up. Avoid nicotine within an hour of your normal bedtime.
- Looking at the clock: this is an anxiety attack waiting to happen. If you are already worried about how much sleep you are getting, looking at the clock can only exacerbate your worry. Once you are stressed out and worried about how to sleep better, you will find it harder and harder to fall asleep. Don't look at the clock. Instead turn it so that it is facing away from you.
- Napping: while you may think that napping is a good idea, especially if you are really tired and you need a quick pick-me-up, napping is not advisable. Taking a nap during the middle of the day will throw off your body's internal clock and cause sleeping problems later on down the road.
- Big meals: don't eat a big meal before going to bed. This will interfere with your sleep. Spicy foods may cause heartburn which will inhibit restful sleep, and not allow you to sleep better. If you feel like you need a snack before bed, eat something that triggers serotonin. Serotonin makes you tired. Foods that increase serotonin levels include fish, chicken and turkey.