8 tips for a better night’s sleep
A nightly 8hrs rest is needed for your body to regenerate. While you sleep, your immune system is doing the most to fight off any infections or inflammations and your body repairs itself. That also includes your skin, your mood, your stress and/or anxiety levels. A good nights sleep makes you more alert, boosts your mood, makes your skin glow from within, promotes a healthy metabolism, all in all, it keeps you young!
why is it so hard to achieve that?
Stress and worry seem to be common key factors that stop us from sleeping or wake us up at night. But it could be also unhealthy eating or drinking habits, that prevent us from getting the rest we need. Here are a few tips that could help you, so that a good night’s sleep becomes a regular daily thing.
here is what you can do.
- Always go to bed at the same time. No exception. Your body will quickly get used to it and automatically switch to sleep mode, once you’re in bed.
- Your bed should only be used for sleep and sex. If you sit and do any work in bed, it’ll make it harder to switch off when you want to go to sleep.
- Don’t eat anything 4hrs before you go to bed. I don’t eat a bite after 7pm. Even if I feel peckish. It’s not true that “hunger” will keep you up. You will sleep a lot better than with a full stomach, that is working hard to digest. I also wouldn’t eat any fruit in the evening. The vitamins aren’t fully absorbed (that’s why fresh fruit is best for breakfast) and the sugar rush will stimulate the brain again.
- Have a cup of soothing tea. You can buy great, relaxing (sugar free!) teas at any Sainsbury’s or Holland & Barrett. Lavender, valerian root, chamomile and peppermint are great in the evening. Make sure you drink around 2hrs before bed, so you have time to go to the loo! Waking up at night because of a full bladder is not what we want if we’re trying to sleep through.
- Keep it cool! Doctors say the best temperature for the bedroom is 16° for a restful sleep. We all wake up at night during hot summer nights. If you don’t like to sleep with the windows slightly open, just make sure you air out your bedroom before bedtime. A cool (not cold) bedroom will make you feel so much more refreshed in the morning. And puffy eyes are gone.
- Have a hot bath or shower. Especially if you work out in the evenings. A hot shower has not only a cleansing effect on your skin but also on a psychological level: you’ll feel like you’re taking off the day. It will lower any stress levels and make you feel like it’s all washed off and down the drain. You can even make it a ritual and use a different scented shower gel just for the evening. Lavender for example is a good, calming option.
- And if you’ve any stress, sit down and jot down some bullet points for what you need to do tomorrow. Preferably while you sip on your calming tea. That will help you to mentally wrap up your day and will make you feel more relaxed as you feel ready for tomorrow. It’s almost like a psychological trick. While we’re planning our day, we take a lot of worry off ourselves. Also, if you like journaling, feel free to add some things you’re grateful for today. That can be lovely weather, or a nice lunch with a colleague, or your family, your home, anything really. The point is, to make you feel positive and relaxed, so you don’t carry any worry into bed.
- Work out! Yes, naturally if you work up a sweat every day, you will feel so much more relaxed and certainly ready for bed by the evening. Often we are tired mentally at the end of the day, but physically there is still a lot of energy stored in our bodies. Even if you feel tired, your body actually might not be. That’s why we’ll get the best sleep when we’ve done the most mentally AND physically. So be sure to include that workout ideally daily or at least twice a week. That post-workout-shower-feeling is priceless, especially if you’re snuggled up in a cosy PJ. Dreamland, here we come.
I hope this post is helpful for you and let me know if you’ve tried any of these tips (and if they worked for you!)